Pakistan's election winners set a collision course with President Pervez Musharraf on March 9, agreeing to form a coalition government and promising that Parliament would restore senior judges fired last year by the U.S.-backed leader in a bid to secure his continued rule.

Asif Ali Zardari (left) and Nawaz Sharif AP PHOTO

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, whose government was ousted in Musharraf's 1999 military coup, announced their pact after talks in the Punjab town of Bhurban.

"We are bound together in the spirit of democracy," Zardari said at a news conference.

He dedicated the agreement to Bhutto, who was slain in a suicide bombing attack in December, and sought to reassure Western backers who had supported Musharraf for his help in pursuing al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

"We will not disappoint you," Zardari said, though he didn't elaborate on his counterterrorism strategy.

Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party won 120 seats in the new 342-seat National Assembly, followed by Sharif's party with 90. The former ruling party aligned with Musharraf got just 51.

Musharraf shed much of his authority when he stepped down as army chief during the emergency. His successor has said he wants to keep the army out of politics.

But others forecast that the former commando, who has survived several assassination attempts, will struggle on in the hope that the current coalition crumbles.

"He's fighting a rearguard action," said Shafqat Mahmood, a prominent political commentator.