A number of political leaders and entities announced their decision to step down — either from the politics or from the few seats they had managed to garner in 8 February elections.
Jahangir Khan Tareen, who cobbled together from PTI deserters ahead of the polls and formed Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party, announced his resignation from politics after his party witnessed a devastating defeat in the election, reports Dawn.
Tareen lost both of the National Assembly seats he was contesting on, while his party only managed to grab two NA and one provincial assembly seat.
In a heartfelt message on X (formerly Twitter), Tareen announced his decision to resign from his position as chairman of IPP and step away from politics altogether.
“My gratitude to all members of IPP. I wish them the absolute best,” he added.
This decision marks the end of an era for IPP, leaving many to wonder about the future of the party without its founding leader.
Tareen’s departure from politics has left a void in IPP, and it remains to be seen how the party will navigate this new chapter.
Meanwhile, PML-Functional chief and head of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) Pir Pagara announced a sit-in programme on 16 February, rejecting the results of the 2024 elections.
He said the GDA would also contact other political parties to join the sit-in.
He disclosed that someone close to him had advised him to dissolve GDA and participate in the election under the PML-F banner. “I was told that if I form an alliance with Asif Zardari, I will get my national and Sindh Assemblies seats,” he added.
He said he was told that there will be ‘zero’ results in case he did not close the chapter of GDA.
“If the entire province was to be handed over to [Asif Ali] Zardari, then what was the need for an election?” he asked, adding: “We also return these two seats. Give these seats also to Zardari, he needs them”.
The PML-F chief said that his father had always supported the army. “He [late Pir Pagara] was with the GHQ since 1954 and always advised us to go with the army. But we have the right to protest when and where we do not get respect and justice.”
When asked if the country’s establishment would be angered by his protest, Pir Pagara said that when a son was angry with his father, he also left the house.
At the same time, a rumour mills that former KP chief minister Pervez Khattak had bid farewell to politics following his party’s poor showing on polling day.
However, the head of his own PTI-Parliamentarian faction said on Monday that he had no intention to quit politics or abolish his political party, reports Dawn.
PTI-P spokesperson Ziaullah Bangash told Dawn that reports about Khattak quitting politics, circulating on social media, were baseless. “I just spoke to Khattak, who denied issuing any such statement,” he said.
The top leadership of the newly carved out PTI-P failed to make a mark on the political landscape of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, managing only two provincial assembly seats from Peshawar.
The results of the Thursday’s polls were shocking for two former chief ministers, Mr Khattak and Mahmood Khan, as both of them lost their seats in their home districts of Nowshera and Swat, respectively.
