<\/p>\n
Dawn.com presents a not-so-brief account of what befell the party in 2023.<\/p>\n
Ex-premier Imran Khan had begun 2023 continuing on a warpath against those he held responsible for his ouster from office. Twelve months later, he is incarcerated in Adiala jail and his beloved party lays in pieces at his feet.<\/p>\n
Political analysts have likened the state\u2019s crackdown on the PTI to an attempt to \u201cdismantle\u201d the party. Stripped of nearly all of its political heavyweights in the aftermath of the violent events of May 9, the party is but a mere shadow of its former self and its performance in elections, which was guaranteed at one point, is now a huge question mark.<\/p>\n
How did the party go from riding the waves of its popularity to having to fight to retain its \u2018bat\u2019 electoral symbol? Dawn.com<\/em> presents a not-so-brief account of what befell the party in 2023.<\/p>\n Still feeling the sting of being booted from the premiership, Imran began 2023 by following through on a threat made in November 2022; the PTI had announced<\/a> that its governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would dissolve the assemblies to pave the way for fresh elections. By January, it had followed through<\/a> on its threat as it tried to twist the Pakistan Democratic Movement government\u2019s arm into holding polls.<\/p>\n At the same time, Imran\u2019s political rhetoric was on a roll, so to speak, with his metaphorical guns turned towards the powers that be. In 2022, he had accused<\/a> a serving intelligence officer of being behind the attempt on his life in Wazirabad<\/a> and also castigated<\/a> ex-army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa on several occasions.<\/p>\n In 2023, slowly but surely, he began to slowly up the ante. In January, he accused Bajwa of stabbing him in the back<\/a> and alleged that his \u201cset-up\u201d was still active in the establishment purportedly to stop the PTI from coming back to power. In February, after months of harping on about an American conspiracy, he changed his tune<\/a> and solely held Bajwa, who he dubbed \u201csuper king\u201d, responsible for his ouster. These are only two examples of Imran\u2019s political rhetoric at the time.<\/p>\n At the same time, Imran insisted his party was fighting for \u201cHaqeeqi Azadi<\/em>\u201d (true freedom) in the face of a crackdown by the PDM government. In March, a party worker was killed<\/a> and several others were injured as the PTI attempted to organise a rally in Lahore. The party leadership insisted the worker was tortured to death while the Punjab government termed it a \u201croad accident\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n The same month, a police attempt to arrest Imran from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore was thwarted<\/a> by devoted supporters camped outside. A second attempt<\/a> saw an hours-long standoff between party workers and police officials where the former lobbed petrol bombs as the latter used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd.<\/p>\n Two days later, the Federal Judicial Complex turned into a battlefield as PTI workers clashed with Islamabad police as Imran went to attend a hearing. The ex-premier later alleged that he did not disembark from his vehicle as \u201cunknown people\u201d had been positioned with plans to kill him.<\/p>\n The PTI, it seemed, had no plans of backing down.<\/p>\n Scene 1: Beginning of the end<\/strong><\/p>\n By May, the situation had come to a boiling point and after the 9th there was no return. It had began when Imran reiterated<\/a> his accusations against the senior intelligence official he held responsible for orchestrating plans to assassinate him.<\/p>\n The regurgitated claims were swiftly denied by the military, not for the first time, which regretted Imran\u2019s \u201chighly irresponsible and baseless allegations\u201d. The military also noted a \u201cconsistent pattern for the last year wherein military and intelligence agencies officials are targeted with insinuations and sensational propaganda for the furtherance of political objectives\u201d.<\/p>\nAct 1: Hell hath no fury like a politician scorned<\/h2>\n
Act 2: Come what May 9 \u2014 a study of cause and effect<\/h2>\n