President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, facing impeachment by the democratic coalition government, resigned Monday in a televised speech.

He said he was ready to face any accusations against him with a "clean conscience". But, he added, he would hand in his resignation to the speaker of the National Assembly to prevent chaos in an already unstable Pakistan and to prevent further harm to the people.

"After viewing the situation and consulting legal advisers and political allies, with their advice I have decided to resign," he said. (Read the analysis of one of FRANCE 24's Observers.)

Impeachment may have meant a long, drawn-out process eventually leading to exile for Musharraf. It is not immediately clear what his future role might be and who would replace him.

According to Saeed Shah, The Guardian correspondent for FRANCE 24 in Islamabad, there is no "appetite in Pakistan for prosecuting him. There’s all these problems the country has to deal with. The only question is whether he stays in the country, whether he’s given a cast-iron immunity from future prosecution."

"I don’t want anything from anyone"

In an hour-long speech detailing the economic, educational, security and cultural achievements of the country during his nine-year rule, Musharraf lambasted his accusers, who, he said, were leading Pakistan into a crisis.

He said that they "turned truth into lies and lies into truth", and it was due to him that "on the map of the world, Pakistan is now an important country."

In a country with a long history of military dictators, Musharraf, an army general, had taken power in a bloodless coup in 1999 from then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

After the events of September 11, 2001, Musharraf made the country a key ally of the United States against "the war on terror", which included fighting against the Taliban regime of Afghanistan ― a government it had previously supported.

He always thought of "Pakistan first", he said several times.

Pakistan paid a price for it, with an increase in militant-led suicide attacks that killed 1,000 people in the last year, including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

In his speech, Musharraf said that thanks to his iron-fisted rule the "hood-wearing, Kalashnikov-toting" supporters of militants had been taken off the streets.

Pakistan currently faces a destabilizing militant insurrection in the frontier provinces, where 500 died in the last week alone.

“Musharraf lost his political credibility”
 
Musharraf’s popularity plunged in 2007 after his attempts to oust the country's judges, who opposed his rule.
His traditional allies ― the United States and the army ― were less and less supportive, said Mariam Abou Zahab, a Pakistan specialist at the Centre for International Studies and Research in Paris. She told FRANCE 24: “He lost his political credibility.”

The news of his resignation was welcomed with banging drums and cheers of joy in several Pakistani cities.

"It is part of the revenge for Benazir's assassination ― she sacrificed her life to give democracy to Pakistan," Shabbir Ahmed, a local social worker, told AFP in Larkana, home of the late prime minister.
 
The ruling coalition led by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party finally overcame months of divisions and agreed to impeach Musharraf on August 7.

It piled on the pressure with no-confidence votes in Pakistan's four provincial assemblies last week. On Sunday it said it had drawn up impeachment charges and would lodge them in parliament this week.

A president to be elected within 30 days

According to the constitution, the chairman of the Senate, Mohammadmian Soomro, should become acting president. A new president would then be elected within 30 days to a five-year term.

"They may choose someone from the Senate as an interim measure. Really, the People’s Party, led by Asif Zardari, has the right to nominate the president," The Guardian’s Shah added.

Musharraf’s departure leaves the coalition faced with its own shortcomings, "especially at a time when the country cannot afford to have political instability", said Abou Zahab.

"The coalition is very unstable, and the only thing giving them a common cause was the removal of Musharraf," she told France 24.
   
"Musharraf's analysis of the situation was correct," Iftikhar Ahmed, an optician in Peshawar, told AFP. "The country is facing many problems and the leadership should try now to find a solution."