January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Pakistan People’s Party said on Monday it may work with President Musharraf after elections next month despite his apparent unpopularity and allegations that elements within his government may have played a role in PPP leader’s assassination.

The comments highlight the fluid nature of the country’s politics ahead of the polls, which the United States and other western nations hope will usher in a period of stability.

The PPP and the other main opposition parties have intensified their calls for President Musharraf to resign since Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec 27.

But a spokesman for PPP said “all options are open” when asked whether it would cooperate with Gen (retd) Musharraf.

“These are bridges which we will cross when they come,” Farhatullah Babar said, echoing remarks reported in media by Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, now the de-facto head of the party.

Many analysts predict any cooperation between Mr Musharraf and the PPP would be short-lived and unstable, given likely opposition by the party’s rank and file.

But it would represent a matchup of secular, moderate forces and, as such, could be welcomed by the United States and other Western nations.

Bhutto's party and the other major opposition grouping are expected to do well in the Feb 18 parliamentary polls, but few analysts expect a single party will gain a majority.—AP