LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid (PML-Q) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain revealed on Tuesday that some government authorities had decided to use force against the participants of the long march organised by Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran(TMQ) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, DawnNews reported.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Shujaat said that the decision was made to use force against the participants of Qadri's long march on Jan 16 upon which he, seeking to avoid a repeat of the Lal Masjid operation incident, contacted Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf to press for negotiations.

Shujaat added that bloodshed on the scale of the Lal Masjid operation would have occurred had intervention not taken place.

The PML-Q president added that according to the agreement taken place with the TMQ chief,  elections would be held in a transparent manner.

Mushahid Hussain Syed, also belonging to the PML-Q, said that the country had averted a disaster through the "Islamabad declaration", adding that matter would have gotten out of hand had force been used.

Mushahid Hussain further said that the PML-Q president was discussing the setup of a caretaker government with coalition partners.

Tahirul Qadri would not contest the upcoming general elections, said Hussain, adding that the PML-Q had so far not considered the possibility of an electoral alliance with Qadri's party, the Pakistan Awam Tehrik' (PAT) , if they chose to participate in the upcoming elections.