The PTI had seemed a little out of it recently, but now it seems that it is trying to shake off the frozen-ness by firstly putting its house in order internally. The appointment on Tuesday of former PM Imran Khan as ‘patron-in-chief’ of the PTI is to be seen within that context. The PTI has been a little out of it, and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, mostly infighting within the party. Parties out of office are subject to this jockeying for position, but the PTI is finding its possession of office within one province something of a problem. Leading party members are in opposition, while others enjoy the perks and privileges of power that are all that some seek, and are a necessary recognition that they can deliver, for those who actually want to do something. KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur is a prime example of someone enjoying the sweets of office while the party leader is in jail. PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan has announced that he will not be leading the next PTI movement. Mr Gandapur was responsible for the fiasco at D-Chowk on November 24, though the PTI tried to salvage something by claiming that its workers had been killed by law enforcers’ firing.
Mr Khan’s assumption of the position of ‘patron-in-chief must be seen as an attempt to evade the ban on convicts from holding office in political parties, which led to the election of Mr Gohar Ali Khan as party chairman. Indeed, Mr Gohar Ali Khan had to clarify that he was not bering dismissed. What view the Election Commission of Pakistan will take of the PTI having someone who can give the Chairman orders is not known. However, it should be noted that the PTI constitution does not contain the office of a patron-in-chief.
Mr Khan has apparently posed his party a conundrum. He is to lead the party from behind bars. Even more than an election, a movement needs motivators present and able to receive information instantaneously, and give decisions at the same pace. The PTI really has two dilemmas: Mr Khan is not just its best campaigner; he is its only campaigner. Second, it has to reengage the support its lost during the recent Indo-Pak crisis, when the government not only did not trip over its own feat, but actually did quite well.
