Pakistan President Musharraf Resigns
Pervez Musharraf - the President for Pakistan - resigned today in order to avoid the impending impeachment charges. His resignation comes almost nine years after the key U.S. ally took power in a coup in its campaign against terrorism.
Speculation the former army chief would resign had mounted since the fractious coalition government, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said this month it planned to impeach him. “Whether I win or lose, the nation will lose,” Musharraf, 65, said of the impeachment process in an hour-long televised address in which he passionately defended his record.
“The honor and dignity of the country will be affected and in my view, the honor of the office of president will also be affected.” Prolonged jockeying and uncertainty over Musharraf’s position had hurt financial markets in the nuclear-armed country of 165 million people, and raised concerns in Washington and elsewhere that it was distracting from efforts to tackle militancy.
Coalition officials had said earlier Musharraf had sought immunity from prosecution but he said in his speech he was asking for nothing. “I don’t want anything from anybody. I have no interest. I leave my future in the hands of the nation and people,” he said.
One of the main coalition parties, that of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whom Musharraf ousted in 1999, has been insisting he face trial for treason. Bhutto’s party has said parliament should decide.
Musharraf ended his final address as president with the words: “May God protect Pakistan, may God protect you all. Long Live Pakistan forever.”
Pakistani stocks jumped 4 percent on the news and the rupee which had lost a quarter of its value this year, began strengthening. “It eliminates all the uncertainty in the market,” said Asad Iqbal, managing director at Ismail Iqbal Securities. “The government will hopefully start concentrating on the economy. From an economic point of view, they have no excuses now and they have to perform.”
Musharraf has been isolated since his allies lost parliamentary elections in February. But in his speech he defiantly lambasted the coalition for what he described as failed economic policies, and said he had brought prosperity.
The powerful army, which has ruled for more than half the country’s 61-year history, has publicly kept out of the controversy over its old boss, and no protests over the Musharraf decision were expected.
Indeed, celebrations broke out across the country after the announcement, with people dancing and handing out sweets. “Thank God he’s resigned. The country will do much better now,” said Mohammad Ilyas, 30, in Karachi.