Daily Times

Days after the country went to polls, uncertainty continued to loom large on Monday after three well-known political leaders, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) chief Jahangir Khan Tareen, Central Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) Pervez Khattak, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq, made shocking announcements of stepping down from party positions.

Tareen and Khattak also decided to “step away from politics altogether”, while Siraj took responsibility for the party’s significant drubbing in the February 8 national polls.

In a post on X, Tareen said he would like to thank everyone who supported him in the elections and offered his congratulations to his political opponents over their victories.

However, he added that he had “immense respect for the will of the people of Pakistan” and was therefore stepping down. Similarly, the newly-formed IPP with its core of former PTI leaders, only managed to secure two seats in the National Assembly and only one from Punjab Assembly.

Meanwhile, Pervez Khattak, chief of his breakaway faction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PTI-Parliamentarians, has also resigned from his party position, saying that he is “taking a break” from politics for now.

The development comes as his party has literally been wiped out from Pakistan’s political scene after it failed to win even a single seat.

During canvassing, Khattak had made bold claims that he would be the next chief minister of K-P and that the PTI-backed independents would also align with him after winning.

Khattak’s two sons and a son-in-law were contesting from all seven seats in Nowshera, but couldn’t win any one of these.

In a separate post on X, Siraj said, “I accept responsibility for the election defeat and have resigned from the post of party ameer.”

The resignation by the Jamaat chief comes after the party failed to secure any National Assembly seats and only secured three seats in the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies, one of which was vacated earlier today by JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman.

JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rahman has announced that he is forfeiting the PS-129 Sindh Assembly seat in favour of the PTI-backed candidate.

Naeem had won from PS-129 Karachi Central VIII with 26,296 votes with PTI-backed independent candidate Saif Bari secured 11,357 votes.

In a press conference, Naeem stated that PTI-backed candidate Saif Bari secured 11,357 votes and that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had altered the results.

“I give up this seat,” announced Naeem and added that “independent candidate Saif Bari won in a genuine manner, whose votes were reduced to 11,000 from 31,000”.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, accusing him of dereliction of his constitutional and legal duties and playing the role of a facilitator in what it termed as ‘poll fraud.’

The PTI further insisted that not only should CEC Raja step down, but the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should also tender their resignations.

It alleged that they colluded to strip PTI-backed candidates of the mandate bestowed upon them by the people in the February 8 general elections, marred by widespread reports of vote rigging.