LAHORE, Jan 11: PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said that the unification of PML factions was possible only on the basis of equality.

Speaking at a reception hosted by him and Punjab PML president Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in honour of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) members here on Sunday, the former prime minister said that his party wanted a dialogue between all political parties for cooperation to solve the problems being faced by the country.

Contacts were also being made for the unification of PML factions but it was possible only on the basis of equality and only for the welfare of the people and the country and not for saving or overthrowing any government.

He said that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif would have been the president of Pakistan in case he had returned on the day following the general elections. He said that positive thinking and attitude was necessary for the unification of PML factions. The PML-Q had always given preference to the national interest whether it was in the government or the opposition.

Praising the services of Shujaat and Elahi for the freedom of the press, CPNE President Arif Nizami said that both had always cooperated with journalists and were easily accessible even during their tenure in office.

He said that unification of the PML factions was in better national interest as it would pave the way for a two party system in the country. The unification was, however, possible only on the basis of equality, he added.

CPNE secretary-general Khushnood Ali Khan said the attitude of the Chaudhry brothers had always been positive towards press freedom and journalists.

He regretted that those claiming to be champions of the cause of democracy had promulgated a black ordinance for usurping the freedom of newspapers and news agencies which was more undemocratic than the Press and Publications Ordinance promulgated by a dictator like Ayub Khan.

He said the CPNE had condemned the ordinance and assured the journalists that it would struggle for its abolition.