Pakistan's Musharraf rejects opposition calls to quit

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf rejected demands to quit Wednesday and called for a "harmonious coalition" as victorious opposition parties mulled a grouping that could force the key US ally from power.

Musharraf was making his first official comments since Monday's crucial parliamentary vote, which left him fighting for his political life after his allies suffered a heavy defeat.

"The President emphasised the need for harmonious coalition in the interest of peaceful governance, development and progress of Pakistan," a foreign ministry statement said after Musharraf met a visiting US congressman.

"The elections have strengthened the moderate forces in the country," it quoted Musharraf as saying.

Nawaz Sharif, who Musharraf removed from office in a 1999 coup, and the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto both said they wanted to work with other opposition groups after the polls.

Sharif urged Musharraf to quit, while Asif Ali Zardari said he would not work with anyone associated with the party that backed Musharraf in the last parliament.

Zardari might meet Sharif on Thursday for their first encounter since the election, said Farhatullah Babar, spokesman for Bhutto's party.

A statement from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on Wednesday "recalled General Musharraf's recent statements that if the parties supporting him were defeated in the elections, then he would resign from his office."

Despite the intensifying pressure on Musharraf, he told an American newspaper that he has no plans to resign.

Asked by the Wall Street Journal whether he would resign or retire, Musharraf said: "No, not yet. We have to move forward in a way that we bring about a stable democratic government to Pakistan."

Opinion polls before the election showed that up to three-quarters of Pakistanis questioned said it was time for Musharraf to go.

US President George W. Bush embraced the elections as "a significant victory" for democracy and said he hoped the new government would "be friends of the United States."

Meanwhile, US senator and poll monitor John Kerry told reporters in India that Musharraf displayed "a kind of grace in accepting" the defeat of his allies.

Bangladesh's foreign minister, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, said he hoped the election "will usher in a new dawn of stability and prosperity in Pakistan." Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan after a war in 1971.

China said it was pleased that elections in its long-time ally went calmly and urged the nation to maintain political stability.

With votes counted in 258 out of 272 constituencies, the PPP and Sharif's party had a combined total of 153 seats, the election commission said. The former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) and its allies together had 58.

A close presidential ally and PML-Q stalwart, Sheikh Rasheed, cited three factors for his party's defeat: an army raid at a radical mosque in Islamabad, pro-US policies and inflation.
More than 100 people were killed last July when government troops stormed the mosque where militants were holed up.

European Union election monitors said balloting took place in a generally positive atmosphere even though "a level playing field was not provided for" in the campaign.

Results showed a near total defeat for hardline Islamic parties that under the previous administration ruled Pakistan's North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.

A hostile parliament threatens the political survival of Musharraf, who could theoretically face impeachment if the opposition gets a two-thirds majority.

Analysts said Musharraf's most likely strategy would be to woo Bhutto's party and split it from Sharif's by preying on the one-time rift between the ex-prime ministers.

Bhutto was killed in a December gun and suicide attack on a campaign rally.

Musharraf, who shed his dual role as army chief late last year, had already been weakened by a bruising months-long stand-off with the country's deposed chief justice and deepening unpopularity.

To bolster his position he has relied on backing from the United States -- and financial aid of 10 billion dollars, mainly military, since he joined the Washington-led 'war on terror' in 2001.