ISLAMABAD, April 19: Asif Ali Zardari has dropped a hint that he could take over as prime minister if the “need arises”.

In an interview with the BBC, to be telecast on Sunday, Mr Zardari reiterated his resolve to reinstate the deposed judges, saying at the same time that a package for judicial reforms would be presented in parliament.

Referring to the judges’ issue, he said they (the judges) had not started a movement because they sensed a threat to democracy or the system but had rather started it to safeguard their jobs. But the movement had evolved into “something else”.

“Despite this, I will reinstate the judges.”

Dwelling on the reasons for the dismissal of the PPP governments in the 1990s, he said the first Benazir government had refused to give a job to the son of then chief justice, Sajjad Ali Shah.

Justice Sajjad then “conspired with then president Sardar Farooq Leghari” to dismiss the government, Asif Zardari alleged.

In reply to a question whether it was possible that Justice Falak Sher could be appointed chief justice because of his seniority, he said the law ministry would be more “in touch with the issue”.

He expressed his resolve to strengthen the judiciary so that it bows to none.

Mr Zardari said the government would make a request to the UN in two weeks about an investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. He brushed aside fears that the bureaucracy would create hurdles in this regard.

He said he and his sister Faryal Talpur would submit their nomination papers for by-elections for NA-207, Larkana, Ms Bhutto’s constituency.

He disclosed that Ms Bhutto had stated in her will that she would like Faryal Talpur to be her children’s guardian, possibly because she realised that the responsibility of being the party’s co-chairman was a heavy burden for him.

When he was asked to identify ‘hidden elements’ who were conspiring to destabilise the new set-up, he said: “We can identify them. You call these forces as the establishment.”

Mr Zardari said “these elements tried to coerce Ms Bhutto into boycotting the elections, but when Ms Bhutto rejected their demands, they threatened to confine the PPP to Sindh.

“Benazir successfully resisted these forces. These are the same forces which brought President Pervez Musharraf to power and they are the same who indulge in palace intrigues”.

The interviewer interjected a note of caution, saying that Mr Zardari had betrayed a love-hate relationship with the president, the PPP co-chairman said he neither loved nor hated Mr Musharraf because his party was sitting not in an assembly that was his “personal fief” but “their own assembly”.

He said that President Musharraf had a role to play in the new set-up and “we want to maintain the status quo”.

“We do not want confrontation with anyone for the sake of Pakistan. It does not necessarily mean that we support President Musharraf. Whenever we manage to get a two-thirds majority in parliament, we will think about impeaching him,” he said.

When the interviewer asked whether Asif Zardari and his party had accepted the president because of political expediency, he said: “No. We have done so because of our wish to get the requisite political support.”

Endorsing Nawaz Sharif’s statement in which he had said that he and Mr Zardari agreed on the impeachment of President Musharraf, he said he believed in strengthening democracy and the supremacy of parliament.

“People have voted for us to bring about change … changing the system. We will bring change, but its timing depends on circumstances.”

In reply to a question about the president’s move on Nov 3 to impose emergency and suspend the Constitution, Mr Zardari said he was opposed to all extra-constitutional steps, including the emergency.

Mr Zardari said “certain limitations and reservations” stopped PPP and the MQM from developing a lasting partnership. “But there is still hope if the two parties show magnanimity over certain issues.”

On being reminded that he had exchanged caps with MQM leaders when he visited Azizabad earlier this month, Mr Zardari said pro-Benazir and pro-Bhutto slogans had overwhelmed him.

“For the sake of the name of Z.A. Bhutto I am ready to even sacrifice my life and not just my cap.”