Asad Umar says farewell to politics

ISLAMABAD: Former minister and ex-secretary general of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Asad Umar Saturday resigned from the party’s basic membership and said goodbye to politics.

Umar had quit as the party’s secretary general days after the May 9 rioting and then opted for a low-profile posture.

Asad took to his X account to announce the decision to quit the PTI as well as politics. He wrote, “After more than one decade in public life, I have decided to completely quit politics. As I had already stated publicly earlier that I disagree with the policy of confrontation with state institutions, and such a policy has led to a serious collision with state institutions, which is not in the interest of the country.”

Referring to his news conference on May 24, during which he had announced to step down as the party’s secretary general and condemned the May 9 violence, Asad wrote that he had “already stated publicly earlier that he disagrees with the policy of confrontation with state institutions”.

“I am resigning from basic membership of PTI. I want to thank all those who have supported me in public life. In particular I want to thank the NA 54 team and the voters who elected me twice. I have tried my best to serve the constituency that I was elected from. May Allah’s blessings shine upon the Pakistani nation,” he wrote. Asad has joined a long list of PTI leaders who have parted ways with the party, following the May 9 violent incidents across the country.