Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's ruling party conceded defeat in parliamentary elections Feb. 19.

"We accept the election results, and will sit on opposition benches," Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, said Feb. 19. "We are accepting the results with grace and open heart."

Nawaz Sharif, a former prime minister and leader of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N, recalled statements by Musharraf last year that he would step down only if he lost the support of the Pakistani people.

"He has closed his eyes. He has said before that he would go when the people want him to do so and now the people have given their verdict," Sharif said.

The Pakistan People's Party of assassinated ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto who gained the most parliamentary seats was likely to spearhead the new government in partnership with other opposition groups.

Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, said Feb. 19 that he would meet soon with Sharif and other opposition leaders "to form a government of national unity." Zardari made clear that he would not include politicians who had been allied with Musharraf.

But Zardari carefully avoided an unequivocal statement about whether Musharraf should remain in power.

At best, Musharraf faces the prospect of remaining leader with sharply diminished powers even if the opposition fails to muster the two-thirds support in Parliament to impeach him.