Ruling Bhutto party calls for President Musharraf to be tried for treason!

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - June 9, 2008 - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf should be impeached and tried for treason, a spokesman for the leading party in the country's new coalition government said Monday.

The statement was the harshest that the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto has issued against the embattled president since it defeated his allies in February elections.

"Musharraf violated the country's constitution, he should be impeached. As far as I am concerned, I would even urge that he should not only be impeached but tried for treason," PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar told AFP.

"Political problems will persist as long as he is in power," Babar added.

Treason is punishable by death in Pakistan.

His comments come two days after Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led "war on terror," defiantly dismissed mounting speculation that he was about to quit and go into exile.

Musharraf seized power in a coup in 1999. He imposed a state of emergency and suspended the constitution in November when the Supreme Court looked set to overturn his re-election as president the previous month.

Junior coalition partner and ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the man Musharraf ousted nine years ago, has also called for Musharraf to face treason charges, but the PPP had taken a more measured stance.

Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, said recently that Musharraf was a "relic" but stopped short of openly calling for his impeachment or any stronger steps.

Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide bomb and gun attack at an election rally in December. Her party went on to win the most seats in parliamentary polls three months later.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N was in second place, with parties backing Musharraf trailing behind.