Zardari says he may become PM if ‘need arises’

The co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) refused to give a firm commitment that he would become the Prime Minister but said he would assume the office if the “need arises”.

Zardari had last month nominated Yousuf Raza Gillani for the post of premier after extensive consultations within PPP, and had then said that he had no plans to take up the post.

In an interview with BBC to be aired, Zardari said he and his sister Faryal Talpur will submit nomination papers for by-polls to slain former premier and his wife Benazir Bhutto’s constituency of Larkana in Sindh province.

Responding to a question about his “love-hate” relationship with the President, Zardari said he neither loved nor hated Musharraf.

Asked whether he and the PPP 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.”

“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,” Zardari said.

Endorsing his ally PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s statement that Zardari and he had agreed on Musharraf’s impeachment, the PPP leader said he believed in strengthening democracy and upholding the supremacy of Parliament.