Pakistan’s new ruling coalition is considering the possibility of impeaching president Pervez Musharraf and trying him for treason.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new ruling coalition is considering the possibility of impeaching president Pervez Musharraf and trying him for treason.
Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, the leaders of PPP and PML-N, have discussed the possibility of impeaching Musharraf and holding his trial under Article 6 of the constitution for toppling the government in 1999 and invalidating the constitution.
Sources in the PML said Sharif apprised Zardari of his desire to end the army’s role in politics by making an example of Musharraf.
The sources said Zardari listened to an emotionally charged Sharif and agreed that effective steps should be taken by the new government to depoliticise the army.
Sharif was of the view that once a former army chief is tried and convicted, no military chief would dare to topple an elected government in future. The sources said Zardari agreed that parliament should hold Musharraf accountable under Article 6, but at an appropriate time, after reinstating the deposed judges of the superior courts and stripping Musharraf of his discretionary presidential powers to dismiss the assemblies and sack the prime minister vested in him under Article 58(2)b of the constitution.
According to Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan, any person who abrogates or attempts or conspires to abrogate, subverts or makes attempts to subvert the constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means, shall be guilty of high treason and shall be charged and prosecuted by parliament, which shall sentence him to death if found guilty of the charges.
Circles close to Sharif say he is not ready to give a safe exit to Musharraf after he is booted out of the presidency, which is highly likely after the Thursday decision of the PPP and the PML-N to join hands in the parliament.
A day after the elections, Sharif told media persons in Lahore in response to a query: “Trial under Article 6 of the Constitution of those who have abrogated the sacred basic legal framework of the country is a must to permanently block future martial laws. We will see to it that those who had abrogated the constitution are not able to flee Pakistan after losing power.”
It, however, remains to be seen if the army will quietly acquiesce in this plan.
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