ISLAMABAD, March 15: PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari reiterated on Saturday that his party is committed to the Murree Declaration that pledges to restore deposed judges and make judiciary independent.

Mr Zardari was talking to a 70-member delegation of the People’s Lawyers Forum (PLF) which met him at the Zardari House here on Saturday.

According to a party handout, Mr Zardari said the PPP stood for making the parliament supreme and it would not allow any other institution to undermine the parliament’s sovereignty.

He said the party would provide justice to all, including the deposed judges and judiciary which had long been neglected in the past.

The PPP co-chairman said he himself had been a victim of a ‘pliant judiciary’ held hostage by the Executive. He said no other party or pressure group had rendered greater sacrifices for the independence of judiciary than workers and leaders of the PPP.

“No one, therefore, has the right to make tall claims on this issue,” he said.

Mr Zardari said that scores of PPP workers had lost lives, some of them had their legs amputated and crippled for life while fighting for the cause of judiciary.

“How can some individual or groups claim to lead the fight for the independence of judiciary than the PPP,” he asked.

Mr Zardari said that conspirators had not stopped hatching new conspiracies against the party and they had indeed stepped up their plots.

Meanwhile, a PPP spokesman said that the party would name a new prime minister next week, according to news agencies.A decision was imminent, Mr Farhatullah Babar said, adding: “Our party will come up with a name next week.”

On Saturday, a senior PPP leader, Amin Fahim called himself a ‘strong candidate’ for the premiership and said he was puzzled by the PPP’s delay in naming him.

“What I have done wrong to my party?” he told a private news channel.

The PPP’s delay in naming Mr Fahim or another candidate has fuelled speculations that Mr Zardari wants the job for himself.

Mr Fahim has said he will support Mr Zardari if he opted to become the prime minister himself.

Mr Fahim will meet PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Sunday.

During the meeting, matters relating to forming the new government would come under discussion, party sources said.

The meeting would help remove uncertainty and misunderstanding created by PML-N leader Khawaja Asif’s statement about Mr Fahim’s contacts with President Pervez Musharraf, the sources said.

They said that the PPP leader would convince Mr Shairf to support him as a candidate for the premiership. The place of the meeting has not been decided.