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Pakistan Parliament to meet on August 11

Pervez Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly, the elected Lower House of Parliament, is set to meet on August 11 (Monday), days after the ruling coalition announced it had decided to impeach President Pervez Musharraf, but coalition leaders said the proceedings would not be initiated immediately.

The retired General Musharraf on Saturday approved a requisition by the Pakistan People’s Party-led government for the summoning of the Assembly on August 11, which also happens to be his 65th birthday. But contrary to speculation, the House is not expected to initiate the impeachment proceedings on that day.

“The National Assembly will take up ordinary business on Monday,” PPP spokesman Farahtullah Babar told The Hindu. But through next week, the four provincial Assemblies would by turn adopt identical resolutions calling up General Musharraf to seek a vote of confidence from the new electoral college, comprising the National Assembly and the Assemblies.

Coalition leaders are said to be working on the draft of the resolution for the provincial Assemblies. The Punjab Assembly is expected to adopt the resolution on Monday, the North West Frontier Province Assembly on Tuesday, followed by the Sindh and Balochistan Assemblies later in the week, after the August 14 Independence Day break.

Once this happens, the National Assembly is expected to submit a notice to the Speaker the week after informing him of its intention to impeach the President. The notice has to be signed by 50 per cent of the members of either the National Assembly or the Senate, Parliament’s upper house.

Some of President Musharraf’s advisers are reportedly asking him to step down even before the Assemblies adopt the resolutions, as they amount to a virtual vote of no confidence against him. At the moment, there is no hint from General Musharraf about what he plans to do, although the media is awash with several possible scenarios in case General Musharraf decides to fight it out.

One is that the he could approach the Supreme Court to halt the impeachment proceedings after the resolution to remove him is presented to Parliament. Article 47 of the Constitution lays down that a President has to be of unsound mind or he must have acted unconstitutionally to invite impeachment.

President Musharraf could argue that the charges against him do not fall in these categories. The apex court even upheld the November 2007 imposition of Emergency as constitutional. Another possibility, of course, is that of the dissolution of Parliament by the President using his constitutional powers. In such an eventuality, there is speculation that instead of holding elections within 90 days as required, General Musharraf may ask the Supreme Court for more time, and in this period impose a Bangladesh-style caretaker government. Aaj television said on Saturday that military circles were asking President Musharraf to step down.

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