Opponents of President Mr Pervez Musharraf have accused him of manipulating the long-awaited transfer of power after he postponed Pakistan's first parliament in three years.
"The postponement has lent credence to the perception that the regime is manipulating the post-election dynamics to weaken the anti-regime political parties," the opposition Pakistan People's Party [PPP] of former prime minister Ms Benazir Bhutto said.
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Mr Musharraf announced today he had decided to delay by a week the inauguration of parliament from its scheduled date of tomorrow. He cited the "requests of some political parties" for the postponement to allow more time to build a coalition out of the hung parliament.
The requests had come from pro-Musharraf parties after Islamists and secular opposition parties struck a surprise deal to overcome vast ideological differences and unite against Mr Musharraf. Their alliance put them within reach of the 172-seat majority needed to form government and sidelined the pro-regime parties.
Former prime minister Mr Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, which aligned with Ms Bhutto's party on an anti-Musharraf platform, condemned the delay as a bid to buy time to block the Islamic-secular alliance.
"This postponement proves the moral bankruptcy of the regime . . . and its rejection of the people's verdict," a Sharif aide said. "The Musharraf government is not prepared to allow the MPs to elect a leader of the house and form government within parliament in a free, fair and independent atmosphere".
Major parties have been in talks for the four weeks since the first elections under Mr Musharraf, the army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup and declared himself president last year.
The pro-regime Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid won the most seats, 103 out of 342, with PPP second on 81 seats and the Islamic bloc of six fundamenalist parties placing third after huge swings that landed them the balance of power.
No party won enough to rule independently, and parties had been deadlocked until earlier this week in efforts to form a governing coalition.
AFP