 "Imran Khan's PTI has turned Pak streets into protest hub: Here's how it's damaging the party")
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan, has made street protests its hallmark since losing power in April 2022.
In the past four months alone, PTI has organised at least four protests along with rallies. Of those, at least two have ended in disarray, including the latest one.
Thousands of PTI supporters defied court orders Monday (November 25), marching from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad. They wanted to pressure the government so as to Khan’s release and contest what the party calls a “stolen mandate” from February’s elections, Al Jazeera reported.
That plan did not work.
As security forces moved in to carry out a late-night operation, Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, and PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur left Islamabad under cover of darkness.
Within 24 hours, the police dispersed the crowd under a power blackout, reportedly leaving casualties on both sides.
The tables turned and then it was PTI’s leadership that was under pressure, analysts noted. None of the party’s demands had been met. It was quite unclear on how the organisation would regroup.
It has hurt the party in multiple ways.
A blow to PTI’s political strategy
By Wednesday morning, PTI had called off the protest “for the time being”.
“This protest was framed as their ‘final call,’ but for it to collapse like this is a major blow to their political strategy,” Al Jazeera cited political analyst Zaigham Khan.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“The government’s use of force was likely to set an example to deter future protests,” Benazir Shah, a Lahore-based political analyst, said.
Before this, a protest called in October with similar demands had also failed.
Exposing leadership crisis
Bibi and Gandarpur, caught in a fight or flight situation, chose the latter. The leadership essentially abandoned their supporters.
It was a clear sign of lack of good leadership.
With Imran Khan in jail since August 2023, facing charges ranging from corruption to treason, and Bushra Bibi previously detained for nine months, PTI’s leadership vacuum has grown more apparent.
A hit to party credibility
The protest’s abrupt end has left PTI struggling to recalibrate. Yet another failure on the part of the party to secure any of its demands has only spotlighted its inability to mobilise effectively.
The party base is also likely to be taking damage from the narrative spread by its opposition. “This was not a peaceful protest. They wanted violence and used it as a tactic to gain sympathy,” said Rana Ihsaan Afzal, spokesperson for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
That kind of narrative may make some supporters feel unjustly used and alienate them.
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