Unimpressive PTI show ‘a result of internal rifts’

Leaders in K-P say the party’s provincial secretariat remains inactive; disillusioned workers couldn’t be...

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was unable to gather an impressive number of people for its planned Nov 2 protest due to multiple reasons, including a weak party structure and differences of party leaders with the sitting government in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), say some PTI leaders.



When on October 28, PTI Chairman Imran Khan asked leaders and workers to march towards Islamabad to paralyse the capital, many in the K-P were already worried because previous efforts to unite the party had only borne partial results.



Multiple sources within the PTI confirmed that there were several factors that made Imran’s call less effective. These included lack of coordination between the workers and the PTI leadership, an inactive PTI provincial secretariat, dissolution of the youth, women and labour wings and sidelining of ideological activists due to ‘favouritism’.

A senior activist said when the party formed the government, the cabinet members changed their contact numbers and workers have no easy access to them. Even the MPAs face difficulties in contacting the chief minister and his cabinet.

"This attitude of the cabinet causes sense of deprivation among the workers and they have started stepping back gradually," he said, adding that Ziaullah Afridi was always close to workers and used to support them but he was arrested.

He said: "Youth is PTI’s power but this time around the party failed to utilise youth as the youth wing is yet to be constituted." Similarly, women wing and labour wing have also not been constituted so the party failed to take women and more youth members along.



"You have to make planning for such big events but party only collected donations for the Dharna and did not focus on how they will reach and how activists will be gathered," he added. The party’s K-P secretariat was also largely inactive. This secretariat, which has no head, had the main responsibility of gathering people for the Dharna.



The source said until the chief minister returned to the K-P from his foreign visit no one had any idea what would be the policy. “When the CM reached and held a press conference, things started getting clearer but it was too late,” he said.

Compared to previous rallies, this time hardly 3,000 people gathered at Swabi Base Camp on October 30, a majority of them from Swabi and Mardan. However, the party leadership says the ideological workers were in attendance.

A Peshawar-based PTI lawmaker, wishing not to be named, said an internal rift between chief minister and other members is the main reason behind less enthusiastic participation.



“The CM has been ignoring his own ministers in developmental funds while they have tried to bring the issue to the notice of the party chief on several occasions but in vain. “How are we expected to bring out people when we cannot even fill the vacuum of basic needs in our constituencies?”

Talking to The Express Tribune, the PTI MPA Yasin Khalil said the district level leadership which was responsible to hold corner meetings and conventions also failed. “If the roads were open and the rally was not cancelled thousands of people would have reached Islamabad,” he added. The provincial president, however, denied ‘rumours’ about any rift in the party.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2016.