Quote of the day: Say good night, Pervez

"I hope the nation and the people will forgive my mistakes."

-- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, announcing
in a televised address today that, as expected, he will resign

by Ken

Considering the mountain of all but insoluble problems Musharraf leaves behind, this seems like kind of a small gesture of apology buried in that hourlong speech. Still, it's more than we got from Richard Nixon when he resigned a step or two ahead of being booted out of the White House in disgrace, and it's more than we're likely to get when the current occupant finally ceases disgracing the office he stole.

According to the AP account,

Musharraf said he would turn in his resignation to the National Assembly speaker Monday. It was not immediately clear whether it would take effect the same day. Mohammedmian Soomro, the chairman of the upper house of parliament, was poised to take over in the interim.

It remains an open question whom parliament will elect to succeed Musharraf, partly because the ruling coalition has vowed to strip the presidency of much of its power.

There is speculation that both Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, the leaders of the two main parties, are interested in the role. However, neither has openly said so.

It was also unclear whether Musharraf would stay in Pakistan or go into exile.

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