May 24, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18, 1429

LAHORE: Two coalition partners of the PPP, the PML-N and ANP, share the assertion of its leader Asif Ali Zardari that people want President Pervez Musharraf ousted for the sake of a genuine democratic system.

The third partner, the JUI-F, says it will not oppose the move if the coalition decides to dislodge the president. However, the party said it would see whether what the PPP co-chairman had said in an interview was just a political statement or a policy decision.

Pakistan Muslim League-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq said people had rejected President Musharraf in the general elections, after which there was no justification for him to stick to power.

He said the coalition partners had enough strength in both houses of parliament to impeach the president.

In his opinion there would be no negative impact if President Musharraf was impeached. There could be a feeling of instability for some time but the situation would normalise soon.

Awami National Party information secretary Zahid Khan said Mr Musharraf was not a constitutionally elected head of the state and thus he must quit.

He said people had rejected all supporters of the former army chief in the elections which clearly meant that they did not want to see him in the presidency.

The ANP leader said impeachment of the president would be a risky decision because in such a situation he could use his power to dissolve the National Assembly.

He said the likely fate of the president would become clear after the proposed constitutional package was made public. It is possible that if his wings were clipped he will not like to stay in power.

He said the ANP was very careful in its moves and would not like to “burn the blanket to get rid of lice”.

Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) Amir Maulana Fazlur Rehman said what was more important was parliament’s ability to oust the president. If it is in a position to do so there is no need for statements and the major ruling party should go ahead.

When asked how his party would like the president to be treated, he said: “We’ll not like to say anything beyond our political position. But we’ll not oppose it if other coalition partners decide to remove the president.”

Answering a question, he said: “Apparently it is very difficult for the PPP to take such a decision in the prevailing situation. Had it been an easy decision, the PPP leadership would have taken it by now.”

On the other hand, a PML-Q leader, who did not want to be named, said his party would oppose any move to impeach the president.

He said the PML-Q and its supporters had more than 50 seats in the 100-strong Senate because of which the ruling coalition would not be able to oust the president even if it had more than a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.

The president can be removed only by a two-thirds majority in a joint session of both houses of parliament.