PESHAWAR/LAHORE/KARACHI  -  Conceding defeat in the Feb­ruary 8 general elections, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) Chairman Jahangir Khan Tareen and PTI-Patriot Presi­dent Pervez Khattak Monday announced to step down from their respective party posi­tions. Jahangir Tareen also announced to quit politics but vowed to continue to serve the country in his private capacity. Pervez Khattak, however, an­nounced his resignation from party chairmanship saying he would remain in politics but currently he was taking a break from it too. 

Tareen contested elections from two National Assembly seats NA-149 (Multan) and NA-155 (Lodhran) but lost both the seats. His party also performed poorly in the elec­tions and ended up securing only two National Assembly seats from Lahore. The IPP won only the Punjab Assembly seat. Pervez Khattak’s party was also rout­ed in the February 8 elections. He himself could not win even a single seat. Tareen announced his decision on the social me­dia website X saying that he had great re­spect for the will of the people. He also ex­pressed gratitude to all IPP members and wished them the best. 

“I would like to thank everyone who supported me in this election and want to offer my congratulations to my oppo­nents. I have immense respect for the will of the people of Pakistan. There­fore, I have decided to resign from my position as Chairman IPP and step away from politics altogether. My gratitude to all the members of IPP. I wish them the absolute best. By the Grace of Allah, I will continue to serve my country to the best of my ability in a private capacity. May the next few years see Pakistan prosper”. 

Both Tareen and Khattak were lead­ing breakaway factions of the Paki­stan Tehreek-e-Insaf founded by Imran Khan, but their parties faced humili­ating defeat in recent elections. They were considered close aides of the PTI founder but later developed differences with him and formed their own parties only a few months before the February 8 general elections. 

Meanwhile, IPP President Abdul Al­eem Khan expressed his deep sorrow over the decision of Jahangir Khan Ta­reen to resign from the party chairman­ship. Aleem Khan said in his tweet that Jahangir Khan Tareen undoubtedly was a professional of the highest caliber. He said that it was indeed an honor having Jahangir Khan Tareen in any govern­ment for that regime. He said that un­fortunately no government could ben­efit from his abilities. He said Jahangir Khan Tareen will always be the Patron- in- chief of the IPP. He further said that Jahangir Khan Tareen’s welfare activ­ities were praiseworthy as he was a kind- hearted person. 

In a related development, Jamaat-e-Is­lami (JI) emir Sirajul Haq also resigned over poor performance of his party in the general elections. His party failed to even win a single seat in the National Assembly in the national elections. Sir­aj also lost his National Assembly seat.

‘SHIFT IN KP’S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE’

Several key political leaders either re­sign electoral politics or party positions after failing to win NA polls. While the independent candidates, mostly backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), turned the tables in the February 8 elec­tions on the one hand, several key politi­cal leaders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also failed to make it to the National Assem­bly, and some even tendered their resig­nations from party positions.

Even heads of some parties hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have lost the February 8 elections. Awa­mi National Party, Jamaat-e-Islami and Qaumi Watan Party will not have any representation in the upcoming Nation­al Assembly as they failed to secure any berth in the legislature.

Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Sirajul Haq, lost his native constituency of NA-6 in Lower Dir district to PTI-backed inde­pendent candidate Mohammad Bashir. Also, Qaumi Watan Party central chair­man Aftab Ahmad Khan remained un­successful in NA-24, Charsadda-I, se­cured by JUI-F’s Maulana Gohar Ali Shah.

The Pashtun nationalist Awami Nation­al Party also failed to secure any seat in the National Assembly. The former ANP MNA, Ameer Haider Hoti, lost elections in both NA-22 and PK-58 constituencies in Mardan district. Following his defeat, Hoti resigned from his party office. He is a senior ANP leader and served as the longest-serving chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2008 to 2013.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq has also announced resignation from the leadership of the JI following the par­ty’s failure in the general elections.

In a statement, Siraj ul Haq stated that despite efforts and hard work, the de­sired success could not be achieved in the elections, and thus, he was resign­ing from the leadership of JI, accepting the failure in the elections. 

Also on Monday, Pakistan Teh­reek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarian (PTIP) Chairman Pervez Khattak reported­ly announced to resign from his party position and electoral politics follow­ing his defeat in the February 8 elec­tions. In a statement, he stated that he and all his family accepted the decision of people of Nowshera wholeheartedly, as they did not vote for him but for their preferred candidates, rejecting him and his close family members. “Now, I will decide my and my children’s future af­ter a few days. I hope that the candi­dates, chosen by people of Nowshera, can serve them better than us,” he said.

‘GRAND DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE’ 

The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) Monday voiced its strong opposition to the recent elections, labeling them as an­ti-state, and has announced plans for a sit-in protest scheduled for February 16.

During a press conference, GDA chief Pir Pagara denounced the election re­sults, accusing them of being manipu­lated to favour certain parties. He em­phasised the need to reject what he deemed as unfair electoral practices and called upon the youth to join the protest at Hyderabad Bypass.

He expressed his refusal to accept seats obtained through unfair means, dismissing suggestions to dissolve the GDA alliance. He affirmed the alliance’s resolve to stand against electoral injus­tices, asserting that neither personal af­filiations nor external pressures would sway their stance. Additionally, GDA leader Safdar Abbasi declared that two members of the Sindh Assembly belong­ing to their party would abstain from taking the oath, opting instead to stage a protest outside the assembly premis­es on the day of the meeting.