PAKISTAN'S PRESIDENT, Pervez Musharraf, bowed to massive domestic and international pressure to quit yesterday in a move that could further destabilise the volatile country if the coalition government fails to hold together now that its common enemy is removed.
A grim-faced Mr Musharraf delivered an impassioned defence of his record on live television for more than an hour. He kept the news of his resignation until the final moment, ending his almost nine years in power with "God bless Pakistan".
"If I was doing this just for myself, I might have chosen a different course but I put Pakistan first, as always," said the president, wearing a western suit and tie but speaking in the national language, Urdu.
The coalition government, led by the Pakistan People's party and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, had managed to stage a bloodless counter-coup by announcing two weeks ago that they planned to impeach the president.
Most members of the coalition government, which came to power after elections in February, did not want the trauma of impeachment proceedings, hoping the threat of prosecution would be enough to convince the president to go. That strategy proved successful just two hours before parliament was due start the process.
The crisis that led to Mr Musharraf's departure has been brewing for more than year. He sacked the respected chief justice in March 2007, and later declared a state of emergency. Popular opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated late last year, and elections in February saw the coalition government elected and determined to oust him.
It had been predicted Mr Musharraf would step down as a part of a western-mediated agreement between the president and the coalition government, which would give him immunity from future prosecution. He also wanted to be able to stay in Pakistan. It is thought his terms have been met, though he suggested no deal had been cut.
"I don't want anything from anybody. I have no interest. I leave my future in the hands of the nation and people," Mr Musharraf said.
Political insiders suggested Mr Musharraf received assurances from the Pakistan People's party, which leads the coalition, that would have been guaranteed by the army.
Pakistan and its western allies hope removing the president, who seized power in a 1999 coup but gave up his army uniform late last year, will mean the coalition can now get on with governing.
But while the impeachment issue brought the largely dysfunctional coalition together, analysts warned there would now be a struggle over Mr Musharraf's successor and whether judges fired by him should be reinstated. - ( Guardian service)