Movement to impeach Pervez Musharraf

The movement to impeach Pervez Musharraf was an August 2008 attempt by opposition parties comprising the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), Awami National Party (ANP), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam to force Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf out of office. On the 18th of August, Musharraf announced his resignation.

On November 3, 2007, President and then-Chief of the Army Staff Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency, postponing indefinitely the elections for the National Assembly of Pakistan that were initially scheduled to take place on January 8, 2008. The emergency announcement also contained news of the dismissal of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, widely considered to have been motivated by a prediction that the Supreme Court was about to invalidate Musharraf's October reelection as President of Pakistan in uniform. This action, combined with a broad-based pro-democracy movement occurring in Pakistan at the time, led to a precipitous fall in Musharraf's popularity. Following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani Election Commission announced that the election would occur on February 18. The elections were won by the PPP and the PML-N, two parties hostile to Musharraf and his Pakistan Muslim League (Q) party.

On August 7, 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) agreed to ask Musharraf to get the Vote of Confidence from the National and Provisional Assemblies or step down, and began his impeachment. Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif announced that the two parties would be sending a joint request asking that Musharraf step down, and that they would impeach him through the parliamentary process if he refused. Musharraf, however, said, "I will defeat those who try to push me to the wall. If they use their right to oust me, I have the right to defend myself." Upon hearing the news, Musharraf delayed his departure for the Beijing Olympics by a day, and it was later announced that he would be replaced at the opening ceremonies by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. The government summoned the National Assembly for a session on August 11 to begin the impeachment proceedings. Capt. Wasif Syed, spokesman for the Pakistan People's Party, confirmed the announcement, saying, "A decision has been made that he has to go now, and all the parties have agreed on this point." To impeach Musharraf, the ruling coalition would have needed a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, and it was not certain that they control the required number of votes. Musharraf had the option to fight his impeachment by dissolving parliament, although doing so could cause a backlash, and he would likely need the support of Pakistan's army to be successful.

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