President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday that he would not resign despite increasing pressure from Pakistan’s ruling coalition to do so.Mr. Musharraf spoke at a news conference in which he dismissed recent media reports that he was preparing to give up his post and go into exile. The president also complained Saturday about the proposal by the Pakistan Peoples Party, the main political party in the government, for sweeping constitutional changes intended to limit his authority. He suggested that such changes, if they were approved by Parliament, might leave him in an untenable position. He said he did not want to become a “useless vegetable,” wire services reported. “Parliament is supreme,” Mr. Musharraf said. “Whatever the Parliament decides, I will accept it.” He added, “If I see that I don’t have any role to play, then it is better to play golf.”
In what might be a signal that he is ready to compromise more with the coalition government, Mr. Musharraf said that he believes in reconciliation. That is why, he said, he had allowed the return to the country of two former prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in December. Mr. Sharif and Mrs. BhuttoÂ’s widower, Asif Ali Zardari, of the Pakistan Peoples Party, are leading the coalition that is trying to curtail his power.