Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf, under mounting pressure to resign, called today for political stability and reconciliation to tackle economic and security problems.
Mr Musharraf, speaking in an televised Independence Day address, did not refer to a plan to impeach him drawn up by a coalition government led by the party of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
In his first public comments since the coalition announced its impeachment plan last week, the former army chief and firm US ally also did not refer to the calls for him to step down.
"If we want to put our economy on the right track and fight terrorism then we need political stability. Unless we bring political stability, I think we can't fight them properly," Mr Musharraf said.
Mr Musharraf has been at the centre of a political crisis since last year that has heightened concerns in the United States and among its allies about the stability of Pakistan, a nuclear-armed Muslim state that is also considered a refuge for al-Qaeda leaders.
Speculation has been rife that Mr Musharraf would quit rather than face impeachment, though his spokesman has denied that.
Mr Musharraf speaking just after midnight, when Pakistan marked the anniversary of its creation in 1947 upon the partition of British-ruled India, said differences should be buried.
"Political stability, in my view, can only be brought through a reconciliation approach as opposed to confrontation," he said.
But Mr Musharraf's appeal would appear unlikely to check what coalition leaders call a "tidal wave" of opposition to him.
Hours after he spoke, prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a senior leader of Bhutto's party, said in his Independence Day address his government believed in reconciliation between political parties.
Mr Gilani, who heads a coalition of parties opposed to Mr Musharraf, formed after a February general election, did not refer to Musharraf or respond directly to his appeal.
But in a veiled reference to Mr Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, Mr Gilani said: "The era of repression is over forever. Dictatorship has become a tale of the past."
Mr Musharraf's popularity began to evaporate last year when he clashed with the judiciary and imposed a brief period of emergency rule to ensure another term.
As the pressure mounts on him, with a growing number of politicians, including some old allies, calling on him to go, a crucial question is how the army will react.
Coalition leaders said on Tuesday the army, which has ruled for more than half the country's history, would not intervene to back its old boss.
Reuters