Musharraf rejects calls to quit

ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday dismissed calls for the former general to quit after his allies conceded defeat in crucial parliamentary elections. "They are way off in their demands," presidential spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi told reporters when asked about the calls made by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and a leading opposition lawyer. "This is not the election for president. President Musharraf is already elected for five years," Qureshi said. Musharraf's allies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, suffered a severe defeat to the opposition parties of Sharif and of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto in Monday's parliamentary polls, according to unofficial preliminary results. Sharif told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore earlier that "Musharraf has said he would quit when people tell him. People have now given their verdict." Separately, Aitzaz Ahsan, a lawyer who has been under house arrest since Musharraf declared a state of emergency in November, said Musharraf should step down because he was the "most hated man in the country". Qureshi, however, said Musharraf was ready to work with the next government. "He has already pledged that he is ready to work with anyone who wins and forms the government. God willing, we will continue to march forward," Qureshi said. "He is an easy man to function with and he does whatever is in the interest of the country."