Ever since Imran Khan handed over the mantle of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to Gohar Ali Khan and the induction of outsiders to the top party positions, the PTI has been in the news for not so many good reasons. Time and again, the infighting within the party spills over, becoming a fodder for the media. The leaders can then be seen clarifying their positions.
The most vocal person, apart from the party spokesperson Raoof Hassan, is Sher Afzal Marwat. He is all over the media, issuing somewhat controversial statements, which the party has a hard time clarifying. Recently, Mr Marwat stated that apart from the US, Saudi Arabia also had a hand in the ouster of Imran Khan’s government.
This prompted the PTI leadership to issue a denial, distancing itself from Marwat’s statement, which coincided with the visit of the Saudi delegation led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. The PTI spokesperson, Raoof Hassan, said whatever Marwat had said was his personal opinion and did not speak for the party.
This is not the only instance when the party leaders have forwarded their different opinions. Earlier, both Gohar Ali Khan and Sher Afzal Marwat had differed on various party issues, towing different lines and only publicly reconciling after their differences took a centre stage in media.
The party also saw a division over the decision to join Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and it became the main topic of discussion. So much so, Sahibzada Hamid Raza had to issue a stern reaction to all the criticism the SIC was subjected to by some PTI leaders. The latest issue that has caught the attention of the media is the PTI’s plan to launch an aggressive agitation against the alleged rigging in the Feb 8 polls.
For this the party has also set up a committee comprising over two dozen members. But, even this move has seen a difference of opinion among the party leaders. Some members are of the opinion that the present leadership has failed to draw crowds and that loyal leaders have not been included in the committee that has been tasked to organise protests.
Some of the leaders included in the committee have been in hiding and did not participate in past protests. In fact it has been observed that the PTI has mostly been silent in Punjab eversince the May 9 incident and any protest that it had organised was thwarted by the police.
All this shows that in the absence of the core party leadership which is behind bars or is not actively participating in the party affairs, the PTI is not the same lethal party as it was before.
The internal divisions are hampering its campaign against the alleged rigging in the elections. The leadership should therefore realise that it should send out a single solid voice if it wants its supporters to come out and join its protest campaign.
Division will only weaken the party.
