Now that the dharna frenzy has settled a bit and the PTI supporters have resorted to their normal lives, having attended at least one of the many public meetings, it is time to look at the prospects of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a political party.

There has been no dearth of analysis on the party itself. On one hand, there is critique of its ethno-geographic base, its anti-politics politics and the general sense of confusion about its message. Imran Khan is known to have nurtured a worldview that is in many cases at cross purposes with the accepted views, especially his views on democracy, electoral, legal and economic systems.

On the other, he has captured the imagination of educated middle classes and youth in particular. And with time he has made inroads into the lower segments of society as well. It has, indeed, shaken the two mainstream parties out of their inertia.

It could be argued that the PTI cadre lacks a sense of history, particularly the movement for democracy waged in this country by the political class. But this cadre is ready to swear by its leader who has made them believe that the political class is corrupt and he alone can give them a clean alternative.

It is equally true that democracy has not addressed the problems of the common man nor has he been educated about the fruits of democracy and constitutionalism.

In today’s Special Report, we have focused more on the events of the last two months and the party posturing in this period. We have looked at the possibility of fairness of a mid-term election as demanded by the PTI and we have tried to hear out from the youth who support this party.

A suggestion offered to the PTI in this period has been to focus on the province it is ruling and make it a role model for the rest of the country. Rahimullah Yusufzai has given a balanced overview of PTI’s performance in KP in the last year and a half.

The politics of PTI is something that needs to be watched carefully because it has become a force to reckon with.