PAKISTAN:The battle for power in Pakistan took a fresh twist yesterday when the government reinvigorated a Swiss corruption case against the opposition leader Asif Zardari on the eve of post-election power- sharing talks that threaten President Musharraf.
Government lawyers urged a court in Geneva to prosecute Mr Zardari - whose Pakistan People's party won the most seats in Monday's election - on 10-year-old charges of stashing $55 million in kickbacks in a Swiss bank account.
The move was seen as a pressure tactic against Mr Zardari, widower of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto, as he prepared to start negotiations later today for a coalition government with the second-placed opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif.
Despite a massive anti-Musharraf factor in Pakistan's general election, the retired army chief rejected calls for his resignation from the presidency, indicating that he would serve out his five-year term of office. His staunch ally, the US, urged the opposition to work with him.
The Swiss case against Mr Zardari stalled last year after Mr Musharraf struck a "reconciliation" deal with Ms Bhutto under which all corruption charges would be dropped. But since her assassination on December 27th, and this week's election victory, all bets appear to be off.
"There has been no ruling in 10 years. Why? The answer is simple - because this is all political," Mr Zardari's lawyer, Saverio Lembo said.
Mr Musharraf's political survival could depend on preventing a united opposition front that, with enough votes in the new parliament, could impeach him. To do so he may try to exploit differences between Mr Sharif and Mr Zardari.
Mr Sharif wants Mr Musharraf to go and for senior judges who were sacked by the military leader last November to be reinstated. But Mr Zardari's PPP has taken a softer line, keeping open the possibility of working with Mr Musharraf and remaining ambiguous about the position of the former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who is currently under house arrest. Addressing the media outside his Islamabad home last night, Mr Zardari said both issues would be solved by the next parliament. "Parliament will decide which president it can work with and which president it cannot."
The negotiations starting today will be complex and possibly slow. Under the constitution there is no time limit for forming a government.
Yesterday the American ambassador Anne Patterson held a long meeting with Mr Zardari. Afterwards he denied that she had tried to pressure him to work with Mr Musharraf. "I don't think the diplomatic corps works on political lines. They do not give political positions," he said.
President George Bush, on a trip to Ghana, deemed the elections "fair" and said he hoped the new government would work with the US.
"We need Pakistan as an important ally," he said. "We've got interests in helping make sure there's no safe haven from which people can plot and plan attacks against the United States of America and Pakistan."
But EU observers said they found evidence of significant manipulation in favour of Mr Musharraf's party, particularly in the run-up to polling.
"A level playing field was not provided for the campaign, with authorities primarily favouring the former ruling parties," Michael Gahler, head of the observer mission, told reporters.
The irregularities persisted last night, with the election commission failing to declare the results in a handful of constituencies - seats that could be vital in any future vote against President Musharraf.
Samina Ahmed, south Asia director of the International Crisis Group, said there was evidence that pro-government rigging had deprived both opposition parties of an outright majority, but they should stick together if Pakistan were to achieve a transition from military rule.
"Both parties have been deprived of a majority. That makes them vulnerable to manipulation. They need to realise that if they do not join hands, they cannot stabilise the transition. They have got to work together." -