It is easy to set up a new party these days. Neither does one need to hunt for new political contenders, nor think hard for a creative party name. The case in point is Pervez Khattak’s July 17 discloser to form a new political party.
Almost 10 weeks after the May 9 incident, former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Pervez Khattak has decided to form a new party based on the same template as Jahangir Khan Tareen’s Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party – comprising disgruntled PTI members, aspiring to be on the right side of the political divide in the country.
Khattak’s party, intriguingly named Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians, also bears uncanny resemblance to the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians – in name and spirit. Back in 2002, PPP-P was formed as an extension of PPP to meet the establishment’s requirements of the times. Khattak’s PTI-P is playing the same role.
Creating a fresh party is easy. What is extremely hard is creating a new party with the potential to get to power. With the support of 23 assembly members formerly belonging to the PTI, including former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, ex-lawmakers Shaukat Ali and Syed Muhammad Ishtiaq Urmar, will it be able to break through the electoral system in place in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since the PTI took charge in 2013, is a question that needs answering.
Khattak announced the separation from PTI at a marriage hall in Peshawar, where he reportedly condemned the May 9 incidents and said, "Our existence is directly linked to that of Pakistan. PTI is now completely finished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” and “We have to decide whether we want to walk the path of democracy or of conflict?”
Despite his harsh condemnation for his ex-party, his two sons are still with the PTI. They are reportedly waiting to hear from their father regarding their political future. “This is part of a well thought out strategy – to straddle both sides of the political division, stay in yet out of the PTI,” says Peshawar-based senior journalist Farzana Ali.
In a video shared on July 17, Khattak read out his party’s official statement. He recalled some of the major projects which the PTI had undertaken during Khattak (and Mahmood’s tenure), such as Sehat Sahulat Card, Swat motorway, Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and initiated projects to promote tourism in KP. He said, “We saved the forests through the billion tree tsunami.”
Khattak is trying to reshape the political landscape by using the same power strokes as Imran Khan and his PTI. He is implying he held the court while PTI ruled. But he is banking on the successes of the PTI’s 10 year past than sketching a brighter and more promising future for him and his comrades – because, the people who follow politics of the province think that the PTI will not be wiped out in the next elections, and “it would be wise to draw some strings from its past to weave the future of KP. At the same time, the old comrades would like to stay in control, hold the fort, and keep new contenders out,” says Ali.
To have any chance of success, the first must for his party should be to realign its existing audience. There is a substantial segment of voters who have benefitted from road projects as they get them home quicker and the Sehat Scheme as they can access free healthcare. “They are not concerned about the accusations of corruption in the BRT project as long as such an initiative makes their life easy,” adds Ali.
Khattak has not come from no where. He was a former party president in KP, former chief minister of KP, and former defense minister. He was dismissed from PTI after failing to answer a notice about allegedly trying to break away PTI members in KP. His real test will come when people are asked to choose between Imran Khan and him.
Khattak’s project has a name. It also has an eager audience. It needs a broader and more creative narrative addressing the challenges faced by the country. Else it’ll be just another party of convenience – used to splinter a party's leadership, fragment the vote bank, making a sham out of democracy in the process.
Almost 10 weeks after the May 9 incident, former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Pervez Khattak has decided to form a new party based on the same template as Jahangir Khan Tareen’s Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party – comprising disgruntled PTI members, aspiring to be on the right side of the political divide in the country.
Khattak’s party, intriguingly named Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians, also bears uncanny resemblance to the Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians – in name and spirit. Back in 2002, PPP-P was formed as an extension of PPP to meet the establishment’s requirements of the times. Khattak’s PTI-P is playing the same role.
Creating a fresh party is easy. What is extremely hard is creating a new party with the potential to get to power. With the support of 23 assembly members formerly belonging to the PTI, including former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, ex-lawmakers Shaukat Ali and Syed Muhammad Ishtiaq Urmar, will it be able to break through the electoral system in place in the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since the PTI took charge in 2013, is a question that needs answering.
Khattak announced the separation from PTI at a marriage hall in Peshawar, where he reportedly condemned the May 9 incidents and said, "Our existence is directly linked to that of Pakistan. PTI is now completely finished in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” and “We have to decide whether we want to walk the path of democracy or of conflict?”
Khattak’s project has a name. It also has an eager audience. It needs a broader and more creative narrative addressing the challenges faced by the country. Else it’ll be just another party of convenience – used to splinter a party's leadership, fragment the vote bank, making a sham out of democracy in the process.
Despite his harsh condemnation for his ex-party, his two sons are still with the PTI. They are reportedly waiting to hear from their father regarding their political future. “This is part of a well thought out strategy – to straddle both sides of the political division, stay in yet out of the PTI,” says Peshawar-based senior journalist Farzana Ali.
In a video shared on July 17, Khattak read out his party’s official statement. He recalled some of the major projects which the PTI had undertaken during Khattak (and Mahmood’s tenure), such as Sehat Sahulat Card, Swat motorway, Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and initiated projects to promote tourism in KP. He said, “We saved the forests through the billion tree tsunami.”
Khattak is trying to reshape the political landscape by using the same power strokes as Imran Khan and his PTI. He is implying he held the court while PTI ruled. But he is banking on the successes of the PTI’s 10 year past than sketching a brighter and more promising future for him and his comrades – because, the people who follow politics of the province think that the PTI will not be wiped out in the next elections, and “it would be wise to draw some strings from its past to weave the future of KP. At the same time, the old comrades would like to stay in control, hold the fort, and keep new contenders out,” says Ali.
To have any chance of success, the first must for his party should be to realign its existing audience. There is a substantial segment of voters who have benefitted from road projects as they get them home quicker and the Sehat Scheme as they can access free healthcare. “They are not concerned about the accusations of corruption in the BRT project as long as such an initiative makes their life easy,” adds Ali.
Khattak has not come from no where. He was a former party president in KP, former chief minister of KP, and former defense minister. He was dismissed from PTI after failing to answer a notice about allegedly trying to break away PTI members in KP. His real test will come when people are asked to choose between Imran Khan and him.
Khattak’s project has a name. It also has an eager audience. It needs a broader and more creative narrative addressing the challenges faced by the country. Else it’ll be just another party of convenience – used to splinter a party's leadership, fragment the vote bank, making a sham out of democracy in the process.