'Musharraf to resign if ex-Chief Justice restored'

New York, Mar 6: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would resign if the new federal government concedes to ex-premier Nawaz Sharif's demand of reinstating the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, because he does not want to be an ineffective President, a western diplomat in Islamabad considered a close aide of Musharraf, said.

Citing a reason for Musharraf resigning in such a situation, he said that restoration of the deposed CJ would reopen the question of Musharraf's eligibility to be the President and the legality of suspension of the Constitution in November by him. "The President will resign. He does not want to be an ineffective president," The Nation quoted the unidentified aide as saying. The same would happen if lawmakers removed his powers to dissolve Parliament, he further said in the course of a dispatch on the latest political developments in Pakistan.

He added: "He (Musharraf) is considering whether he should go. My feeling is Musharraf would not accept a diminished role; either he is in power or he leaves. Yet Mr. Musharraf, who says he will work with whatever government is formed, remains aggressive publicly and seems determined to remain at the helm."

The dispatch said that western diplomats in Islamabad privately expressed alarm over the political vacuum, which comes as Islamic extremists are conducting a campaign of suicide bombings.

ANI