The leaders of the two parties that came out on top in Pakistan's election meet today to discuss forming a coalition government.
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) emerged as the main victor in the election and has begun coalition talks with Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), also known as PML-N or the Nawaz League.
President Pervez Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 military coup, is vulnerable to a hostile parliament after his supporters were heavily defeated in Monday's election.
Mr Sharif, the prime minister Mr Musharraf overthrew and whose party came second in the election, goes into the coalition talks having made clear he would like to drive the president from power.
"We are going to find solutions to the problems of Pakistan," Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Ali Zardari, who took over as PPP leader after she was killed on December 27th, said of his meeting with Mr Sharif.
But in an interview published yesterday, Mr Musharraf said he was not ready to resign. "We have to move forward in a way that we bring about a stable democratic government to Pakistan," he said.
Analysts say if the PPP and the Nawaz League team up, Mr Musharraf can either quit gracefully or drag Pakistan through more upheaval as parliament tries to oust him on grounds he violated the constitution when he imposed emergency rule
US President George W. Bush's administration has urged the next government to work with Mr Musharraf and says Washington needs Pakistan - which borders Afghanistan where US and Nato-led forces are fighting Islamist militants - as an ally.