ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Shafqat Mehmood stepped down from the post of party organiser in Lahore for what he called the party's poor performance in the local government polls.

Mehmood posted a message on the social media saying, “it is my moral duty to accept responsibility for this (party’s) poor performance.”

The PTI’s leader acknowledged that PTI performed much worse than the expectations during the recently held local body polls in Lahore on October 31.

The party workers and organisers did their best but the best was not good enough, he maintained.

The first phase of local body elections was held on Saturday.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party looked set to emerge as the leading groups in Punjab and Sindh respectively according to the unofficial results received so far.

Voters tried to make the most of a much-awaited opportunity to elect their representatives at the grassroots.

Although polling in most areas was by and large peaceful, Khairpur saw deadly violence when supporters of PPP and PML-F fought a gunbattle which claimed 11 lives.