Washington: Even as pre-poll surveys in Pakistan suggest that no single party will get a majority in the parliamentary elections February 18, President Pervez Musharraf has indicated his party's willingness to work with others to form a Government.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), Musharraf's party, "does not rule out any coalition" after the vote, Pakistan's Ambassador to US, Mahmud Ali Durrani, is quoted as saying in The Washington Times on Friday.
Although Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), now run by her husband Asif Ali Zardari and son Bilawal, is expected to get a boost because of sympathy votes in the wake of her death, neither PPP nor any of the dozens of other parties in the race are expected to win a majority.
In the case, intense negotiations to form a governing coalition are considered a near certainty post-polls.
Though Bhutto had said that PPP would not consider entering a coalition with PML-Q, Durrani said, "No political party is going to be averse to getting together with any other party."
The ambassador stressed that whoever becomes prime minister in the next administration will have the authority to run the Government and not be controlled from behind the scenes by Musharraf. Musharraf relinquished his post as army chief late last year after winning the presidency again.
The presidency is more than a ceremonial post, Durrani said, but "the executive authority under our system rests with the Prime Minister."
Under Pakistan's constitution, the President's chief power is to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections, subject to approval from the Supreme Court. The President also chairs the country's National Security Council and appoints the chiefs of the military services.
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