In an interview on the English language television channel Dawn, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the chairman of Mr. Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said the president would deal with the charges “in a democratic spirit and in accordance with the Constitution.”  Mr. Hussain, whose party holds 51 of 342 seats in the National Assembly, added: “Let them bring the charges. So far they haven’t brought any charges.”  But politicians up and down the political spectrum, including some from Mr. Musharraf’s party, said Friday that they doubted that Mr. Musharraf would actually appear in Parliament to respond to the charges. It is clear, they said, that he cannot prevail in a vote.  Leaders of the two major parties in the coalition government announced last week that they would seek Mr. Musharraf’s impeachment on charges that include illegally suspending the Constitution, imposing emergency rule last November and wrongly dismissing 60 judges under that decree.  The information minister, Sherry Rehman, said Friday that a drafting panel had completed a charge sheet against Mr. Musharraf. She did not specify the charges nor a date for presenting them to Parliament.  The decision not to announce a date appeared intended to leave the door open for continuing negotiations on how Mr. Musharraf should exit, and the terms of immunity from prosecution that he is seeking.  Mr. Musharraf has indicated that if he steps down, he wants to stay in Pakistan, people familiar with the exit negotiations said.  But because of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Pakistan and the difficulty of protecting him against Islamic militants, who have tried to assassinate him at least twice, a former member of the president’s cabinet said Friday that he believed that Mr. Musharraf would go into exile with a promise that he could return to Pakistan after a certain period.  Mr. Musharraf served as both president and chief of the army from October 1999 until last November. He staged a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999. Mr. Sharif now leads the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the minority partner in the coalition government and the chief instigator of the effort to impeach Mr. Musharraf.  The new army chief, General Kayani, has repeatedly said he wants to keep the army out of politics, a rare pledge in Pakistan, which has been ruled for more than half its existence by the military. He appeared to be scrupulously sticking to his pledge during the current crisis.  The army opposes Mr. Musharraf’s contesting the impeachment charges in part because the resulting debate could bring into the public domain deeply embarrassing information about the army, said Ishaq Khan Khakwani, a member of the central executive committee of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.  “Impeachment means disgrace, and the army would not like to see their institution humiliated,” said Mr. Khakwani, a former supporter of the president.  In a sign of the low level of support for Mr. Musharraf, the coalition parties presented resolutions this week against him in the four provincial assemblies. In Pakistan’s system, they take part in electing the president, along with the National Assembly.  The resolutions were intended as an early test of Mr. Musharraf’s political strength and were presented in the hope, according to some coalition politicians, that poor results on the measures might deter him from facing the impeachment.  All four assemblies voted overwhelmingly against the president. On Wednesday, in the assembly in Sindh Province, Mr. Musharraf did not garner one vote, and his main supporters there, the Muttahida Quami Movement, abstained.  “The dice is loaded against the president,” Mr. Khakwani said. “He cannot fight impeachment within the Constitution.”  According to some tallies, Mr. Musharraf can probably count on fewer than 20 of the 51 votes his party holds in the National Assembly if impeachment proceedings go ahead.  Mr. Khakwani said he was certain the president would resign before the coalition presented charges.  “My information is that the impeachment vote will not take place,” he said.  In an interview on Dawn television on Friday night, Asif Ali Zardari, the leader of the major party in the coalition, the Pakistan Peoples Party, said Mr. Musharraf should realize he had no option but to leave.  “From a position when everyone was saying, ‘Why should he go?’ everyone is asking, ‘Why shouldn’t he go?’ ” Mr. Zardari said.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Musharraf Vows to Fight Impeachment Charges. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
President Pervez Musharraf fought back Friday against politicians who predicted he would leave office before he could be impeached.