Dubai/Islamabad: A day after a defiant President Pervez Musharraf declared that he will not resign under pressure, Pakistan's ruling coalition asked him to step down on his own for the sake of the country or face parliament.
"The Parliament always has the power that whenever it wants, it can send home democratically a President or a Prime Minister," PPP chairman Asif Ali Zardari told reporters in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Musharraf on Saturday said he had no plans to resign or go into exile despite growing pressure from the ruling Pakistan People's Party and its ally PML-N that he should step down.
If Musharraf "is not ready to go", the sovereign parliament has the "absolute powers to decide his future", Zardari said.
In Lahore, PML(N) leader Shahbaz Sharif who was elected the Chief Minister of the crucial Punjab province launched a blistering attack on Musharraf, asking the leader to step down immediately "for the good" of the country.
"General Musharraf's dictatorship is taking its last breath," said Shahbaz. "For the good of the nation, I would like to ask Musharraf... to show mercy to the country and immediately resign and go home so that this government gets a chance to work."
Reacting to the President's assertion that he could not stand his powers being clipped, the PPP said it amounted to "contempt of parliament and the constitution" and a warning to the elected parliamentarians.
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar asked Musharraf to see the writing on the wall, pointing out that "a massive majority of the people" had voted against the President in the February 18 general election.
Comments
0 comment