ISLAMABAD (Agencies)
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is expected to resign rather than face impeachment by parliament, provided his conditions for quiet and safe retirement are met, media reported,
AlArabiya news channel, quoting unnamed sources, reported that Musharraf has reached a deal with the governing coalition stipulating that the embattled president would resign in return for certain conditions.
The conditions mainly focus around guarantees against any future persecution for Musharraf, in addition to giving him all privileges enjoyed by former presidents, according to AlArabiya.
"The president will neither be impeached nor prosecuted on any charges. He will try and stay in Pakistan," the Financial Times on Friday quoted an unidentified senior Pakistani government member as saying.
Speculation has been mounting that former army chief Musharraf would quit since the ruling government coalition, led by the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said last week it planned to impeach him.
A spokesman for the president has repeatedly denied that he was about to quit, and he did so again on Friday.
The Friday denial followed a statement by a senior leader in the ruling coalition that Musharraf should not receive legal immunity.
On Thursday, during a speech to celebrate Pakistan's Independence Day, the beleaguered former army chief called for reconciliation, but made no mention of the moves against him.
“I appeal to all elements to adopt an approach of reconciliation so that there is political stability and we can firmly confront the real problems facing the country,” Musharraf said.
A coalition official preparing for the president's impeachment said he could not confirm Musharraf's resignation plans but said there was a growing sense he was going to step down.
The long-running crisis surrounding Musharraf's future has heightened concern in the United States and among other allies about the stability of the nuclear-armed Muslim state, which is in the front line of the campaign against militancy. |
