LAHORE, Oct 24: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar says his rivals — Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi — stand no political future and will realise their real worth once they are out of power in the next few weeks.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, he said the Chaudhrys’ ship kept afloat by the establishment was sinking as a new era of democracy was emerging.

Mr Mukhtar hails from Gujrat, the home town of the Chaudhrys, and plans to contest the upcoming election against Pakistan Muslim League (PML) President Shujaat Husain on NA-105 and Provincial Education Minister Imran Masood on PP-111. He claimed he would defeat his opponents with vast margins.

The PPP leader said the Chaudhrys were living in the past and had failed to realise the importance of a United Nation Security Council resolution passed on Friday last in favour of PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto.

The UN Security Council condemned a “heinous act of terrorism” Thursday’s bomb attack on a homecoming convoy of Ms Bhutto, and called for perpetrators to be brought to justice.

He asked the Chaudhrys instead of losing nerve, should face the emerging adversarial situation with dignity as the future belonged to the PPP.

Mr Mukhtar said the PPP would have no objection to the PML chief’s indication that the ruling party could join hands with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the upcoming polls.

He said the Chaudhrys should immediately fly to Saudi Arabia and bring the exiled leader back. “We will not stop them,” said the former PPP general secretary, claiming that even the united PML would not be able to block Ms Bhutto’s return to power.

He said Ms Bhutto was the most popular leader and a symbol of federation.

He says people killed in the Oct 18 rally in Karachi were from all the four provinces and the Northern Areas. This, he said, showed the PPP chairperson enjoyed public support in every nook and corner of the country.

He said in case the Supreme Court validated Gen Musharraf’s election for another term, fundamentalists and extremists would try to create a law and order problem in the country. If the Supreme Court came up with a verdict against the general, President Musharraf would use all options available to him, he said.

He says the general could impose emergency or martial law or use the assemblies to change the rules of the game.