PAKISTAN:THE PAKISTANI president Pervez Musharraf wavered yesterday over a planned trip to China for the opening of the Olympics after reports that his political opponents were preparing to impeach him.
Mr Musharraf, a close ally of the Bush administration, woke up to banner headlines in the Pakistan press suggesting he would be impeached. In apparent panic, he cancelled his flight but, after being closeted with advisers for several hours, announced he would go to China after all, a day later than planned.
Impeachment proceedings would plunge Pakistan into a fresh crisis, as Mr Musharraf, who until recently was head of the military and is thought to still enjoy its support, has repeatedly said he will not allow himself to be forced out of office. The Pakistani stock market slumped to its lowest level in two years on fears that the country was in for a new bout of political turmoil.
The coalition opposed to him, led by Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Asif Zardari of the Pakistan People's Party, were locked in a meeting in Islamabad last night.
Elections in February brought to power Mr Musharraf's opponents but he stubbornly clung on to the presidency, which he seized in a 1999 coup.
The coalition has threatened impeachment before, but while this time the threat appears more serious, the government may opt against such a incendiary move and instead try other means to pressure him to stand down.
The Bush administration, torn between wanting to see a strong man in place in the fragile country and wanting to promote democracy, has praised him for having given up his post as head of the military and helping with the shift towards civilian rule.
But the main US preoccupation in the region at present is the failure of Pakistan to clamp down on the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in its border areas.
Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a political analyst based in Lahore, suggested US support for Mr Musharraf has cooled. - ( Guardian service)