Musharraf says not ready to resign

LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has said he is not ready to resign despite suffering big losses in a parliamentary election this week.

Slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won the most seats in the National Assembly in Monday's election, while the allies of Musharraf, a former army chief who seized power in a 1999 coup, suffered big losses.

But the PPP needs coalition partners and the president's camp is banking on persuading it to invite the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to salvage his leadership.

Asked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday whether he contemplated resigning, Musharraf said: "No, not yet. We have to move forward in a way that we bring about a stable democratic government to Pakistan."

He said it was premature to comment on who might be the country's next prime minister, as that was a matter for the political parties to decide.

Asked whether he could work with Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister he overthrew in 1999, Musharraf said: "The government is run by the prime minister. The president has no mandate to share governing power with the prime minister."

He added: "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."

Sharif, whose party ran a close second in Monday's poll, has made driving Musharraf from power his mission since returning from exile in Saudi Arabia in November. (Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)