ISLAMABAD // The Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has cancelled his official visit to the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony amid reports that the coalition government is discussing his impeachment. The announcement came as the fragile coalition, which came to power in March after defeating Mr Musharraf's allies in elections, prepared to hold a second day of talks focused on how to tackle the US-backed president.
"The foreign office has got information about cancellation of the president's visit," said the Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq. "The visit is cancelled. I cannot tell (you) immediately the reason for it," he said. But media reports said that coalition leaders Asif Ali Zardari, widower of the former premier Benazir Bhutto, and the ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif had discussed the possible impeachment of Mr Musharraf yesterday.
"The cancellation of the China visit by President Musharraf is an important development," said a senior government official who declined to be named. "Given our special relationship and friendly ties with China, it is unimaginable that a Pakistani leader would cancel his visit ? and that, too, for a very important occasion for our ally China," the official added. Mr Zardari had also cancelled a planned visit to China, one of Pakistan's main military backers, for the opening of the Olympic Games, said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari were set to hold further meetings today, but Mr Babar did not say if the coalition leaders planned to finalise a decision to impeach Mr Musharraf as reported in local newspapers. "It is up to the leaders to decide, and they could choose to speak to media or issue a joint statement after the meeting," he said. Asked about Mr Musharraf's decision to cancel his China trip, Mr Babar said, "I am not concerned whether he (Musharraf) is going or not, it is up to him."
Mr Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, or PML-N, party however said that a decision was likely. "We have a commitment to the nation, which demands that it does not want to see Pervez Musharraf occupying the presidency," Javed Hashmi, the PML-N's senior vice president, said ahead of a party meeting. "The country will be saved from the present crisis and by his (Musharraf's) quitting there will be political stability."
The two parties have been split by the twin issues of what to do about Mr Musharraf and how to carry out their pledge to reinstate senior judges sacked by Mr Musharraf under a state of emergency last November. The rift has caused a sense of paralysis in the government, which is under huge pressure from the US over its efforts to negotiate with Taliban and al Qa'eda militants based near the Afghan border.
*AFP
