Musharraf outnumbered for possibly his last battle

By Simon Cameron-Moore - Analysis

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Politically isolated, unloved by his people and no longer in command of the army, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf faces a battle for survival once his foes unite on the floor of the National Assembly next week.

An incoming coalition government aims to reinstate the Supreme Court judges Musharraf dismissed last November before they could sack him, in the first salvo of a face-off with a president who came to power as a general in a coup in 1999.

"I think the die has been cast," said independent analyst Nasim Zehra.

"Pakistan continues to move ahead on an irreversible path towards constitutional democracy."

Musharraf has called on the new National Assembly to convene next Monday following weeks of coalition building by the victors of a February 18 poll.

Asif Ali Zardari, the late Benazir Bhutto's husband, and Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf deposed, agreed on Sunday to form a coalition and bring back the judges.

It is the first time Pakistan's two main parties have united. Together with smaller allies, they can almost muster the two-thirds majority needed to impeach Musharraf if they want.

Zehra anticipates resistance to moves to restore the judiciary, but Musharraf lacks both political and constitutional ammunition to mount a viable defence.