What next for the PTI?

There has been a lot of talk about PTI’s political strategy ever since Imran Khan abruptly called off his march, leaving many of his supporters confused. Turns out that the confusion has been rather infectious: with PTI leaders also said to be bemused at what is happening. Sourced reports have revealed that PTI leaders are upset at the little time they got to mobilize the people, arrange transportation and logistics for Imran Khan’s long march. Due to the government’s crackdown on the PTI’s Punjab leadership, they faced further difficulties. There is also the street-power factor: the PTI may be popular but even its own leaders are conscious of the fact that perhaps its popularity lies more in the yuppier online crowd than among those who would be ready to confront police, teargas and heat during political resistance. There are also those who believe that translating the PTI’s current street popularity into a political chessboard has been difficult ever since the exit of Jahangir Khan Tareen from its ranks. This could well explain why the top-tier leadership in the party seems directionless and the party has not been able to capitalize on the gains it had made over the last two months. Observers say that the PTI gained a lot of momentum after Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence but that the abrupt end to the long march shows lack of political strategy.

Had this been any other opposition party and there was this huge a vacuum in Punjab, it would have been focused solely on the province. Not the PTI though, which has consistently made mistakes in dealing with Punjab. From appointing Usman Buzdar as the chief minister to other appointments in top party positions, the PTI’s Punjab strategy has been directionless. The leadership is also not focusing on central Punjab, which is why many are questioning the way forward for the former ruling party. Instead of following Imran’s plans of marches and dharnas, perhaps the PTI should focus on Punjab, come up with a clear political strategy, reorganize the party with a clear aim of restructuring, and figure out how to counter constitutional loopholes.

Now that the coalition government has decided to stay put and complete its tenure, one of the options the PTI still has is to come back to parliament and act as a political opposition. We saw that, despite pulling large crowds, even the PDM eventually did not opt for resignations and stayed in parliament to oust Imran Khan. While street power is important, it is parliament where the real political battle needs to be fought. That also makes it more difficult for third-party interventions into the political contest – an addiction our political parties desperately need to shake off. For how long can the PTI pretend to slot itself as a resistance force? And that too one that keeps wishing it was on the other side of the ‘resistance’.