Musharraf advised to strike compromise with suspended CJ

NEW YORK: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has been advised by his political supporters to strike a compromise with the suspended Chief Justice as any hardline military solution could lead to greater confrontation.

Members of the ruling Pakistani Muslim League, who provide Musharraf's base of support in Parliament, have also recommended that the General open the elections for the presidency, which are supposed to take place this year, to his exiled political opponents and make sure that the polling is free and fair.

The members were quoted by the 'New York Times' as saying that nationwide protests since the suspension of the country's chief justice in March, and violent clashes that left 42 people dead in Karachi on May 12, have cast a pall over his leadership.

They are encouraging Musharraf to strike a compromise with the suspended Chief Justice, who did not shy away from challenges to the government and whose removal has been protested as a threat to the judiciary, the paper said.

The alternative to compromise, party members warn, is a hardline military solution that leads only to greater confrontation, the report said.

For the moment, Musharraf seems to be sticking to his planned course to maintain power rather than seek conciliation with either the suspended chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, or his political rivals, supporters and opponents were quoted by the paper as saying.

Opposition members and some from the ruling party, the Times says, warn that not only is Musharraf's future at stake, but also the stability of the country, which sits on the front line of American efforts to combat Taliban insurgents and Al Qaeda.

"There are two ways he can go, retreat to the bunker or stop, pause, review, reflect and reverse course," one ruling party member said.

"He has to show leadership, magnanimity, and be loyal to the broader objective. The important thing is Pakistan's future".

Not least, the paper says, the ruling party members, who also face elections this year, have become concerned for their own political fortunes.

They acknowledged that both the president and the party have suffered from the public reaction to the chief justice's removal, which many concede the president did not anticipate, the report said.

The president's opponents and supporters alike, the Times says, now agree that the events of the past few months present the greatest domestic challenge to Musharraf since he seized power in a bloodless coup in October 1999.

"The government's interest is in lowering the temperature, defusing tension and keeping loyal to the objective of a transparent system that leads to the democratic transfer of power," Mushahid Hussain Sayed, general secretary of the ruling party, said.

"It is the last thing you would want in an election year," he said adding "one thing after another is piling up, and most of these things are negative."

Asked about Musharraf's growing troubles, a senior State Department official reiterated American support for the Pakistani president.

"Fundamentally the direction of the country is right," the official said.