Special report: Pakistani Situation
    BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf Tuesday called on the country's new National Assembly to convene next Monday after two major parties, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), agreed to form a coalition government last weekend.

    The call came as two suicide attacks rocked the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore, killing at least 24, the latest in a string of similar attacks in recent months. The escalation of violence triggered growing concerns about Pakistan's security prospects and its potential impact on the power-sharing within the incoming coalition government.

    SECURITY NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED

    Tuesday's twin blasts, which rocked a federal police headquarters and a private business in Lahore, were the first acts of terrorism since Nawaz Sharif, leader of the PML-N, and the party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto announced the formation of a coalition government.

    At least seven suicide attacks have taken place in the three weeks following the Feb. 18 parliamentary elections in which the PPP secured 120 seats in the 342-seat National Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, followed by Sharif's party with 90 and the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q 51.

    Lahore, the country's cultural capital which had been spared the sort of raids seen in all other major cities in the past year, has suffered three attacks in two months.

    The party of Sharif blamed a military operation ordered by Musharraf for destabilizing the regions bordering Afghanistan.

    Musharraf also condemned Tuesday's bombing, saying they cannot deter the government's resolve to fight the scourge of terrorism with full force, Pakistan's official news agency reported.

    He said that a new counter terrorism strategy would be drafted following the convening of parliament next week.

    PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Sharif, in their agreement to form a coalition government, also vowed to grapple with the violence engulfing the country.

    "Terrorists are trying to put pressure on the government-in-making. But I am sure the government-in-making will also have the same resolve to deal with terrorism," said interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema.

    Critics said the terrorism was not going to ease unless there is a change in the country's domestic and foreign policies. They added that Pakistan needs to seek political and economic solutions to combat militancy through dialogue with different groups. POLITICAL TENSION SOARING

    The winner of the Feb. 18 poll, the PPP and the PML-N, announced Sunday that they would work on forming a coalition government with the prime minister from the PPP.

    "We undertake to form a coalition together for Pakistan, as the people of Pakistan had given a mandate to the democratic force on Feb. 18," said Sharif after his meeting with Zardari at the scenic town of Murree in eastern Pakistan.

    In a joint declaration, they agreed to reinstate Supreme Court judges fired by Musharraf last year through a parliamentary resolution within 30 days of the government's formation.

    Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and sacked some 60 judges on November 3, days before the Supreme Court was due to rule on the legality of his new presidential term before he stepped down from the post of army chief.

    Sharif's party said the new parliament would decide Musharraf's political fate. Sharif has repeatedly called for Musharraf to resign in recent weeks, while the PPP has ruled out immediate plans to seek the president's removal.

    On Tuesday, Musharraf summoned the new parliament to meet on March 17, setting up a showdown with his rivals that could potentially intensify the country's political chaos.

    Despite mounting pressure, the president made it clear that he was not ready to resign.

    "We have to move forward in a way that we bring about a stable democratic government to Pakistan," said Musharraf.

    Analysts expected clashes ahead but did not dismiss the possibility that the parliament could hammer out a compromise, as Zardari seemed less keen on a fight with Musharraf than Sharif. And investors in Pakistan remained optimistic that any confrontation between the parliament and the president would be short-lived.

    PREMIER CHOICE DEFERRED

    The PPP is expected to nominate Makhdoom Amin Fahim, a long time aide from the province of Sindh, as its candidate for premiership. But the party turned out to be tardy in naming its Prime Minister candidate, deepening uncertainty about the power-sharing within the new government.

    As a senior leader of the PPP, Fahim was the parliamentary leader of the PPP in the National Assembly and presidential candidate in October 2007.

    Local newspaper The Nation reported Monday that Fahim was facing opposition from Sharif, who doubted Fahim's intention to carry out the coalition government's agenda of restoring the deposed judges after he is appointed prime minister.

    Sharif also believed Fahim might be reluctant for Musharraf impeached by the parliament if the option was considered at some later stage.

    Zardari, who had said in public repeatedly that Fahim would be nominated as the PM candidate, shifted his rhetoric, saying the PPP would review its earlier decisions on the PM slot.

    Reports said that Zardari, who is not immediately eligible to be premier, had finally decided to seek the post after initially fielding a prime minister from Punjab province.

    The PPP is expected to finalize its candidate for the office of the Prime Minister in a couple of days, the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported Tuesday.