ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q has reached an understanding with Pakistan Muslim League-N and decided to withdraw its Senate candidates Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Razina Alam to clear the way for party chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to win a seat from Punjab.

It is learnt that the PML-Q leadership decided to go for an arrangement with the PML-N, instead of the PPP which also had made an offer to cooperate with it in the Senate polls. It may be mentioned that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and other PML-Q leaders held several meetings with representatives of President Asif Ali Zardari in recent weeks.

Over the past two days, Chaudhry Shujaat and Mushahid Hussain held talks with Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Ishaq Dar of the PML-N and they agreed to keep the Senate elections in Punjab free of ‘horse trading’.

Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday, Chaudhry Shujaat and Mushahid Hussain praised what he called the goodwill gesture made by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.

When asked if it was the beginning of a larger understanding which might lead to reunification of the two parties, the PML-Q chief said: “We are ready to cooperate with every party in the larger interest of the country.”

Mushahid Hussain said the decision to withdraw his and Razina Alam’s candidature was aimed at avoiding horse trading and a situation in which the party could have lost the seat of Chaudhry Shujaat.

He said his party wanted a broad understanding among all political forces to steer the country out of the current crisis.

Referring to what he termed ‘positive signals’ from the PML-N leadership, he said: “We want to take this positive note forward. We have held open-hearted dialogue and we hope that the atmosphere of understanding will grow.”

Chaudhry Shujaat welcomed the ‘Nizam-i-Adl’ accord for peace in Swat. Referring to reports that the president was reluctant to approve the agreement, he said that efforts for peace in the valley should be supported by everyone, including the federal government. He said there was no military solution to the problem.

The PML-Q chief refused to comment on former president Pervez Musharraf’s recent statement about alleged moves to weaken the armed forces and Inter-Services Intelligence.