A precedent in Pakistan: the resignation of the leaders of two parties that failed in the elections

From right to left: Sirajul Haq, Pervez Khattak, Jehangir Khan Tareen (Pakistani Press)

Islamabad

- Pakistanis and observers were surprised - last Monday - by the resignation of political party leaders after their parties failed to obtain seats in Parliament as they had planned. One of the candidates also gave up his seat to his competitor on the grounds that tampering had occurred in the vote count.

On Monday, the Emir of the Islamic Group, Sheikh Siraj al-Haq, announced his resignation from his position as Emir of the group after the group’s failure in the recent parliamentary elections, as it did not win any seat in the federal parliament.

Siraj Al-Haq said - in a tweet on his account on the X website - that he bears responsibility for the defeat in the elections, and that he is resigning from the leadership of the Islamic Group.

Retire from politics

The head of the "Consolidation of Pakistan" party, Jehangir Khan Tareen, also announced his resignation from his position and retirement from politics, after his loss in the elections.

Tareen announced this via a tweet on the X website, where he expressed his gratitude to everyone who supported him during the elections, and congratulated his victorious opponents.

While he affirmed his respect for the will of Pakistanis, he added that he would continue to serve his country to the best of his ability in his personal capacity.

It is noteworthy that Tareen was previously close to the former Prime Minister and detained PTI leader Imran Khan.

In the last elections, Tareen lost in the city of Multan to the independent candidate Amir Dogar, and also lost in the Lodhran region to Siddiq Khan Baloch, the candidate of the Muslim League Party - Nawaz Sharif's wing.

Deny resignation

For his part, PTI parliamentary leader Pervez Khattak denied rumors of his departure from politics after the recent general elections, stressing his continued commitment to public service.

Khattak (74 years old) expressed his gratitude for the people’s appreciation for his contributions, reaffirming his dedication to serving them and continuing the “political struggle for the benefit of the nation,” and he recognized and accepted the election results, respecting the voters’ choice.

It is worth noting that Khattak (a former defense minister) defected from Imran Khan’s party last year and formed his own party.

Naeem Rahman refused to be declared the winner of his constituency in the city of Karachi over his rival, Saif Bari (social networking sites)

Give up winning

In a unique precedent, the head of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Karachi, Naeem Rahman, refused to declare him the winner of his constituency in the city of Karachi over his rival, Saif Bari.

In his speech at a press conference held in Karachi on Monday, he said, "An independent candidate supported by the PTI has won, and I will not accept being declared the winner by tampering with the vote count."

In a post on the

Khaled Rahmani praised the awareness enjoyed by political leaders and much of the public in Pakistan (Al Jazeera)

Praise and welcome

In view of this, many political observers praised the resignation of party leaders as a result of the failure to achieve positive results in the recent elections, considering the step an advanced measure in implementing democracy in Pakistan and an embodiment of the leader taking responsibility for the failure.

Among these observers is Khalid Rehman, head of the Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, who praised the awareness enjoyed by Pakistan's political leaders and much of the electorate.

He added that although the authorities were accused of tampering with many of the election results, the actions of some parties were at the level of responsibility, and did not accept this fraud, protested it peacefully in many regions, and demanded a recount of the votes in the suspicious districts.

In the context of striving for stability in the country - says Rahman - party leaders considered that their resignation from their positions was a kind of preservation of stability in the country and making room for new faces of leadership.

He added that the first person to take this step was Siraj al-Haq, thus establishing a role model for democratic dealings. In the event that the party fails to achieve the planned achievement, the leader bears responsibility and leaves his position.

In his response to the question of whether the resignation by these leaders constitutes acceptance of the election results and acceptance of them, Rahman explained that resignation is a democratic measure to preserve stability in the country, but regarding objection to some of the results, there are follow-ups by these parties to object to the results before the concerned authorities and demand Recounting the votes in the constituencies in question.

Rahman expressed his great admiration for the step of Naeem Rahman, who refused to accept winning a seat in the local parliament in Karachi, because according to his aides’ statistics, he is not the winner, but rather his competitor, and that there is tampering with the sorting of the results.

Abdul Karim Shah: The resignation of the two leaders is an act that indicates awareness, a sense of responsibility, and the application of democracy (Al Jazeera)

A precedent in the history of Pakistan

For his part, the director of the Islamabad Center for Political Studies, Abdul Karim Shah, believed that what the Emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Siraj al-Haq, and the head of the “Pakistan Consolidation” Party, Jehangir Khan Tareen, did in resigning from their positions, was “a precedent that we have not seen in Pakistan” and is something that should be taken into account for them.

He said that their behavior indicates awareness, a sense of responsibility, and the application of advanced democracy, as happens in Western countries. When a party or government fails in their responsibility, the official resigns.

He added that the resignation of these two leaders is an admission of defeat in the general elections.

Regarding Pervez Khattak, Shah considered him a creation of the military establishment, as it was the one that asked him to defect from Imran Khan’s party and create another party, and when he failed in the last elections, the establishment asked him to resign in order to make room for a new personality who might be acceptable to voters in the future.

Source: Al Jazeera