LONDON, Feb 20: The British media by and large has welcomed the results of the Feb 18 polls in Pakistan describing it fairly free and fair and a verdict against President Pervez Musharraf and his policies.
However, a couple of newspapers have warned the new parliament against trying to force Musharraf out and advised the two major winners (PPP and PML-N) to work with him who, they say would now have only a ceremonial role.
The Times on Wednesday said that Musharraf’s insistence that he would work with whichever government emerged suggested that he understood the change in the power balance.
It warned that a move to impeach Musharraf, if supported by the victorious Pakistan People’s Party, would be disastrous, reopening old wounds, prolonging the parliamentary point-scoring irrelevant to Pakistan’s urgent needs and likely to invite renewed military intervention.
The Independent quoted Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and part of an American delegation that met Mr Musharraf after the polls, saying that the president appeared to have accepted the reality of the election result, which saw his parliamentary allies soundly defeated.
“I don’t think he is going to resign...my impression is that he was prepared to retire to being president, which he pointed out to us is ceremonial,” said Mr Biden. “To me it appears more about respect than power. Much will depend on how he is treated by the opposition parties and whether they opt for a transition rather than...revolution.”
According to the Independent, Musharraf has said he would resign if such a situation (impeachment proceedings against him) developed.
Mr Biden also met Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif. He said he believed Mr Zardari was aware that a smooth transition benefited the PPP. He said he believed Mr Musharraf’s attitude would depend on how he was treated “personally” by a new government.
The Guardian and the Financial Times, however, said that it would be in the interest of Pakistan and Musharraf if the president stepped down.
The Guardian in its editorial (The voice of a country) said for once, the voice of the people of Pakistan had been loud and clear.
The paper advised Mr Zardari not to listen to the US pleas to form a coalition with the discredited PML-Q but to keep faith with the popular vote and form a government of national unity with Mr Sharif.
The Financial Times advised the president to step down forthwith. In an editorial on Wednesday, the FT said President Musharraf would probably hope to continue in office, nonetheless. He should abandon any such thought.
