Parties opposed to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf have won the allegiance of 11 lawmakers who contested last month's polls as independents, tightening their hold on the new parliament, the election commission said yesterday.
Seven independents have joined the party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, while four have lined up with Nawaz Sharif, another ex-prime minister, according to a breakdown by the commission. No lawmakers have joined pro-Musharraf parties.
The parties of Bhutto and Sharif trounced the former ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party in Feb. 18 parliamentary elections after eight years of military rule.
The US and other foreign backers hope that a new, democratic government will prove a reliable partner in preventing al-Qaeda and the Taliban from mounting attacks in Afghanistan and the West.
Musharraf's bitter political foes are pressing hard for his resignation, setting the scene for a power struggle that could distract the new government from tackling Islamic extremism and economic problems.
The election commission said 18 parliamentarians will remain independent after Thursday's deadline to sign up for a party.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party now has 120 lawmakers in the 342-seat National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, the commission said. The Pakistan Muslim league-N, led by Sharif, has 90, while the PML-Q has 51.
The two largest parties are expected to form a loose coalition government. They lack the two-thirds majority needed in both the upper and lower houses of parliament to impeach Musharraf.
But they are threatening to drastically reduce his sweeping powers and perhaps reinstate judges ousted when he imposed emergency rule last year -- moves which could prompt the former military strongman to quit.
On Thursday, the People's Party deferred a decision on who to nominate for prime minister. It said co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower, would announce its pick within days.
The election commission said 11 seats in the National Assembly remain vacant.
The results in seven constituencies are in litigation, while voting in three places has been delayed by either security concerns or the death of a candidate -- including Bhutto, who was slain in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27.
One seat reserved for a woman will be decided by drawing lots because two parties -- the PML-Q and an alliance of religious parties -- have an equal claim on it.
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