Mushraff Resigns
Amid intense speculation that President Pervez Musharraf may step down before Pakistan's ruling coalition begins impeachment proceedings against him, the beleaguered ex-military ruler has begun his address to the nation. There are reports he could announce his resignation during the speech.
In his address to the nation Musharraf said, "I have confidence in self and on God that no chargesheet can stand against me. No charge can be proved against me, because I have never done for myself. I have done all for Pakistan."
Musharraf said he was proud of his achievements. He defended his economic record. “We have taken the nation forward,” he said.
Musharraf said his priority has been to evolve democracy in Pakistan
He also criticised his detractors during the speech. “I have kept Pakistan’s interests over and above everything, I am proud to have fought for the country,” he said. The Pakistan president added all allegations against him were baseless.
Musharraf said he had always been open to reconciliation with politicial parties.
According to government sources, Musharraf has agreed to step down from his post. Musharraf's spokesperson, however, has denied reports that the Pakistan president is set to quit.
Meanwhile, the country's ruling coalition has prepared impeachment charges accusing Musharraf of violations of the constitution and misconduct.
Musharraf, 65, came to power in a 1999 coup and has anchored Pakistan's alliance with the United States, especially since Pakistan signed up for the US-led campaign against terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Following are some of the political, economic and diplomatic implications of his expected resignation.
Future Course Of Action for Mushraff:
When Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf's wife Sehba came to their son Bilal's graduation from Stanford some months back, the joke in the overseas Pakistani community was how she made time to meet with American real estate agents to check out homes in the US for the couple’s impending exile.
Not so funny now. With the hour-by-hour ratcheting of pressure on Musharraf by Pakistan’s civilian leadership and intervention by the country’s long-time patrons to arrange his exit, there is serious speculation about where in the world the beleaguered, despised, and unwanted dictator will be shunted to.
The United States and Britain remain top of the list of with Turkey and Saudi Arabia the other options. A wicked idea floated by Musharraf-haters: Send him to Neharwali-gali in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj, where the Pakistani general was born and grew up till he was a toddler.
Considering the nostalgia that some in India’s security establishment have begun expressing for Musharraf, forgetting his Kargil misadventure and perfidy, it’s not a bad option for the dictator, because no one else wants him - not even his patron-till-recently United States, whose President, if reports from Pakistan are to be believed, does not even answer his friend’s phone calls.
Musharraf himself is said to be keen to remain in Pakistan, hoping that the civilian rulers will soon make a meal of the situation to allow him a comeback. One version has it that he has told them he has no money to live in exile (unlike the two principals who have returned to Pakistan to rule the roost for now).
But the new rulers are equally adamant that he be sent out so they are rid of a potentially explosive situation if he remains at home.
According to Pakistani writer Tariq Ali, sanctuaries in Manhattan, Texas and the Turkish island of Büyükada are being considered for Musharraf. The toothless dictator ''would prefer a large estate in Pakistan, preferably near a golf course, but security considerations would make that unfeasible.''
Musharraf is a security hot potato wherever he goes, including in Pakistan, considering the number of people who want him dead.
In fact, some Pakistani newspapers are reporting that the Pakistani security agencies themselves are not keen to guard Musharraf because he is a sure-fire candidate for assassination attempts. Turkey, a country Musharraf grew up in as a young boy, is said to think on similar lines.
The US, which has quietly dumped him, is not really keen on hosting him, although he can easily come and stay here as a private citizen since his son Bilal and brother Naved are both residents here.
''Bilal’s two-bedroom flat in Canton (in Massachusetts) isn’t big enough to hold a Boston Tea Party but then the guest list has shrunk since the day Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry (de jure) was made dysfunctional,'' the columnist Farrukh Saleem observed tartly in The News .
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice more than hinted that Musharraf is not welcome in the U.S as a political refugee.
''This is an issue that is not on the table,'' she told Fox News when asked about the prospect of Musharraf in U.S, while supporting Pakistan’s return to democracy. ''I want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan. We have been supportive of their new democratic government as witnessed by the President's meetings with Prime Minister Gilani. So this is a matter for Pakistan to determine.''
London is also being floated as an option considering the prominent role being played by Sir Mark Lyall Grant, a former UK High Commissioner to Pakistan (whose grand-father gave Pakistan the eponymous city of Lyallpur, now renamed Faisalabad) in arranging for Musharraf’s safe exit.
But U.K has the same security issues as US - fear of not only an Islamist strike, but also attention from civil society and human rights activists angered by Musharraf’s nefarious role in the war on terror, including extra-legal handing over of Pakistani suspects to Washington for booty, about which he boasts in his book In The Line of Fire .
Ironically, Musharraf’s safest option is probably Saudi Arabia, to where he exiled his current nemesis Nawaz Sharief.
The Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrim bin Abdul Aziz visited Pakistan over the weekend to negotiate a deal ''so that nobody is humiliated.'' But the whisky-swilling, dog-loving, media-crazy dictator is not the ideal guest for the fundamentalist kingdom.
With the clock winding down for impeachment proceedings to begin, Musharraf is said to be digging in his heels, disregarding the advice of his many patrons in U.S, U.K and Saudi Arabia to leave.
Tariq Ali’s prediction: ''Musharraf will not go gentle into that golf course.'' It’s a bogey that fills Pakistan’s patrons with fear.
In his address to the nation Musharraf said, "I have confidence in self and on God that no chargesheet can stand against me. No charge can be proved against me, because I have never done for myself. I have done all for Pakistan."
Musharraf said he was proud of his achievements. He defended his economic record. “We have taken the nation forward,” he said.
Musharraf said his priority has been to evolve democracy in Pakistan
He also criticised his detractors during the speech. “I have kept Pakistan’s interests over and above everything, I am proud to have fought for the country,” he said. The Pakistan president added all allegations against him were baseless.
Musharraf said he had always been open to reconciliation with politicial parties.
According to government sources, Musharraf has agreed to step down from his post. Musharraf's spokesperson, however, has denied reports that the Pakistan president is set to quit.
Meanwhile, the country's ruling coalition has prepared impeachment charges accusing Musharraf of violations of the constitution and misconduct.
Musharraf, 65, came to power in a 1999 coup and has anchored Pakistan's alliance with the United States, especially since Pakistan signed up for the US-led campaign against terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Following are some of the political, economic and diplomatic implications of his expected resignation.
Future Course Of Action for Mushraff:
When Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf's wife Sehba came to their son Bilal's graduation from Stanford some months back, the joke in the overseas Pakistani community was how she made time to meet with American real estate agents to check out homes in the US for the couple’s impending exile.
Not so funny now. With the hour-by-hour ratcheting of pressure on Musharraf by Pakistan’s civilian leadership and intervention by the country’s long-time patrons to arrange his exit, there is serious speculation about where in the world the beleaguered, despised, and unwanted dictator will be shunted to.
The United States and Britain remain top of the list of with Turkey and Saudi Arabia the other options. A wicked idea floated by Musharraf-haters: Send him to Neharwali-gali in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj, where the Pakistani general was born and grew up till he was a toddler.
Considering the nostalgia that some in India’s security establishment have begun expressing for Musharraf, forgetting his Kargil misadventure and perfidy, it’s not a bad option for the dictator, because no one else wants him - not even his patron-till-recently United States, whose President, if reports from Pakistan are to be believed, does not even answer his friend’s phone calls.
Musharraf himself is said to be keen to remain in Pakistan, hoping that the civilian rulers will soon make a meal of the situation to allow him a comeback. One version has it that he has told them he has no money to live in exile (unlike the two principals who have returned to Pakistan to rule the roost for now).
But the new rulers are equally adamant that he be sent out so they are rid of a potentially explosive situation if he remains at home.
According to Pakistani writer Tariq Ali, sanctuaries in Manhattan, Texas and the Turkish island of Büyükada are being considered for Musharraf. The toothless dictator ''would prefer a large estate in Pakistan, preferably near a golf course, but security considerations would make that unfeasible.''
Musharraf is a security hot potato wherever he goes, including in Pakistan, considering the number of people who want him dead.
In fact, some Pakistani newspapers are reporting that the Pakistani security agencies themselves are not keen to guard Musharraf because he is a sure-fire candidate for assassination attempts. Turkey, a country Musharraf grew up in as a young boy, is said to think on similar lines.
The US, which has quietly dumped him, is not really keen on hosting him, although he can easily come and stay here as a private citizen since his son Bilal and brother Naved are both residents here.
''Bilal’s two-bedroom flat in Canton (in Massachusetts) isn’t big enough to hold a Boston Tea Party but then the guest list has shrunk since the day Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry (de jure) was made dysfunctional,'' the columnist Farrukh Saleem observed tartly in The News .
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice more than hinted that Musharraf is not welcome in the U.S as a political refugee.
''This is an issue that is not on the table,'' she told Fox News when asked about the prospect of Musharraf in U.S, while supporting Pakistan’s return to democracy. ''I want to keep our focus on what we must do with the democratic government of Pakistan. We have been supportive of their new democratic government as witnessed by the President's meetings with Prime Minister Gilani. So this is a matter for Pakistan to determine.''
London is also being floated as an option considering the prominent role being played by Sir Mark Lyall Grant, a former UK High Commissioner to Pakistan (whose grand-father gave Pakistan the eponymous city of Lyallpur, now renamed Faisalabad) in arranging for Musharraf’s safe exit.
But U.K has the same security issues as US - fear of not only an Islamist strike, but also attention from civil society and human rights activists angered by Musharraf’s nefarious role in the war on terror, including extra-legal handing over of Pakistani suspects to Washington for booty, about which he boasts in his book In The Line of Fire .
Ironically, Musharraf’s safest option is probably Saudi Arabia, to where he exiled his current nemesis Nawaz Sharief.
The Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrim bin Abdul Aziz visited Pakistan over the weekend to negotiate a deal ''so that nobody is humiliated.'' But the whisky-swilling, dog-loving, media-crazy dictator is not the ideal guest for the fundamentalist kingdom.
With the clock winding down for impeachment proceedings to begin, Musharraf is said to be digging in his heels, disregarding the advice of his many patrons in U.S, U.K and Saudi Arabia to leave.
Tariq Ali’s prediction: ''Musharraf will not go gentle into that golf course.'' It’s a bogey that fills Pakistan’s patrons with fear.
Labels: Mushraff, Mushraff Resigns
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