Basically, this is what’s happening…
Last year, Musharraf’s made a commitment that if his party lost the Parlimentary elections that he would leave office and resign as well.
So, predictably, his party lost the elections, and instead of leaving office he declared a state of emergency. To be fair, there was a bit of turbulence and instability at the time, but it was convenient timing to say the least.
Regardless, the declaration of emergency allowed him to avoid calling for a “vote of confidence” and to continue to hold the office of the Presidency.
The “vote of confidence” is the system by which the government (the prime minister and his/her cabinet) in a parlimentary system is changed.
Well, an extended amount of time has gone by and Musharraf has still refused to request for a “vote of confidence,” so the Parliment is about to bring articles of impeachment against him.
From AFP
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Sunday faced a countdown to possible impeachment after the coalition government said he had until the end of the weekend to stand down.
The coalition, led by the party of slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, also said it had finalised impeachment charges against Musharraf and would lodge them in parliament early next week.
But Musharraf’s spokesman has repeatedly insisted that the former army chief, who seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1999, has no intention of quitting.
Allies have said that he will defend himself against any charges.
Political instability in a country that is not only on the front of “the war on terror” but is also a member of the nuclear club is really, really not good.
Pakistan has some serious issues it needs to address at the moment. They need to deal with sovereignty issues vs the Taliban on the Afghani border, they are having some pretty serious inflationary issues, not to mention the ongoing border disputes with India, and internal religious persecution issues (the Ahmadiyya).
Lets hope this gets resolved quickly and peacefully.
Filed under: Central and South Asia | Tagged: benazir, bhutto, Impeachment, musharref, pakistan, parliment
