Washington: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has rejected demands for his resignation in the wake of the electoral drubbing of his allies in the parliamentary polls and hoped to avoid any "clashes" between him and the new Prime Minister in running the affairs of the country.

Musharraf said he is even prepared to work with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who has demanded his resignation, and offered to "facilitate in a positive way" the formation of a new government.

Despite the poor showing of the pro-Musharraf PML-Q in the hustings, the former military ruler said he is neither contemplating retirement nor resigning.

"No, not yet. We have to move forward in a way that we bring about a stable democratic government to Pakistan," he said in an interview to the Wall Street Journal.

The PML-N leader, whose party came second with 66 seats of the National Assembly, had yesterday demanded the President's resignation, saying "Musharraf has said he would quit when people tell him. People have now given their verdict."

Musharraf said, "We are running a parliamentary system. The government is run by the Prime Minister. The President has no mandate to share governing power with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister runs the government. The President has his own position but has no authority running the government."

"The clash would be if the Prime Minister and President would be trying to get rid of each other. I only hope we would avoid these clashes," he said.
Source : PTI