TIME has not been kind to the PTI and the party paints a sorry picture today. Despite putting up a brave front for many months, the PTI is finally starting to feel the weight of its own indiscipline and incoherence. With its ideological and executive leadership still behind bars, the lower tiers are struggling to ensure unity. As a result, infighting, over matters both strategic and petty, has become the norm, with rival camps using every available platform to publicly question each other’s loyalty and motives. Recently, several PTI leaders openly acknowledged that a communication gap with party chief Imran Khan is at the heart of the party’s growing dysfunction. With only his lawyers and close relatives allowed to meet him, party leaders say they cannot verify whether messages attributed to him even reflect his intent. Meanwhile, the chaos that energises the party’s social media echo chamber is now turning inward. Everyone is a suspect; no one can be trusted. Perhaps it was public sympathy and anger that kept the party from dispersing after Mr Khan was removed from the public eye. But that moment seems to have passed as his supporters move from outrage to disillusionment.

Nowhere was the dysfunction more visible than in the recent handling of the KP budget, which was passed without Mr Khan’s consent despite prior instructions to consult him. KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, long seen as one of Mr Khan’s most loyal lieutenants, initially claimed he would not act without a meeting, but though the meeting never took place, the budget was passed. The backlash was immediate. The leadership’s inability to manage expectations or explain its decisions only fed the internal discontent. Some PTI leaders have claimed that ‘establishment-backed elements’ are exploiting the party’s internal confusion to sow discord. They have alleged that disinformation campaigns and coordinated social media manipulation are being used to further weaken the PTI’s already fragile structure. The party’s leaders have said they will soon hold a joint press conference to dispel the impression that they are not united. But such gestures alone cannot address the PTI’s deeper issues. It seems that the party never realised that their leader’s charisma could not always compensate for its underdeveloped structure and lack of long-term survival strategies. Now that he is absent, it is finding itself struggling to ensure loyalty.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2025