PAKISTAN’S embattled President Pervez Musharraf was under mounting pressure to quit, with his allies joining ruling coalition calls for him to go before impeachment proceedings begin on Monday.
"Musharraf should step down before the start of the impeachment proceedings, because the country cannot afford confrontation any more," Sardar Bahadur Khan, an MP from Musharraf's main ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) told AFP.
Khan said more than 25 MPs from the PML-Q wanted Musharraf to resign.
Coalition leader "(Asif Ali) Zardari has offered safe exit to Musharraf," he revealed.
"The president should avail the opportunity to make an honourable exit," he said, adding that a resignation would be "good for the nation and strengthen the democratic system."
Senior officials from the ruling coalition also advised the president to step down, saying he would not be able to fight the charges being lodged against him.
The call was made as a government committee met to finalise a charge sheet against Musharraf before the lower house starts impeachment proceedings, lawmakers in the governing coalition said.
Coalition leaders Zardari -- the widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto -- and former premier Nawaz Sharif announced Thursday that they would seek Musharraf's ouster for allegedly mismanaging the country.
"Cracks are visible in the PML-Q," Information Minister Sherry Rehman said.
"Musharraf is losing support every day," she told reporters, adding that the committee had collected enough material against Musharraf.
The committee will have another session on Monday to finalise the charge sheet, Rehman said after Sunday's meeting.
"It will be a historic motion. It will have solid points against Musharraf."
Under Pakistan's constitution, impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of the upper and lower houses of parliament.
"A comprehensive charge sheet is being prepared," Law Minister Farooq Naek told reporters. The charges include "gross misconduct and violation of the constitution."
"The charge sheet will be solid and Musharraf will not be able to fight it," said the minister, a member of the committee drafting the charges. "It is better for him to resign before impeachment."
Naek did not provide further details, but Zardari on Thursday said "Musharraf worked to undermine the transition to democracy," and his policies "weakened the federation and eroded trust in national institutions."
Ishaq Dar, a senior leader of Sharif's party, also said Musharraf should resign to avoid impeachment.
"Musharraf still has time. It will be in his own interest if he resigns," Dar said. "We have far beyond the two-thirds majority, he should realise this."
Asked if the coalition would allow a safe exit for the president, he said only the coalition leadership could decide.
Musharraf's close ally, Mushahid Hussain, who is also secretary general of the PML-Q, said the president could face the charges or resign.
But, he said, "the president has been an army commando" and he will "dig in and fight."
Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 military coup, ruled nuclear-armed Pakistan relatively untroubled for several years with the backing of the United States, which has counted him as a key ally since the September 11 attacks.
But his popularity slumped after he ousted the country's chief justice and imposed a state of emergency in November 2007 to prevent any challenges to his re-election as president.
Musharraf later stepped down as army chief, and the parties of Bhutto and Sharif subsequently trounced his allies in elections in February.
Washington on Thursday steered clear of the impeachment proceedings, saying it was an "internal" matter for Pakistan.
AFP
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