Tahirul Qadri quits politics

LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri on Saturday announced his retirement from politics and the chairmanship of the party.

“I am taking retirement from PAT chairmanship and politics,” Qadri said at an emergency press conference through video link from Canada. “It was due to our struggle that the accountability process began and the corrupt mafia has now been held accountable. We tried to stop unethical means from coming into the assembly and put all our energies to stop these ways. Unfortunately, in our politics, there is no room for the poor and the middle-class people,” he said. “My political struggle is only 10 percent of my overall working which I have been doing side by side,” Qadri said. “We have focused on eradicating illiteracy from Pakistan and formed 5,000 educational institutions across Pakistan. It was through the platform of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek that we introduced Article 62 and 63 to the common people of Pakistan and made them aware of their fundamental rights,” he added. “The martyrs of the Model Town incident are the result of the struggle of the movement. We protested for three months in Islamabad to create awareness among people,” he asserted and continued: “As a result of our movement, those who could never be arrested were put into jails. Now it’s a test for the new people how they continue the process of accountability.” He said he wanted to focus on his academic commitments and writing. "I have health issues as well which is why I am retiring from politics and handing over all the power to the Supreme Council," Qadri added.