ISLAMABAD: Days after taking a firm and fearless position against surveillance and phone tapping of politicians by intelligence agencies, provoking the ire of his leadership, PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar formally resigned as a senator on Thursday.

Mr Khokhar handed in his resignation to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who immediately accepted it. “Upon receiving instructions through Senator Farooq Naek, I hereby tender my resignation from the Senate of Pakistan as senator,” the brief resignation reads.

He posted a photograph on Twitter showing him presenting his resignation to Mr Sanjrani with a smile on his face.

“Alhamdulillah, I have formally submitted my resignation today. I’m thankful for the positive response and support across party lines which was far beyond my imagination,” Mr Khokhar tweeted, welcoming the applause he won from politicians, mainly from the PTI for an honourable exit on a principled stand.

Elected as a senator from Sindh on the PPP ticket in March 2018 for a six-year term, Mr Khokhar had revealed his plan to quit around four months ahead of his completion of his term two days ago.

In his reaction, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry tweeted: “A principled resignation tendered. Good luck for his future endeavours.”

What apparently annoyed the party leadership was the position taken by Mr Khokhar over the issue involving a secretly filmed video of PTI leader Azam Swati.

“This clip of Azam Swati Sahib is a slap on the face of the Senate Chairman and all parliamentarians,” he tweeted at the time. “I never thought that our intelligence people would be so disrespectful and would spread our religious and social ethics in this way. No one’s self-respect is safe. May God curse these people.” he said in another tweet.

In December 2020, Mr Khokhar had resi­gned as official spokesperson for Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, but stated that he would continue to be a part of the PPP.

He had stated that he would be able to comment and express his thoughts more freely, without any compulsions and responsibility that came with the position of spokesperson of a party head.

Sources close to Mr Khokhar had revealed that he was angry over his party’s backchannel contacts with the military.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2022