While it appears almost certain that President Pervez Musharraf would leave before facing impeachment, there was great uncertainty over what would follow. Many Pakistanis believe the country could suffer even greater instability after Musharraf goes.
The coalition between Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif has been deeply troubled from the start, and the current accord on ousting Musharraf is likely to fragment as soon as he is gone, politicians say. There is little agreement between the two on the next president.
Zardari, Benazir Bhutto's widower who now leads the Pakistan Peoples Party, would like the post, according to his party supporters.
Sharif, his rival and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, is opposed to Zardari's ascendancy to the presidency, but would go along with it if the presidency were stripped of many of its current powers, League-N officials said.
The constitution states that an election for the president by the national parliament and four provincial assemblies must be held 30 days after the office becomes vacant. Sharif and Zardari agreed last week that the nominee would be made by a consensus between them.
"Everyone feels that the Musharraf era is over," the Daily Times wrote Thursday. "But no one is actually in the mood to see what it is going to be like to be in the post-Musharraf era."
NEW YORK TIMES
