Impeaching Musharraf

It sounds like good news on the face of it, that Pakistan’s governing parties are considering starting impeachment proceedings in Parliament against President Musharraf. I’m not against it. But much more important is the issue of reinstating judges sacked by Musharraf when he suspended the constitution, and issue the parties have been in deadlock over – stupidly and small-mindedly – for some time. That’s such a weakness for the government that Musharraf is able to outmanoeuvre them using the issue of restoring judges. I’m with the PML-N on this, I think: there should be full restoration with no compromise. But reaching some comprehensive agreement is a matter of urgency. My fear is that impeachment is a diversion rather than any sort of closure.