National Assembly meets today to start impeachment process

The National Assembly meets here on Monday at 5:00 pm to start the process to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. Constitutional experts say that at least half of the National Assembly members need to sign a written notice of the intention to impeach the president.

The speaker then has three days to send the notice to president after which a joint sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly will be called. According to constitution, the joint sitting should be called ‘not earlier than seven days and not later than 14 days’ after the president receives the notice.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the session would set into motion the process to impeach Musharraf. “The session has been summoned in connection with impeachment of the president,” Babar said.

He added “a notice for impeachment will be served on President Musharraf during the session.” The sitting would then “investigate or cause to be investigated” the charge sheet. Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate and the National Assembly under the constitution.

It would be the first time in country’s 61-year history that a president has been impeached. The ruling coalition needs the support of 295 parliamentarians out of the 439 in both the houses to remove President Musharraf.

Four Senators from Fata have already announced their support to the government for impeachment. A four-member draft committee of the coalition is expected to complete its work of framing charges against the president within a day or two. These charges will be presented before the joint sitting of the parliament.

Meanwhile, hectic efforts are on in the President’s camp to tackle the biggest challenge that Pervez Musharraf has faced since he over threw Nawaz Sharif’s government in 1999.

He has already held several marathon meetings with constitutional experts, including Sharifuddin Pirzada, close confidant Tariq Aziz and PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Chaudhry Pervaiz Illahi and Hamid Nasir Chattha.

His close aides say that the President has vowed to fight his impeachment through all legal and constitutional means.

According to published reports, President Musharraf is unlikely to use his powers to dissolve the assemblies under article 58-2 (b) of the constitution as it would be supported neither by the people nor the establishment. His legal advisers have also asked him not to move the apex court against impeachment because the Supreme Court could not intervene in the parliamentary matters.