Mazhar Abbas Says PTI Has Failed to Dislodge Govt Despite Being Popular Party

LAHORE:Analyst Mazhar Abbas has said that one of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) major failures is that despite being a highly popular political party, it has been unable to bring down what he described as a government standing on “crutches.”

Speaking on Geo News’ programme, Abbas said PTI had failed to oust the government despite spending around three and a half years trying to challenge it.

He said a political movement was not simply about staging sit-ins, but required a comprehensive strategy and had to be conducted across the country.

“Whether the government is authoritarian or standing on crutches, it is still running the country,” Abbas said, adding that PTI had been unable to weaken the political support on which the government was operating.

According to Abbas, PTI is one of the country’s largest political parties, but it has failed to launch an organised movement on the ground. He said the party had also been unable to secure the release of its founder, Imran Khan, who, according to him, has remained in prison for around three and a half years.

Abbas said that while PTI supporters describe the government as unsuccessful, the government could also be viewed as having achieved its political objectives. He alleged that Imran Khan remained imprisoned and that the government had control over the media and judiciary.

He questioned what greater success a government could achieve, according to this assessment, while the opposition’s leadership remained behind bars and its political mobilisation remained limited.

The analyst said PTI had a significant support base but had not been able to effectively utilise it on the streets. He noted that the number of people participating in protests did not appear to match the number of votes the party had received.

Referring to the political situation after November 26, Abbas questioned why PTI had not called for nationwide protests the following day and why Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had not been shut down after the reported firing during the November 26 events.

He said two political parties were currently calling for marches, while PTI was facing difficulties in turning its electoral support into an organised nationwide political movement.