The party is expected to launch another street movement – announced earlier by KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi
A child waves a PTI flag and gestures during a rally in support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on April 10.
LAHORE:
As the political horizon darkens, the PTI appears to be looking for a way out to give itself some breathing space, with some in the party saying their overtures are currently limited to taking a carefully calibrated stance on security issues – an attempt to send subtle signals in the hope that the establishment will pick up on those signals and get there halfway.
The party’s central information secretary, however, categorically rejected such a reading.
At the same time, PTI appears to be hedging its bets. The party is expected to launch another street movement – announced earlier by KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi – and has summoned its parliamentarians to Peshawar, where the contours of the campaign are likely to be mapped out.
However, the announcement has sparked unease in the ranks, as many see it as a step well taken, while similar exercises over the past three years have produced little more than sound and fury. Afridi, along with PTI general secretary Salman Akram Raja and Asad Qaiser, is expected to lead the deliberations.
Party central information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said he was not aware of the plan finalized by the KP CM and his team.
Speaking about the party’s stance on foreign policy issues, he said the party’s decisions are taken in the best interest of the country. This thought did not even cross our minds while finalizing these political decisions. He said the party would continue its democratic struggle within the framework given to it by Imran Khan.
He added that Imran Khan himself had made it clear on several occasions that they were in no way against the interests of the state and that the party fully owned the state institutions. He stressed, however, that this should not be confused with the party’s recently adopted policy.
However, a Punjab leader, speaking to The Express PK Press Club on condition of anonymity, said that within the KP, the party had differences with the establishment over Afghanistan relations, but once the government took a definitive stand, it openly supported the state’s actions.
Furthermore, he added, the party also welcomed the government’s mediation efforts between Iran and the United States.
According to him, it was PTI’s way of signaling to the establishment that it was time to put an end to all worries. He further admitted that Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Aain-e-Pakistan had not given the PTI any breakthrough on any front.
He said the party’s current leadership, incumbent in every sense of the word, had very limited authority in making key policy decisions and therefore nothing significant was expected of them either.
He added that the only bargaining chip the PTI had was its ability to restore the establishment’s damaged credibility among the masses.
Another central leadership leader acknowledged there were growing concerns about the party’s political future in the upcoming elections.
He said that even if the establishment gave the PTI a free rein today, it would still take twelve to eighteen months to resolve its multi-layered legal battles, meaning the window for a comeback in the next elections is closing fast.
He added that according to him, the PTI could not even come close to the establishment given the ever-widening gap between them.
He added that several leaders wanted active mediation efforts to be launched at some level.
