Veteran politician Pervez Khattak has refuted rumours that he is stepping down from his position as chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Parliamentarians (PTI-P) following his lacklustre showing in the general elections on February 8.
Shortly after the mainstream media reported that Khattak, the former defence minister of the PTI government, had resigned from both his post and politics, he responded.
Khattak claimed he was not leaving politics behind, only taking a vacation from it.
In the general elections, he was defeated for the NA-33 seat held by Nowshera. According to unofficial statistics, he was beaten by independent candidate Shahid Ahad Khattak, who received 90,145 votes and was supported by the PTI.
Pervez Khattak, meanwhile, lost badly in his stronghold, scoring only 25,258 in the process.
After suffering significant losses in the most recent general elections (2024), Jahangir Khan Tareen made the decision earlier in the day to resign as the chairman of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) and leave politics.
On the social networking site X, he declared his choice, saying, “I want to congratulate my opponents and thank everyone who helped me win this election.” I hold the Pakistani people’s will in the highest regard. I have thus made the decision to leave politics completely and resign from my role as Chairman of the IPP.
“My appreciation to each and every IPP member. I hope the very best for them. With God’s grace, I shall go on serving my nation in a private role to the best of my abilities,” he added.
