Musharraf allies warn impeachment could be messy

In this photo taken on Sunday, July 6, 2008, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf gestures during a ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan's ruling coalition will ask President Pervez Musharraf to seek a confidence vote in Parliament or face impeachment, senior party officials told The Associated Press on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The party of ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif said Friday it is rejoining the Cabinet, a gesture of solidarity now that the bickering coalition partners have agreed to seek President Pervez Musharraf's impeachment.

The decision came as Musharraf allies warned they will not make it easy to push the president out, while some newspapers suggested the former army strongman should resign to spare the country another messy political fight.

Musharraf dominated Pakistan for eight years and became a close U.S. ally after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but ceded control of the powerful army last year and has been largely sidelined since coalition parties trounced his allies in February parliamentary elections.

His fate, however, has been a key focus of contention between the two main parties in the coalition. Disagreements over his future and how to restore a group of judges he fired last year prompted Sharif to pull his ministers from the Cabinet in May.

On Friday, Sharif party officials said four of the nine ministers who left would rejoin the Cabinet in a goodwill gesture.

Though deeply disliked by many Pakistanis, Musharraf has insisted he will serve out the five-year term he was elected to in a contentious parliamentary vote in October, and has shown no signs of giving up without a fight after the impeachment plans were announced Thursday.

"This decision about President Musharraf's impeachment is going to open a Pandora's box," Mushahid Hussain, a senior figure in the main pro-Musharraf party, told The Associated Press on Friday. "It is not going to be that easy."

Hussain insisted his party will defend the president, while another Musharraf ally, Tariq Azim, said the coalition can expect "many legal challenges."

Leading newspapers suggested the president should resign to avoid becoming the first Pakistani president to be impeached.

The Nation newspaper said a voluntary resignation would "save the country a lot of trouble."

Analysts say the ruling coalition, which has struggled with pressing economic and security problems it inherited, is not assured of victory. It requires a two-thirds majority of lawmakers to vote for removal in a joint session of both houses of Parliament.

The coalition parties currently control 236 of the 339 seats in the National Assembly, or lower house, and as many as 51 of the 100 seats in the Senate, or upper house. That leaves it at least six seats short of what it needs to win, although it could gain the support of independents or Musharraf defectors.

The decision followed marathon negotiations between Asif Ali Zardari, head of the largest coalition party, and Sharif, who was ousted as prime minister in Musharraf's 1999 coup.

Officials said Friday the process of impeachment could start as early as next week.

Musharraf supporters accused the coalition of trying to deflect attention from its failure during more than four months in power to address mounting economic and security problems.

Inflation in Pakistan is running at more than 20 percent, and the country suffers hours of power outages daily. Food prices have soared. Worries over Islamic extremism are deepening.

The U.S. government offered a measured response to the coalition's impeachment plans. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said Thursday the U.S. wanted any actions in Pakistan to be consistent with the country's constitution and the rule of law.

Musharraf has the constitutional power as president to dissolve Parliament, yet a move to do so now would be hugely controversial, and would require the backing of a military trying to distance itself from politics. The army has lost public support because of its association with Musharraf and its U.S.-backed military operations against Islamic militants inside Pakistan.

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Associated Press Writer Zarar Khan contributed to this report.