LAHORE: Shafqat Mahmood, once a prominent leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on Sunday announced his retirement from politics, but stressed that the decision was not due to coercion.
“34 years ago I resigned from a government job and entered politics. But after deliberation, I have now decided to retire from politics,” Mahmood, a former federal minister, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following the May 9 attacks on state facilities, a large number of politicians left the former ruling party or quit politics altogether, with the party saying they were forced out of the party founded by Imran Khan.
Leaders who have left the now embattled PTI include Fawad Chaudhry, Asad Umar, Shireen Mazari, Fayazul Hassan Chohan, Maleeka Bokhari, Ali Zaidi and Musarrat Jamshed Cheema.
While some leaders tried to rejoin the party ranks, the PTI leadership – which consists of several new faces – decided that the defectors would not be brought back into the ranks.
“There is no pressure on me [to leave the PTI] and I have no plans to join another political party,” Mahmood said, explaining that he made the decision due to “time” and his “age”.
Looking back on his decades-long political career, the former federal minister said he had seen several ups and downs. “I served as a member of the Senate and the National Assembly.
Not only that, he said he was also appointed as both a federal and provincial minister. On a lighter note, Mahmood said he had also “visited” prisons during his political career.
Now, the former PTI leader said that as the federal education minister, he introduced the Uniform National Curriculum for the first time in history and also supervised education-related matters during the COVID-19 emergency.
When he was the education minister during the coronavirus period, the students were in awe of him because he not only introduced several relaxations but also passed the students without exams.
He thanked Khan and the PTI for giving him the opportunity to “serve”. Mahmood also expressed his gratitude to the voters of his constituency who elected him to Parliament twice.
“I am satisfied that I have always performed all my duties honestly and in every position I have done my duty. No one, thank God, has brought any charges against me.”
Mahmood revealed his future plans and said he wants to spend the rest of his life learning and writing. “I agree with those who say that youth should participate in politics.”
