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‘Musharraf reconciled to exit’

* Govt adviser says PPP will try to make president’s exit dignified
* Foreign allies pressing for smooth transition to democracy
* Officials say Saudi King Abdullah has asked Nawaz to allow Musharraf to leave peacefully

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf, threatened with possible impeachment, is reconciled to stepping down before he is driven out of office, according to a senior adviser to the new government.

Musharraf has probably got a matter of weeks, at most a few months, before the curtain falls, political insiders say.

Dignified exit: “He is prepared to go and go with dignity,” said the source close to the leadership of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

“We will try to make it very dignified,” the PPP source said, adding it was politically difficult to be seen helping the unpopular president, as such a stance risked losing popular support.

Foreign allies: Foreign allies, including both the United States and Saudi Arabia, are pressing for a transition to civilian-led democracy in Pakistan which avoids further upheaval in the country. Although Musharraf has been a staunch ally in the US-led “war on terror” and launched a peace initiative with India, his exit is unlikely to disturb either, as long as Pakistan stabilises.

In the post-Musharraf era Pakistan faces challenges beyond the constant threat from militants linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The new government is grappling with a deteriorating macro-economic situation, and the stock market and the rupee have fallen sharply in recent weeks.

PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has proposed a constitutional package that would strip Musharraf of power, but possibly afford him legal protection. The PPP hopes to buy time to settle terms for the president’s departure. Nawaz wants Musharraf impeached or tried for treason.

Officials say Musharraf wants indemnity for his actions on November 3, 2007, when he suspended the Constitution and imposed emergency rule to purge the judiciary before it could rule illegal his re-election the previous month while he was still army chief.

Some segments of the media have intensified calls for Musharraf to resign, and a lawyers movement that sprang up last year in defence of the judiciary plans a mass protest on June 10, the same day the government is due to present its budget.

Independent analyst Nasim Zehra saw few options are left for Musharraf.

“I think he has no cards left,” she said. “Musharraf may be compelled to think of resigning sooner rather than later.” To add to Musharraf’s sense of isolation, retired generals, including some who served under him, have publicly criticised him and called for him to go.

Under Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kayani, the army has adopted a more constitutional role, though it won’t want its former chief humiliated.

The US has told the new government it wouldn’t want to see Musharraf dragged through the courts, as he has been a staunch ally and survived several Al Qaeda-led assassination attempts.

Beyond that, Washington has given assurances it will not play any role in Pakistan’s internal affairs, an adviser to the PPP leadership said.

Saudi king: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has asked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif to let Musharraf leave peacefully without pressing too hard for him to be put on trial, according to Pakistani officials. Before leaving for London on Tuesday, Nawaz again called for Musharraf to be put on trial for treason or impeached. reuters

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