Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation yesterday, ending a nearly nine-year tenure that opponents said was hampering the country’s shaky return to democracy.
An emotional Musharraf said he wanted to spare Pakistan from a dangerous power struggle with opponents vowing to impeach him. He said he was satisfied that all he had done “was for the people and for the country.”
“I hope the nation and the people will forgive my mistakes,” Musharraf said in a televised address, much of which was devoted to defending his record.
PHOTO: AP
His political exit robs the West of a stalwart ally who echoed its concern about how Islamic militancy is destabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan, where al-Qaeda and the Taliban have regained strength.
However, his influence has faded since he stepped down as army chief last year.
Pakistan’s stock market and currency both rose strongly on hopes that the country was bound for political stability.
In his hour-long address, Musharraf said he would turn in his resignation to the National Assembly speaker yesterday. It was not immediately clear whether it would take effect the same day.
Mohammedmian Soomro, the chairman of the upper house of parliament, was poised to take over in the interim.
It remains an open question whom parliament will elect to succeed Musharraf, largely because the ruling coalition has vowed to strip the presidency of much of its power.
There is speculation that both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, the leaders of the two main parties, are interested in the role. However, neither has openly said so.
It was also unclear whether Musharraf would be able to stay in Pakistan. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said leaders of the ruling coalition would discuss later yesterday whether to prosecute Musharraf in court on the impeachment charges.
Most of his political foes put those issues on the back burner and got on with celebrating.
“It is a victory of democratic forces,” Information Minister Sherry Rehman said. “Today the shadow of dictatorship that has prevailed for long over this country, that chapter has been closed.”
TV footage showed groups of people celebrating in the streets in several towns across Pakistan, some of them firing automatic weapons into the sky.
“It is very pleasing to know that Musharraf is no more,” said Mohammed Saeed, a shopkeeper among a crowd of people jigging to drum beats and hugging each other at an intersection in Peshawar.
“He even tried to deceive the nation in his last address. He was boasting about economic progress when life for people like us has become a hell,” Saeed said, referring to economic problems that include runaway inflation.
Musharraf’s decision comes after the coalition finalized impeachment charges against him and threatened to send a motion to parliament later this week. The charges were expected to include violating the Constitution and gross misconduct, likely in connection with the ouster of the judges and the declaration of emergency rule.
Qureshi would not say whether Musharraf might be granted a “safe exit” — speculation has focused on whether he might go into exile in Saudi Arabia or Turkey — or be dragged through the courts.
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