President Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (PML-Q) and former Prime Minister Senator Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has warned that the army should not be treated as domestic servants and humiliated. The veteran politician was talking to media persons at his residence, here on Sunday. Asked whether the army's intervention could be checked through amendments to the Constitution and the law, Shujaat Hussain said as a matter of truth to check the intervention of the army, the institution of the army should be accepted with good intention; they should not be treated as domestic servants nor they should be humiliated.
In reply to another question, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said it was very strange that the Head of the State was said to be saying, "If Pervez Musharraf were sentenced to death and the Prime Minister wrote to him to grant him (Musharraf) pardon then he would pardon him.
Hussain wondered whether this did not fall in the category of contempt of court? He maintained, "When the army wants to take over, it never comes on anyone's asking, one jeep and two trucks are required for this purpose, trucks are parked outside, the General in a jeep goes inside, salutes the Prime Minister and says 'Sir, we are ready, let's go' and the whole procedure is completed in just 15 to 20 minutes."
Replying to another question, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said, "Holding local bodies' elections is the requirement of the Constitution and escape from it also falls in the category of treason as the Constitution is violated."
He maintained that in fact, the N-League did not want to hold local bodies' elections and the Constitution was being trampled with regard to the LB polls.
He said that Shahbaz Sharif had not quitted politics of vindictiveness, adding that they possessed concrete proofs about victimisation of Shahbaz Sharif.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that he had also heard that many senior and old Muslim Leaguers were ashamed of quitting their party, saying that they had not done something good to leave the Pakistan Muslim League-Q.
In response to another query, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said our party was not defeated by votes but it was defeated with the connivance of the Returning Officers, the army officials had not allowed him and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi to enter the office of the Returning Officer.
In the context of agricultural trade with India, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that Pakistan govt should take care of the interests of its own farmers because prices could decrease for the time being by importing potato, tomatoes, ginger but Pakistani farmers were suffering on this account.
Answering another question, the PML President said that the system of Pakistan could not be set right with the induction of one and half billion dollars, we had broken the begging bowl but the present govt has picked it up.
He said one could only smile on the claim about setting up of the biggest steel mill of the world in Chiniot. They were not able to run the existing steel mill even. He said that former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry had destroyed privatisation of the steel mills because of which the steel mill was now at the brink of destruction.
Responding to other questions, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that he valued a lot whatever Chaudhry Nisar had said about him, he was working hard in negotiations with the Taliban but nothing could be said about ultimate outcome. On a question about Imran Khan, he said that the personality of Imran Khan would have become taller if he had remained in the opposition, Imran Khan should not have accepted the provincial govt.