Pakistan press split over Musharraf

President Musharraf retains the power to dissolve parliament

The decision by Pakistan's governing coalition to begin impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf aroused a mixed response in the local press.

While both English and Urdu language papers agreed it was time for Mr Musharraf to go, several of the main English-language papers viewed the impeachment bid negatively, describing it as a cynical tussle by politicans vying for Mr Musharraf's job and pointing out that the government had no long-term strategy.

However, in the Urdu-language press, some papers praised the government for trying to fulfil the expectations of the electorate and working towards a "new Pakistan".

The decision of the ruling coalition... amounts to making a plunge into darkness and that too at a time when the country was in dire need of national unity and cohesion to ward off threats to its security and integrity� The political turbulence that might accompany the process of impeachment would further poison the atmosphere and accelerate the downslide to the amusement of our enemies.

The politicians shouting for his ouster want him out so that they can tussle for his job - the altruism that apparently drives their efforts is as phoney as most things political in Pakistan; this is about power, who has it and who wields it. At a more humble level it is clear to a majority of ordinary people that the president has gone past his sell-by date.

Unless something out of the ordinary happens, President Pervez Musharraf's political fate has been sealed� What the PPP and PML-N leaders should know is that President Musharraf's removal from the scene will merely remove a perceived hindrance in the way of good governance. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the coalition partners have bothered so far to draw up a comprehensive development strategy focusing on long-and short-term goals.

Now that the coalition has decided that the president's removal from office would precede the judges' restoration, it is to be hoped it would wholeheartedly work to realise these objectives and succeed� Now that the differences between the two major political parties appear set for resolution, it is to be hoped that their leaderships would do all they can to... address the manifold problems of the people.

Pakistan's ruling parties have agreed to impeach President Musharraf first and then restore the deposed judges. We believe the ruling alliance is... trying to meet the people's expectations. If any misadventure is attempted by the presidency at this stage, the country will fall into anarchy. Everyone should play a positive role at this juncture.

We believe President Musharraf should read the writing on the wall and withdraw honourably. If he is removed in a constitutional manner, he might face a court trial for the Kargil operation and the 2 November imposition of martial law... This would not be a pleasant situation for him.

We believe when the judges are restored and the country gets rid of President Musharraf, a new Pakistan will come into being where the ruling junta will address public problems in a better way. It is the right of the people that the coalition government focuses its attention on core issues and buries their mutual differences.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.

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