Istehkam-e-Pakistan chief Jahangir Tareen and Jamat-e-Islam emir Sirajul Haq hit the door of the East on Monday after their parties’ lackluster performance in the shock aftermath of the February 8 general elections that saw the fall of political heavyweights. .
Meanwhile, Pervez Khattak, head of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf splinter faction, PTI-Parliamentarians, has also resigned from his party position, saying he is “taking a break” from politics for now.
Tareen, once the right-hand man of jailed ex-prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, faced a crushing defeat in the national polls, with his fledgling party winning only two seats in the National Assembly (NA) and one provincial assembly.
He suffered a shock defeat from the PTI-backed independent candidate in Multan, Malik Aamir Dogar, who polled just 50,166 votes, which pales in comparison to Dogar’s 143,613 votes.
Throwing in the towel on his political retirement at X, Tareen said: “I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this election and I want to congratulate my opponents. I have the utmost respect for the will of the people of Pakistan.”
“That is why I have decided to resign from my position as IPP chairman and leave politics altogether.
“My thanks go to all IPP members. I wish them the best. By the grace of Allah I will continue to serve my country to the best of my ability in a private capacity. May Pakistan prosper IA in years to come. Pakistan Zindabad,” he added.
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However, hours after the news of his resignation, Pervaiz Khattak rubbished the rumours, saying the reports were baseless and misleading. He claimed to be committed to public service.
He acknowledged the results of the election and accepted the result with humility, acknowledging the decision of the voters.
Meanwhile, Sirajul Haq, head of the politico-religious party, waved the white flag just before Tareen left, saying, “I accept the responsibility for the electoral defeat and have resigned as party president.”
Qaiser Sharif, JI’s Central Information Secretary, verified the news of the party chief’s resignation. The boss resigned, saying he was responsible for the disappointing election results in the recent general polls.
He revealed that JI General Secretary Ameerul Azeem has called an emergency meeting of the central shura scheduled for February 17 at the party headquarters in Mansoora Lahore.
He mentioned, “The central shur meetings will begin at 10 am, when the consequences of the JI chief’s resignation will be considered.”
The JI chief’s resignation came after the party failed to secure any seats in the National Assembly and secured only three seats in the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies, one of which was vacated by JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Monday.
Earlier in the day, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rahman announced that he was losing the PS-129 Sindh assembly seat to a PTI-backed candidate.
Naeem won from PS-129 Karachi Central VIII with 26,296 votes while PTI-backed independent candidate Saif Bari got 11,357 votes.
In a press conference, Naeem said that PTI-backed candidate Saif Bari got 11,357 votes and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had changed the results.
“I am giving up this seat,” Naeem announced, adding that “independent candidate Saif Bari has won in real fashion, his votes reduced to 11,000 out of 31,000”.
