Pakistan's embattled President Pervez Musharraf is seeking to step down if given indemnity for all his questionable actions under the Constitution.
''President Musharraf is ready to resign if given indemnity but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is reluctant to give the de facto President a clean chit,'' local English daily The Nation on Tuesday quoted well-placed sources as saying.
President Musharraf has told his close aides that he would like to quit honourably and the only way out was indemnity being granted to him.
Otherwise, informed sources said, the President is set to face a potential impeachment motion by the coalition government that many say was still lacking numerical support required to crown the move with success.
According to sources, President Musharraf has decided to resign from his office after the lawyers' long march on June 13, where PML-N chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had pledged to hold President Musharraf accountable at all costs.
''PML-N would leave no stone unturned to try President Musharraf under Article 6 which deals with treason,'' a PML-N source said.
On the other hand, the Pakistan People's Party, which had been inclined to give a safe exit from the beginning, believed that President Musharraf might have decided to quit after Asif Ali Zardari revealed that the future President would hail from his party.
However, sources close to President Musharraf do not acknowledge either of the propositions and insist that the President would not resign until he is given a total indemnity.
''Why should he resign when he has got all advantages through powers to dismiss the government and dissolve the assembly or to undo the National Reconciliation Ordinance,'' a source asked.
More from rediff