Pakistan: Musharraf Concedes Defeat
Updated:08:23, Tuesday February 19, 2008
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has conceded defeat in the country's election.
The chairman of the pro-Musharraf party, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, told television reporters that "we accept the results with an open heart" and "will sit on opposition benches" in the new parliament.
Fears of vote rigging and violence have proved largely unfounded while international observers have so far endorsed the vote.
However, fears of bomb attacks have kept the turnout low.
Mr Musharraf took power in a 1999 coup but a hostile parliament of opposition MPs could try to remove him.
Sky News' foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall, in Islamabad, said: "A two-thirds majority is needed is needed in parliament to impeach the President.
"I don't think they'll get that, but Musharraf has been badly damaged."
The election was suspended in December after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
The party had been expected to benefit from a sympathy vote.
But unofficial Election Commission tallies show the other main opposition party, led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, leading in Punjab province where half the members of parliament will be elected.
As results trickled out, groups of opposition supporters celebrated in the streets of Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi.
Mr Musharraf says he will work with whoever wins to build democracy in a country that has alternated between civilian and army rule throughout its 60-year history.
Pakistan is a key ally in the "war on terror" and the country's stability is crucial to the West.
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