GUJRAT: Former prime minister and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain says the country may face ‘political chaos’ after the 2018 election ‘due to external conspiracies’ and advises politicians to unite for the sake of country’s security.

“Any mainstream party may not be able to get a clear majority. In the presence of external conspiracies, election on a personality basis will be of no benefit (to the country). It will rather create chaos and all politicians should forge unity in their ranks,” he told to Dawn at a lunch hosted by his aide Chaudhry Ijaz Warraich here on Sunday.

Elaborating his advice for unity, Shujaat said country’s economy had already been ruined by wrong economic policies of Nawaz Sharif’s government as dollar rate was going up.

Gives reason for staying away from electoral politics

“There has been no effort to counter rising Indian supremacy in the region which is alarming and conspiracies are being hatched against the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).”

He said politicians could only be countered through political course of action.

Meanwhile, Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain has once again decided to stay away from the electoral politics for the second consecutive time in his political career spanning almost four decades as he is not a candidate for any constituency in the coming general election.

According to close circles of the PML-Q chief, this decision is due to health issues.

When this reporter asked him the reason, Shujaat said what he would do by becoming an MNA when he had already served as the prime minister of Pakistan. “Now it is time for some new comers.”

He said some members of his family, including Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, would contest from two NA seats (NA-69 and Chakwal’s NA-65), whereas his two nephews Chaudhary Moonis Elahi and Chaudhary Hussain Elahi were contesting from different NA and PA seats of Gujrat.

The veteran politician who had started his political career in 1977 elections reached the national assembly four times.

CARETAKER CM: Punjab’s caretaker chief minister Professor Hassan Askari visited his native town Mandi Bahauddin on the second day of Eid. Mr Askari belongs to a Syed family of ward number 5 of Mandi Bahauddin city.

Speaking to participants of a dinner hosted in his honour by his brother Hassan Mehdi Rizvi advocate and earlier on talking to reporters during his visit to the under-construction district headquarters hospital, the CM said that all the political parties should be given equal opportunities for the mass contact campaign.

Responding to a question, he said the caretaker government had to operate within the frame work given by the ECP.

Commenting on the condition of hospitals across the province, Mr Askari said that all the hospitals were being checked in Punjab as the government was receiving a lot of complaints.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2018