LAHORE, May 13: Punjab Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood resigned from his office on Monday.

“I am submitting my resignation to President Asif Ali Zardari. It is the prerogative of the new party to have its own governor. I have decided to do so as self-respect is very dear to me,” Mr Mahmood told a press conference at the Governor’s House.

Mr Mahmood had assumed the office over four months ago. He was then the president of PML-Functional Party in Punjab, but the party leadership removed him from the office after his decision to become the Punjab governor.

The PPP has won only one National Assembly seat from Punjab. Incidentally, the seat went to Makhdoom Mustafa, the son of Governor Mahmood, from Rahim Yar Khan.

The governor congratulated PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and PTI chief Imran Khan for winning elections and expressed the hope that they would both come up to expectations of the people.

In reply to a question about rigging, he said: “There may be a few cases of rigging but as a whole, elections were free and fair and I congratulate the Election Commission for this.” He said the parties which lost elections should accept the results with an open heart.

When asked why the people of south Punjab did not vote for the PPP despite it raising the issue of a new province, Mr Mahmood said the people (of south) still wanted the new province, but they were unhappy over massive loadshedding and an unprecedented inflation over the past five years. “If the new government fails to deliver it will face the same fate in next elections,” he said.

Mr Mahmood claimed that democracy was fragile when the PPP had come to power in 2008 and it focused only on saving democracy than governance. He gave credit to President Asif Ali Zardari for strengthening democracy. To a question about his political future, he said: “I will serve the PPP as an ordinary worker.”