What awaits the PTI?

When Project Imran was launched, there was wonder at the speed with which things seemed to go in its favour. Today, the project is unravelling faster than the launch itself. If one thought the PTI ‘revolution’ was televised, the dismantling effort has been equally public. From former federal ministers to southern Punjab electables to others, the list of those jumping ship keeps getting bigger and it is expected the numbers will only increase with every passing day. Political observers are quick to point out that this is not new, pointing to the way the PML-N was crushed into the PML-Q and the PPP into PPP-Patriots. But there is a caveat there: these parties did not finish; their core group remained intact and they managed to rise back into power. Will the PTI manage to get out of the quagmire it is in? A quagmire it may only have itself to blame for? This will be a huge challenge for PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his party, especially given the unprecedented impunity the party thought it had and the May 9 events that, in a country like Pakistan, fighting an intense terror battle, were optics disturbing for even the harshest critics of institutional interference.

There are those who point to The Playbook – a tried and tested method to get rid of unseemly political ambitions. But there too is a caveat: for all the talk about dynastic politics, the PTI is the party that has in fact revolved around the person of one man – Imran Khan. The PML-N and PPP have second or third-tier leadership who have their own identity independent of Nawaz Sharif or the Bhuttos; even the MQM managed to shake off the Altaf Hussain factor and still maintain relevance in the cities it has stakes in. For the PTI, though, it is all about Imran. And this is something the PTI chairman seems to manifest himself too. Despite the arrests of the party’s top leadership, for two days the party leader spoke only of himself and his wife. After reports of disappointment and anger by PTI members and their families started coming out in the media, he finally tweeted for his leadership and took some names – while omitting others. There seems to be recognition that without him, the party is essentially a stitched together assortment of various political characters. Whether this will be enough for the next elections when many are leaving the ‘sinking’ ship will be a real test for the PTI in the coming months. In fact, there has also been musing whether the PTI in its entirety faces a ban. Saner voices caution against such a step, no matter the temptation, saying this could set a dangerous precedent.

The change in Imran Khan’s tone the past day or so may then have something to do with the realization that the reckoning is here, without any patience for any further dramatics by the party. Analysts feel that it may now also be just too late for any reconciliation between the establishment and Imran Khan. The attacks on military installations and state buildings were the last nail in a project that seems to have gone haywire. Imran is trying to save face and says people are leaving his party because of pressure. He asks if this has ever happened before. The incredulity would be amusing if it were not coming from someone who had benefited from such ‘pressure’ himself. Perhaps Mr Khan needs to exchange some notes with the Sharifs and the Bhuttos or even his own party president, Pervaiz Elahi. So what happens now to the PTI? It is time for Imran Khan to take stock of the situation and figure out a way to wriggle out of this situation. The only hitch: there is very little room left to manoeuvre an exit. A red line was crossed – a red line that Imran himself had drawn countless times while in power. We had been warning right here in these pages that all political parties must sit together and resolve their issues before it is too late. But talking to opponents has always been Imran Khan’s kryptonite. And it may now be too late.