PTI's overarching strategy

The PTI is at a crossroads, groping for a direction to make its way ahead. Having been in the wilderness for more than three and a half years, during which it was pushed to the wall by the government and made to suffer on multiple counts, it is now in dire need of a strategy to overcome the odds on the political, legal and public perception fronts.

While the party's elected cadre has been a dismal failure, and its second-tier leaders seem to have resigned themselves to their fate, the galvanising forces remain its incarcerated leader, Imran Khan, and the zealots — including street supporters, social media warriors and the newly resurrected political brigade in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. The point is, with the powers-that-be looking the other way and the coalition government capitalising on PTI's fragmented rank and file, the party must overcome its lethargy and engage in dialogue in the larger national interest. Its performance on the floor of the House has been disappointing, and it has not been able to orchestrate a legal pushback for Khan's release.

The self-initiated drive by former information wizard and PTI guru, Fawad Chaudhry, urging warring sides to make room for political reconciliation, is worth its salt. His emphasis is on the PTI listening to its jailed leadership, as they have endured enough and must be brought back into the national mainstream. That plan, however, should not proceed under a minus-Imran Khan formula, as similar plots in yesteryears against the MQM, PPP and PML-N have backfired.

With the KP Chief Minister and his synergised cabinet at the vanguard of striving for a new narrative, they must exercise caution and desist from playing to the gallery. There is no harm in vociferously demanding due political space for the party, the release of political prisoners, and a coordinated approach to quell terrorism. Any effort by the ruling coalition to further decimate the PTI for short-term gains on the eve of the proposed 27th Amendment would only add to political acrimony and instability. The PTI and the government must look beyond the narrow canvas of politicking.