OMG Kayani, are these guys for real?
I asked our beloved Pakistani commentator Hassan Chop what to make of Pakistan’s Musharraf impeachment measure.
TAGS: impeachment, warBy Hassan Chop
I’m not sure where this impeachment thing is going. As is usual in Pakistan, all kinds of crazy shit happened before we got to Zardari and Sharif saying that Musharraf would be impeached under Article 47 of the constitution. In fact, talks almost broke down last night.It seemed like they’d reached an understanding over the impeachment issue. They were going to hold a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament, which would almost certainly have resulted in a vote of no confidence in Musharraf, and then they would start official impeachment proceedings. Well, nothing ever goes according to plan in Pakistan, and everything is not as it seems.
Zardari and Sharif were supposed to hold a joint press conference to discuss their plan, when it was suddenly canceled. Around the same time, private news channels reported that Musharraf had re-appointed eight deposed judges of the Sindh High Court after the request had been sent to him by the law ministry, which is run by the PPP. So, on the one hand, the PPP apparently reached agreement with the PML(N) on the issues of impeachment and the restoration of the deposed judges, but on the other hand, the PPP asked Musharraf to reinstate eight deposed judges without consulting the PML(N) on the issue. Obviously, that gave Musharraf a bit of a lifeline and was essentially a slap in the face of the PML(N), and that may be why the joint press conference was initially cancelled. Musharraf had already vowed to fight the impeachment, and this was obviously a good start for him. Then, the PPP withdrew the order to restore the judges, presumably as a sign of goodwill toward the PML(N). According to the Pakistani press, the PPP convinced the PML(N) to restart negotiations (”I cheated, but I still love you baby. Let’s work this out.”).
So, here we are: Musharraf will face a vote of confidence, and if he loses, the government will start impeachment proceedings in the next few days, after which they’ll restore the deposed judges. Musharraf can still dissolve the parliament, but I think that would be suicide for him. I’m not sure that the Army would support such a move, because it would create a huge public backlash.
I’m hopeful, but then again, I was hopeful many months ago and this whole thing turned into a s*it-show, so I’m going to take a wait-and-see approach. Whatever happens, they need to move fast. In case anyone forgot, there’s a small war going on in FATA.
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