THE PTI’s worst tendencies are once again in full view of the public. Following the debacle that marked the culmination of its ‘last call’ earlier this week, its leadership has quickly turned on itself.

Several resignations have already been tendered, and more may be in the offing as a chaotic internal reckoning leads to finger-pointing and blame. Unity of command and internal structure have collapsed as key leaders throw each other under the bus instead of taking stock of the party’s mistakes. This cannot be chalked up solely to the brutal crackdown that the party has faced ever since it was ousted from power or even to its harsh experiences in recent days. Instead, the weakness seems to stem from the PTI’s impatience in politics, as well as its supporters’ volatile temperaments.

It is recalled that even when it governed the country, the PTI routinely sidelined saner heads in favour of populists who could whip up public sentiment with bellicose rhetoric. As a result, many capable leaders left the PTI even when its star was shining bright. Now, many of those who stepped up in its darkest hour to take it forward seem ready to do the same.

The ‘why’ seems clear: despite all that it has been able to achieve and despite the undeniable sympathy it has gained from vast segments of the populace, the party’s leadership still cannot keep their heads while their supporters are losing theirs. Nowhere was this more evident than in how the recent protest in Islamabad was handled by those present. Despite risking much, the PTI’s plans came abruptly undone because, at several critical moments, key decisions were swayed by personal ambitions and irrational expectations rather than political wisdom and restraint. The PTI must come to terms with this soon, or it will continue to implode.

The PTI leadership should also take a long, hard look at some of its most prominent leaders and supporters’ tendency to resort to sensationalism and conspiracy theories when things do not go their way. No matter how the protest was disbanded, the KP Assembly Speaker’s comparison of the crackdown in Islamabad to East Pakistan and Palestine took it a step too far. This tendency to blow things out of proportion is an affliction that the party must shake off soon. Its claims regarding how the Islamabad protest collapsed have been doubted primarily for this reason, even though there may be some truth to what has been claimed.

It is, at the moment, too early to say how much of a setback the party has suffered due to its mistakes in recent days. But, if the PTI hopes to endure, it has no option but to set its house in order. It ignores its many faults at its own peril.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2024