The entire nation is confused and disturbed due to the introduction of a new destabilising variable—impeachment of the president—in current political instability in the country. The economic situation has been worsening and the writ of the government is gradually deteriorating, especially in Balochistan and Frontier provinces. The increasing inflation and continuity of the movement launched by the legal fraternity manifest that the coalition government has failed to address the basic concerns of the common man.
The government’s performance has been undercut by numerous factors. But the ruling coalition partners believe that President Gen (retired) Pervez Musharraf is responsible for the present political instability. Therefore, the change in Presidency is inevitable for the sustainability and prosperity of the newly constituted democratic system. On August 7, the ruling coalition partners announced to impeach President Musharraf after long sessions of consultations.
The coalition government had failed to develop a working relationship with the Presidency. The president also seems disturbed with the performance of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani’s government. In his recent statements, the president had expressed his serious concerns about the deteriorating situation in the country. The statements by the president generated an impression that he had been preparing a charge sheet to use the Article 58(2)b to dissolve the National Assembly.
Realising the sensitivity of the situation, the leaders of the PPP and the PML-N met in Islamabad to finalise their strategy to deal with President Musharraf. After securing support from the smaller partners in the ruling coalition, they announced to impeach the president, if he failed to get the vote of confidence from the presidential Electoral College. A special committee of the coalition partners was constituted to finalise the necessary documents critical to impeach the president. For instance, they have been busy in drafting a charge sheet against the president for presentation at a joint session of parliament.
The general impression was that the president would prefer to resign, instead of responding to the government’s allegations in the Parliament. President Musharraf, however, expressed his resolute to defend himself instead of resigning. His spokesperson Maj Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi stated that Mr Musharraf did not want to respond to the ‘wild allegations’ being leveled against him through the media and would defend himself after receiving the charge sheet.
President Musharraf also approached his political associates to confront the government initiative against him. He is trying to use the differences in the PPP to his advantage. In this context, Makhdoom Jameeluzzaman’s relinquishing his Sindh cabinet post is significant.  While, the PML-Q leadership expressed its solidarity with the president and claimed that the government lacked two-third support in the parliament. They depicted government’s claim about the availability of required support in the National Assembly and Senate as a bluff. Hence, the government would not be able to impeach the president.
In addition, by virtue of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, President Musharraf still enjoys numerous decisive discretionary powers including the power to purge the government by dissolving the National Assembly. The legal question is that whether president is empowered to dissolve the National Assembly, when parliament is in the process to impeach the president. It was reported that President Musharraf would not make use of Article 58(2)b for his continuity in the Presidency. Nonetheless, the past record of Mr Musharraf reveals that he would not be refrained in exploiting the Presidential constitutional powers to his advantage. The president had threatened that he had sufficient official records’ to expose failures of the four-month-old coalition government.    
Another important unsettled problem is the restoration of the apex courts justices.  The judges’ issue has apparently taken the back seat. The legal fraternity is disturbed with this development and it accuses the coalition government for placing the judges’ issue into the back burner by deciding to go for impeaching President Musharraf first. In a protest it had ruled out any change in the August 14 deadline, which they had set for the government to restore the deposed judges.
The impeachment move by the leading political parties would have lasting impact on the political situation in Pakistan. Is this impeachment process leading to political stability in the country? The prevalent trends indicate pessimistic outcomes. In the Senate the opposition alleged the government for horse-trading to buy votes. The PML-Q Secretary General, Syed Mushahid Hussain, claimed that the government had offered 25 million rupees to a parliamentarian to change loyalty. The floor crossing would severely undermine the credibility of evolving democratic process in the country. The elected representatives will lose their respect and failed to influence effectively the decision making process in the country.
The coalition partners simply make known the desire to remove President Musharraf from the political scene of the country. They did not announce his replacement or the name of a presidential candidate till the writing of these lines. Certainly, this would lead in a future contest within and among the political parties. 
Whatever, the result of ruling coalition’s impeachment move; the political stability in the country would remain a cause of concern. The impeachment move succeeds or fails; it would further deepen differences among the political forces and increase personal vendetta. The PML-N leadership gave an impression that President Musharraf impeachment would be followed by his trial on a wide range of charges, including financial corruption, murder and sedition.
These outcomes would amplify disunity in the state and society of Pakistan. Hence, it is imperative that the political leadership act rationally; prefer national interest to their self-interest; and work for the development of political and social harmony within the state and society of Pakistan.