Army, US pressurise Zardari to meet Musharraf

“We are ready to hold talks with anyone, including (President Pervez) Musharraf, despite differences,” Zardari, who is planning to meet Musharraf, said.

Though he was reluctant to explain the agenda of his proposed meeting with Musharraf, he told The News: “I am hopeful that the outcome of my meeting with Musharraf will not disappoint the people of Pakistan.”

A close aide of Zardari, however, insisted that he “will suggest to Musharraf to step down in the larger interest of Pakistan.” The PPP chairman had earlier said he was not for impeaching Musharraf and wanted him to ‘walk away’.

The PPP could gather the support of the required number of parliamentarians for Musharraf’s impeachment but it did not believe in confrontation, Zardari told Express News TV adding economic and political stability is our first priority.”

In reply to a question, he said there was a ‘working relationship’ between PPP and the Presidency.

Emissaries of the US and top American Senators have met Zardari and advised him to stop attacking Musharraf and to meet him to reach some understanding on a working relationship, The News reported.

Zardari’s threats to impeach Musharraf have also not gone down well with the Pakistan Army’s high command and discreet messages have been sent to him to ‘resolve all the issues through dialogue’, it said.

Zardari is planning to meet Musharraf though the date and time of the meeting have not yet been finalised.

The Bush administration pressed the panic button following Zardari’s stinging attacks on Musharraf as ‘a relic of the past’.

Two US Senators, Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Robert Casey, met Zardari on Sunday. These Senators and some other officials have been pressing Zardari to meet Musharraf for a compromise.

But Levin and Casey were told by the PPP leader on Sunday “in so many words that Musharraf was no longer part of the solution, rather he was the problem”, the report said.

Zardari has taken the position that Musharraf had been totally rejected by a majority of voters in the February 18 polls and the US administration should respect the people’s verdict, the News said.

The PPP co-chairman has not only rejected the US pressure but has also requested the US administration to delay a proposed visit of Under-Secretary of State John Negroponte to Pakistan this week, the report said.

The US embassy in Pakistan, however, said Negroponte had no immediate plans to visit the country.

The new Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, will meet President George Bush in Washington on June 5 and explain the leadership to the US leader, who still wants to save Musharraf from public humiliation.

Haqqani, the report said, has “been told to give a commitment to Mr Bush that Pakistan will keep fighting the war against terror; the objectives of the war will remain the same though the strategy may change”.

The PPP also wanted the reinstatement of all judges deposed during 2007’s emergency, including former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and there should be no doubt about that, Zardari told Express News TV channel on Sunday.

The package of proposed constitutional amendments prepared by the PPP is not final and it could be amended to accommodate the views of the party’s coalition partners, Zardari said.

The package is an ‘important turn’ in the country’s history and the PPP wanted a thorough debate to evolve consensus on various issues, he said.

The constitutional package is based on the Charter of Democracy signed by the PPP and PML-N in 2006 and it has the support of most political parties.

All political parties wanted to see democratic norms flourishing in Pakistan and the package could be improved through a healthy debate and in consultation with all stakeholders, he said

There is a possibility that the package would be presented in the National Assembly before the budget session and a debate held on it after the session.

Zardari expressed the hope that the package would be approved with consensus in July. He also said he had asked Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan to hold talks on the issue because the PPP wanted to improve the judicial system.

The PPP did not believe in politics of confrontation as it wanted reconciliation and resolution of the judicial issue through dialogue, he said.

The party also believed in the supremacy of parliament and did not want confrontation with anyone. The job of politicians is to make possible what appears to be impossible, he said.