WASHINGTON, Dec 17: Pakistan People’s Party chairperson Benazir Bhutto has said that she believes while the government would like the Pakistan Muslim League-Q to win the elections it would want a prime minister from her party.

But “the PPP will not buy into it,” she added. “They would like to say we had an election, and now we’ve got a legitimate government and we have got the country’s most popular party on board.”

In an interview to The Washington Post on Monday, Ms Bhutto said if the opposition parties won the election, they can force the government to remove the restriction that can prevent her or Nawaz Sharif from serving as a third-term prime minister.

“It depends on the numbers and also the pressure,” she said. It will also depend on whether President Pervez Musharraf “stays or goes,” she added.

Explaining her point, Ms Bhutto said if President Musharraf stays he is going to need indemnity from the new parliament against the suspension of the Constitution, which may force him to negotiate the dispute over the third term with the PPP and the PML-N.

Ms Bhutto also welcomed Mr Sharif’s decision to participate in the elections, saying that it was good for the political process and together they can prevent the government from rigging the Jan 8 elections.

Ms Bhutto recalled that when Mr Sharif returned to the country, the All Parties Democratic Movement wanted him to boycott the elections but she told him not to do so.

“I said to him … if we boycott, there is no need for them to rig the elections because they’ll win an overwhelming majority, and they’ll get to do whatever they want in parliament. But if we fight, we’ll force them to rig, and if both of us fight, they’ll have to rig really big,” she said.

“Unfortunately, he’s not been allowed to [run for office], and his brother’s not been allowed to participate, but if there’s a political process he’ll benefit” she added.

Ms Bhutto alleged that the government had set up ghost polling stations which might secure majority for the PML-Q but hoped that foreign observers could help “ensure that the ballots don’t get siphoned off.” If the observers do this, “it’ll be a huge setback to their rigging plans.”

Ms Bhutto said that the government has already planned how to give PML-Q a majority.