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Dubai: All eyes are now focused on who will form the government and the fate of President Pervez Musharraf.
Options are open for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 113 seats (including 25 reserved seats) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) with 85 seats (including 19 reserved seats).
Consultations are on and the presidency is putting immense pressure on the PPP not to join hands with Sharif.
Sensing the PPP's intentions, Sharif has also given an open invitation to people elected on the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) tickets to join his party if they leave Shujjat Hussain.
Given the situation, the PPP and PML-N are now rethinking of an earlier plan for coalition government and instead go for "old rivalry" which will lead again to the politics of confrontation and horse trading.
"Friction is there between them but the situation will be clear after today's meeting in Islamabad where Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif are meeting to discuss a future course of action," sources in both the parties confirmed.
If the parties follow the numerical counts and pre-poll agreements, the PPP should lead a ruling coalition at the centre as well as in the Sindh province as it has got the most number of seats while the PML-N should be in power in Punjab as it emerged the leading party in this most populated province.
The Awami National Party (ANP), which defeated the hardliner Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) is set to form the government in the North-West Frontier Province. However, the last ruling party PML-Q is expected to form the government in Balochistan province.
"Working under President Pervez Musharraf is one of the main issues creating friction between them for the PPP is now showing flexibility to work with him," said a senior party leader in the PPP.
He said President Musharraf's close aides are putting pressure on Zardari to stay away from Sharif, who is determined to impeach Musharraf and restore sacked judges at any cost. But they cannot do so without a two-thirds majority which is 257 seats in the house of 342.
Zardari is also in a fix and under pressure both from President Musharraf and Sharif. He can easily form a government with a simple majority (172 seats) by aligning with other pro-Musharraf parties such as MQM and PML-Q but then he has to work under President Musharraf - compromising on many issues including the one related to Bhutto's murder.
"Although Zardari and Sharif should ideally form a coalition government in the centre if they want to achieve their agenda - for which people have voted for them, the stakes for the PPP are very high because its friends in the US also don't want its alliance with hardliner Sharif who defied them and conducted nuclear tests in 1998," said analysts.
Both PPP and PML (N) are bracing for important and tough decisions, which will determine the future political course of Pakistan.
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