Zardari under pressure to give constitutional indemnity to Musharraf
ISLAMABAD: While the ousted president General (retd) Musharraf is in a relaxed mood and has no intention to go into exile, the future president, Asif Ali Zardari, is under tremendous pressure from international guarantors to provide him constitutional indemnity for his unconstitutional actions of Nov 3, 2007.
Sources in the Pakistan People’s Party confided to this correspondent that internal and foreign powers, which had facilitated the Aug 18 resignation of Musharraf, wanted Zardari to ensure that the ousted dictator was neither tried nor prosecuted.
The PPP co-chairman, the sources said, was asked to provide constitutional indemnity to Musharraf’s unconstitutional actions before the presidential election but Zardari had reportedly promised to get it done after he landed into the presidency.
“We are really in a fix,” a PPP source said, adding that the future financial assistance to Pakistan had been linked to constitutional indemnity for Musharraf by the international guarantors – Washington and London.
“Indemnity to Musharraf is too serious an issue to be ignored by the party co-chairperson,” the source said, admitting that Musharraf was set to stay in Pakistan. They said that a clear understanding was given to those on whose intervention Musharraf tendered his resignation from the office of president that the former president would be protected from trial or prosecution. “Let me assure you that the indemnity issue is more serious than it is generally thought to be,” the source said, warning that no Lara Lappa (dilly dallying) would be accepted by the guarantors.
Perhaps, it is because of the same reason that the ousted dictator is reported to be really relaxed and free of worries. Mohsin Hafeez, who has been secretary to the ousted president, has been quoted by The News as telling his visitors that Musharraf had no plans to leave Pakistan. “Why should I do so when I have done nothing wrong or illegal,” the retired general, who had abrogated the Constitution twice, removed and arrested 60 judges of the superior judiciary, is quoted to have said. According to Mohsin Hafeez, the man is in “high spirits”.
The PPP has been recently discussing the issue of providing constitutional indemnity to Musharraf but no final decision could be taken on the issue following the PML-N’s refusal to be part of any such move. Recently, Asfandyar Wali Khan and Maulana Fazlur Rehman were said to be ready to support the PPP’s move to provide indemnity to Musharraf, risking their own democratic credentials.
Zardari has repeatedly said that he did not seek a trial of Musharraf. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani too said on Wednesday that the government would forgive Musharraf, thus indicating that the PPP would move sooner than later to secure the ousted dictator from any kind of accountability for what he had done during the past nine years.
PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar, when approached, said that he was neither privy to any commitment made by Zardari to local and foreign guarantors about the protection of Musharraf from trial and prosecution nor he was aware of any pressure on the party’s co-chairperson to fulfill his commitment vis-à-vis the ousted dictator.
Babar said that parliament would decide the fate of Musharraf. He said that there had been informal discussions between the coalition partners, who could not agree on the indemnity issue.
He, however, said parliament would be the right forum to decide the matter, but acknowledged at the same time that Prime Minister Gilani had talked of forgiving Musharraf. Babar said that there were inter-parties and intra-party divisions on the issue as some sought trial of Musharraf under the Article 6 of the Constitution while others believed that it was time to move on and that the man had already been punished by being forced to quit the presidency.
**My Comment: Is Zardari going to be another President Ford in trying the crimes of his predecessor?
Link: **Zardari under pressure to give constitutional indemnity to Musharraf
