Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf will defend himself against impeachment, aides said yesterday, a day after the ruling coalition vowed to launch proceedings to drive the key US ally from power.
Musharraf was set to meet his top legal and political advisers to discuss his dwindling options in the face of the most serious challenge to the former general’s position since he seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999.
The specter of impeachment is set to deepen the political turmoil in the nuclear-armed nation — with the maneuvers open to Musharraf including dissolving parliament or even declaring a state of emergency.
“He is considering the options that are available. He will respond to the government’s allegations and defend himself,” a presidential aide told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Key Musharraf ally Mushahid Hussain said his party would back the president.
“We will prepare a case, the president should be there [in parliament] and defend himself, and at least say ‘I am not a crook,’” said Hussain, secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q party.
Coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari — the widower of slain former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto — and Nawaz Sharif announced on Thursday that they would seek Musharraf’s impeachment for allegedly mismanaging the country.
Officials said parliament could begin the impeachment process by filing a charge sheet against the president as early as Monday, which is also Musharraf’s 65th birthday.
The aide said however that Musharraf would “not wait for the numbers game” — meaning that he would not indulge in political horsetrading to stop the coalition getting the votes it needs.
Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses of parliament. It would be the first time in Pakistan’s 61-year history that a president has been impeached.
Another Musharraf ally said the coalition could not get enough votes to support impeachment.
“We are going to oppose it. It is a half-baked effort and a sure recipe for disaster,” Tariq Azim, the information minister in the last government, told reporters.
But Azim and Hussain both warned against dissolving parliament, saying it would damage the country’s democracy. The coalition is currently several seats short of the 295 votes it requires out of the 439 in the Senate and National Assembly to remove Musharraf.
But the key factor in Musharraf’s decision is likely to be the support he gets from the army. He quit as army chief last November.
“He can dismiss the government, suspend it or leave the stage but that option is very remote — he would do that only when he realizes that the real powers are not supporting him,” the aide said.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS