Musharraf Rejects Calls to Resign
NYT
June 8, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday that he would not resign despite increasing pressure from Pakistan’s ruling coalition to do so.
Mr. Musharraf gave his position at a meeting with a group of selected journalists in which he dismissed recent news reports that he was preparing to give up his post and go into exile.
The president also complained Saturday about the proposal by the Pakistan Peoples Party, the main political party in the government, for sweeping constitutional changes intended to limit his authority. He suggested that such changes, if they were approved by Parliament, might leave him in an untenable position. He said he did not want to become a “useless vegetable,” wire services reported.
“Parliament is supreme,” Mr. Musharraf said. “Whatever the Parliament decides, I will accept it.” He added, “If I see that I don’t have any role to play, then it is better to play golf.”
In what might be a signal that he is ready to compromise more with the coalition government, Mr. Musharraf said that he believes in reconciliation. That is why, he said, he had allowed the return of two former prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December. Mr. Sharif and Mrs. Bhutto’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, of the Pakistan Peoples Party, are leading the coalition that is trying to curtail his power.
The president also was critical of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, whom Mr. Musharraf put under house arrest after Dr. Khan confessed to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Dr. Khan told several news organizations last month that his confession was false and made under pressure from the president.
Mr. Musharraf denied that.
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This new government in place wants to negotiate with terrorists. personally, i hope Musharaff gorilla glues his ass to his chair and doesnt budge
June 8th, 2008 at 9:30 am