Can the party that was once the hope of the middle class recover from the series of setbacks it has suffered one after the other since April?
By Ahmer Kureishi
ISLAMABAD: Once seen widely as the knight is shining armour who would lead the nation to glory, former Prime Minister Imran Khan is clearly in deep trouble. Will he ever be able to rise above his difficulties, largely of his own making, and realise his former promise of whiter than white leadership? The prospects are dim.
Khan’s troubles started when he attempted to go around the constitution to defeat a parliamentary vote of no-confidence by maintaining it was the result of a foreign conspiracy and all those voting him out were traitors.
His attempt was defeated conclusively after the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) ruled that his hand-picked deputy speaker of the national assembly had been in error in not putting the VONC to vote. The vote went through, ousting Khan from power.
But instead of climbing down and conceding, Khan upped the ante by taking the narrative of foreign conspiracy to the street, and maintaining “the establishment” had also been part of the conspiracy to dethrone him.
He eventually walked back his poisonous narrative, but only after proclaiming it from the podium at the pith of his voice for months, when it probably dawned on him that his harsh position had led his opposition to close ranks and harden their attitude instead of flinching.
Meanwhile, his popularity visibly waned as his supporters realised how futile and dangerous a path their leader was taking. His much vaunted long march fizzled out in small-town Punjab before it could reach Islamabad.
The attempt on his life in Wazirabad became Exhibit A of his overreach and its futility. Instead of prosecuting the culprit who was caught red handed, Khan and his party focused on pinning blame on the government and the military. To this end, they hindered investigation into the case, raising suspicions on the veracity of the attack itself.
Against this backdrop, the gathering at Rawalpindi the other day was an opportunity for his recovery from all those errors. It was expected that the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly would return to parliamentary politics on his way back to the top.
Instead, Khan announced his determination to quit all the assemblies. What is more, he paraded all his previous talking points, including some he had recently walked back, like the allegations of a foreign conspiracy.
He raved about the attempt on his life with a new twist, calling it a near-death experience, and claiming that three people who tried to assassinate him still occupy high government positions.
Khan upcycled his foreign conspiracy allegations, maintaining that those who called the cypher a fake story were involved in toppling his government. That would include the foreign office, the judiciary, the entire political class, the great majority of media and observers, and intelligence agencies, and the security institutions.
The PTI Chairman lamented that no stone was being left unturned to dishonour him, but once again vowed to fight for the country’s betterment till the very last moment. He held that that the nation has denounced incumbent government in the by-polls.
The former prime minster also held forth on the subject of rule of law and justice – another of his favourite themes for speechmaking, even as the mills of Pakistan’s justice system continue to grind slowly but surely several cases of wrongdoing against him.
The cases against him include allegations of moral turpitude and financial corruption. Once the mills of the justice system are done, he may be ineligible to take part in politics at least for a while.
But Khan and his party seem oblivious to that possibility, which is a crying shame. For, if that turn of events indeed comes to pass, much will depend on how his party conducts itself without him at the head, and how it mounts a struggle for his return to politics.
It does not help that the public support for the PTI depends largely on Khan’s personality cult, which may not be amenable to one of his lieutenants in the leadership position. Also a matter of conjecture is how cohesive his party’s core will be if he is declared ineligible to hold public office, especially when Khan himself has taken no steps towards succession.
Khan and his advisors would do well to work those scenarios and prepare a cogent response to any untoward development. They must remember that the fortunes of Khan and his party are linked. If Khan is perchance overtaken by misfortune, his fightback will depend largely on the condition of his party.
But even more importantly, the PTI is probably the only national political party with middle class credentials. Its elimination from politics will leave the field open to pedigree politicians and dynasties like before – a great loss to the nation in general and to the middle class in particular.
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