THE PTI is in disarray. The lack of discipline within its ranks, which it has long refused to address, is finally catching up with it. What was once defended as ‘a culture of healthy disagreement’ has now devolved into senior figures engaging in outright finger-pointing and openly trading accusations and blame. Former prime minister Imran Khan’s family wants the world to know it is not happy with the way his party’s formal leadership is handling concerns about his health. They have good reason to feel frustrated. The government has gone ahead with its own plan for managing the jailed former PM’s health issues, largely ignoring the family’s demands for giving access to his personal physicians and providing treatment in a private medical facility. But though the family has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction and anger, the PTI’s political leaders seem much less agitated. Mr Khan’s sisters cut a sorry figure when sharing this grievance with the press, as they highlighted a growing disconnect between the party’s ‘blood’ and ‘bureaucracy’.

Though it emerged as a powerhouse following the last general election, the entirety of the PTI’s politics now centres on a single agenda: Mr Khan and his continuing incarceration. While it has been clear for a while, his legal counsels are now openly admitting that they see no hope in pursuing legal recourse. Mr Khan and Pakistan’s current leadership seem to have led themselves up this blind alley; neither side feels it can afford to cede an inch. But something must give. Their unrelenting vendetta has damaged institutions and unravelled the social contract. It is also undermining both of them while setting up an entire nation to experience even more social and political failures in the years to come. This has to end. All stakeholders must seek solutions instead of needling each other with more provocations. It is indefensible that the bickering continues — between factions, within factions — for little purpose and to no end.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2026