Musharraf vows to thwart efforts to remove him

TESTING GROUND: Pervaiz Elahi said on Wednesday that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would not resign.

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Islamabad: Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) leader Pervaiz Elahi said on Wednesday that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would not resign.

However, he told Dawn news that Musharraf has agreed to face impeachment. “If coalition decides to impeach, the motion will fail in parliament,” said Elahi.

A defiant Musharraf earlier on Wednesday vowed to use all his constitutional powers to thwart efforts to remove him from office after the ruling coalition closed ranks on his possible impeachment.

Warning that any move to impeach him could "destabilise the country", 64-year-old Musharraf, who abruptly cancelled his visit to China to attend the Olympic Games opening, told leaders of his ally PML (Q) that he would continue to play his constitutional role as the head of state.

Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told reporters that Musharraf, who was due to fly to Beijing, had called off his visit due to "developments at home", as the ruling coalition allies Pakistan People's Party and PML (N) went into a huddle for the second day to decide his fate.

Following the meeting, PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, told TV news channels that Musharraf had said he would use his constitutional powers to counter any move to impeach him. They did not give details.

Differences over handling of Musharraf and reinstatement of judges sacked by the president under a state of emergency last November have strained relations between the two ruling coalition allies with Nawaz Sharif's PML (N) quitting the cabinet in May.

The PPP, which has refrained from taking on Musharraf head on after formation of government in March, now appears to have given in to pressure from Sharif, who was ousted by the former General in a bloodless coup in 1999. After marathon talks, PPP Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has reportedly agreed in principle to impeach the President if all partners in the coalition assured their support for such a move.

With inputs from PTI