Days before Pakistan'scoalition government says it will reveal several impeachment chargesagainst Mr. Musharraf, some of the president's allies say there areongoing talks between the two sides that could allow Mr. Musharraf toquietly resign without facing impeachment or criminal charges.
Aspokesman for the president, Rashid Qureshi, is denying that thepresident plans to step down or is seeking a deal for legal immunity.
ButSenator Mushahid Hussein, a senior leader of the president's PakistanMuslim League Q party, confirms in an interview with VOA that there aretalks under way for some sort of compromise agreement. He says "thenext few days will be decisive" in the standoff.
"I don't speakfor the president but I can certainly say there are backchannelsbetween the presidency and the government which are trying to reach anamicable settlement - so that the country can move on," said Hussein.
Politicalanalysts say a drawn out impeachment struggle against the man who hasruled Pakistan for nearly nine years would dredge up old controversiesand consume the government's attention when the country faces otherserious economic and security problems.
But the coalitiongovernment, which spent months haggling over its policy toward theunpopular president, last week made unseating Mr. Musharraf its primarygoal.
Since then, a series of lopsided no-confidence votes inthe country's four provincial assemblies that included some defectionsfrom traditionally pro-Musharraf parties have eroded the president'spolitical support.
With the two sides discussing terms underwhich Mr. Musharraf could resign, some Pakistani officials say U.S.diplomats have lobbied for a dignified exit for Mr. Musharraf. The U.S.embassy insisted the issue is an internal matter for the Pakistanipeople to decide.
Senator Mushahid Hussein called one possibleoption for Mr. Musharraf, the "Richard Nixon formula," in reference tothe U.S. president who resigned before his likely impeachment in 1974.
"Avariation of that could be seen in Pakistan where perhaps there wouldbe a quiet resignation, there would not be any impeachment and Mr.Musharraf would fade quietly into the night to his newly builtresidence on the outskirts of Islamabad," he said. "And there would notbe any kind of charges or prosecution afterward. People don't want tosee it as any kind of a blood feud - that's not in the nationalinterest."
So far, members of former Prime Minister NawazSharif's PML-N party have insisted that the president stand trial foralleged crimes he has committed while in office even if he resigns.The stance of the Pakistan People's Party on the issue has beenunclear.