By David Fox
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - An opinion poll on Saturday showed analliance between the two biggest groups opposed to PresidentPervez Musharraf was the preferred choice of Pakistan's voters.
Monday's election left none of Pakistan's parties with amajority in the National Assembly and negotiations arecontinuing between rivals keen to forge a coalition big enoughto hold power in the 342-seat parliament.
The fate of Musharraf, who seized power in a military coupin October 1999 and is a key U.S. ally in its war on terror,could depend on what kind of coalition emerges. His supporters,with 39 seats, could still have a say.
Provisional results have been announced for all but 10seats and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leads with 87followed by the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), otherwise knownas the PML-N or Nawaz League, with 67.
The Gallup poll suggested an alliance between these two wasthe preferred choice of supporters. Forty percent of PPP voterssaid the PML-N was their second choice and 45 percent viceversa.
Some 35 percent of PPP voters and 25 percent of PML-Nvoters declined to give a second preference in the poll, heldon the day of the election. Gallup did not say how big itssample was.
For much of last year an alliance between the PPP and PML-Nseemed unlikely.
The PPP was headed by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto,until she was assassinated on December 27 when leaving a rally,and a deal with Musharraf over her return from years of exilelooked likely to extend into a political alliance.
Under that scenario the PML-N party led by Nawaz Sharif,the prime minister deposed and exiled by Musharraf after a coupin 1999, looked likely to be the main opposition bloc.
In the aftermath of Bhutto's assassination and Monday'selection, a PPP/PML-N alliance now looks like "the impossiblehas come to pass", as Dawn newspaper described it in aneditorial on Saturday.
If they forge a coalition, it will be the first time inPakistan's history the two main parties have come together.
In one early sign of cooperation -- and one that spellstrouble for Musharraf -- the PPP and PML-N have agreed inprinciple to restore judges Musharraf fired when he imposedemergency rule in November.
The judges, if reinstated, can be expected to take up thequestion of the eligibility of Musharraf to stand forre-election as president while still army chief in October.They had been expected to rule against Musharraf when heimposed the emergency.
On Saturday party elders from across the political dividewere meeting separately and with their party faithful to decidethe next steps.
The Election Commission is expected to issue officialresults by March 1, after which Musharraf is expected toconvene an inaugural session of the National Assembly.
When that is may depend on whether there is agovernment-in-waiting because the president has to invite themember commanding the confidence of the majority to becomeprime minister.
(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Robert Woodward)
