Again, of his own making
All is definitely not well in the Naya Pakistan party. The falling out with Javed Hashmi was, more or less, understandable given the circumstances. Hashmi had his baghireputation to protect, and Imran had a very different understanding of the meeting with Gen Raheel when the dharna was at its peak. Even senior government ministers, it later became apparent, were pretty uncomfortable in the final hours before the joint session of parliament. Since then, give or take a few things, it has mostly been downhill for PTI.
The recent friction with Justice (r) Wajihuddin is of a different, and far more serious, nature. Of course, one thing that did go PTI’s way since last August was the government finally agreeing to the judicial commission – to investigate 2013 vote fraud. But irregularities in PTI’s intra-party polls from March 2013 seem to have brought out a very different side of Khan sb. Not appearing before the party’s election tribunal, despite promises, and subsequently dissolving the body, has definitely not gone well. The tribunal went ahead with proceedings regardless, which speaks volumes about the kind of fissures now appearing in the party high command. Such things, of course, have not been lost on PML-N top guns like Pervez Rashid and Saad Rafiq, ably assisted by comments from Javed Hashmi, needless to say.
Strangely, such developments have not kept Imran from repeating his claim that 2015 will definitely be the year of elections and PTI, without doubt, would replace PML-N in Islamabad. Coming on the heels of less than inspiring performance in NA 246 and cantonment board polls, it seems Khan’s disconnect with reality is growing. While there is an understandable, and appreciated, placed for slogans in politics, a position that differs from the majority’s perception of reality can rob one of his credibility very quickly. And Imran treads just such a line at present. The core committee must analyse reasons for long time friends differing with the party’s main line, which is hurting its graph at the polls as well. It seems PTI is bent upon undoing its own momentum. Its problems are of its own making, which does not reflect well on a party with such large support.