"President Pervez Musharraf seems to have thrown the ball back into the court of the politicians and Parliament by quite unambiguously saying that he will not resign because he does not consider the February 18 elections as a mandate against him and his policies," The News daily said.

Musharraf has held on to power despite his plummeting popularity and the defeat of his supporters in February elections. The former general insisted yesterday in an interaction with the media that he would not quit under pressure.

"Parliament is supreme. Whatever the Parliament decides I will accept it," Musharraf said. "If I see that I don't have any role to play, then it is better to play golf," the President said. "I cannot become a useless vegetable."

In an editorial titled 'The emperor strikes back?' The News daily said "the retired general is throwing a gauntlet to the politicians, especially those in the PPP and the PML-N, and hence some may perceive this as the last few moves of a dissipating force."

"By stalling his departure and by forcing the political system to unnecessarily spend its energies on now trying and impeaching him, he is directly prolonging the uncertainty," it said.