Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year-old son made his political debut in a London hotel today and was forced to defend the decision to hand him the leadership of his mother's Pakistan's People's Party "like some piece of family furniture".

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari chose his mother's favourite boutique hotel in Knightsbridge for his first press appearance since her assassination in Rawalpindi 12 days ago.

He began by issuing an appeal to the media to respect his privacy while he completes his education at Oxford, where he is a first-year student at Christ Church college.

But Mr Bhutto Zardari, who was named chairman of the PPP shortly after his mother's death, made it clear that he intended to follow the family tradition and move on to a career in politics. The PPP was founded 40 years ago by his grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the former president and prime minister who was executed in 1979.

Bhutto was killed by bomb blast

The team from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command have backed the claim that Benazir Bhutto was not shot

BACKGROUND

• Pakistan in turmoil as ‘martial law’ imposed

• Bhutto escapes as bombers kill 126

• Timeline: Pakistan's period of turmoil

• The man out to oust a President

• Internal crisis gives Pakistan reason for hope

Related Links

• Pictures: The Bhutto dynasty

• Tribal killings shatter hopes for ceasefire

• Letters: Pakistan best ruled by army

He gave warning that Pakistan could simply break up if democracy was not respected. “I fear for my country. I fear that if free and fair elections are not held it may disintegrate,” he said.

But asked whether he feared for his life, he replied: "I fear more for my privacy."

He received somewhat of a rough ride from the UK press pack, with repeated questions as to why the PPP, if it had legitimate aspirations to rule a country of 170 million people, would wish to hand its leadership to a man still too young to stand for office and who had never lived in Pakistan.

Mr Zardari Bhutto said that he had "stepped up and did what I was asked to do" by the PPP's governing council. "You know there is a Pakistani slogan that says, 'How many Bhuttos can you kill? From every house a Bhutto will come'," he said.

He added: "It (the party leadership) wasn't handed on like some piece of family furniture. They asked me to do it and I did."

Mr Bhutto Zardari also called for a new investigation into his mother's murder to be set up under UN auspices because he does not trust the official Pakistani investigation, despite the involvement of a team from Scotland Yard.

“We do not believe that an investigation under the authority of the Pakistani government has the necessary transparency,” Mr Bhutto Zardari said. “Already so much forensic evidence has been destroyed.”

Mr Bhutto Zardari described how his mother’s death had affected him, saying: “It has made me more resilient and I feel I really want to see democracy for Pakistan now.”

Despite pleading to nerves, Mr Bhutto Zardari turned in a confident performance at today's press conference as he set out his priorities for the next few years, gently mocking journalists for having fallen for a phoney Facebook profile set up in his name last month.

“Politics is also in my blood, and although I admit that my experience to date is limited, I intend to learn,” he said.

“However, my immediate priority is to return to Oxford to continue my studies. Unless I can finish my education and develop enough maturity I recognize that I will never be in a position to have sufficient wisdom to enter the political arena.”

But he said he would step into his role as PPP chairman “gradually and carefully” while his father ran the party.

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