- Backchannel contacts breakdown due to party’s stance: sources.
- Dialogue and aggressive anti-establishment can’t go together.
- Party leadership largely accepts dialogue option is currently closed.
ISLAMABAD: Not only direct but also indirect channels of communication between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the establishment have been completely shut.
According to senior PTI insiders, even those government cabinet members who previously maintained informal or backchannel interactions with the PTI are no longer engaging with the party on this issue of high political importance for the party.
PTI sources told The News that the breakdown in contacts is primarily due to the party’s continued protest politics, combined with aggressive public campaigns against the state institutions.
“Both things cannot go together,” a senior PTI leader said while speaking on condition of anonymity. “You cannot run protest movements, launch abusive campaigns against the establishment, and at the same time expect dialogue”.
The party leadership, the sources said, has now largely accepted that the option of dialogue is currently closed because of the directions of jailed founder chairman Imran Khan. So now everybody in the party is anxious to see how differently the Feb 8 protest will work for the party and its jailed leadership.
In this context, PTI has announced peaceful protests across districts and union councils on February 8. Party workers have been instructed to record symbolic demonstrations at local levels rather than attempt large-scale central mobilisations, particularly in Punjab.
However, expectations within the PTI itself remain limited. Party sources admitted that any meaningful or effective protest activity is likely to be confined largely to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while prospects of mobilisation in Punjab appear bleak under the prevailing political and administrative environment.
“The leadership itself understands that the chances of a major breakthrough or any revolutionary outcome are extremely slim,” a senior party source said, adding that the February 8 protest is being seen more as a political show of presence rather than a decisive confrontation.
The sources further revealed that following the protests, the leadership of the opposition alliance headed by Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Allama Raja Nasir Abbas may push for a shift towards dialogue instead of agitation.
However, any move towards talks would require clearly defined conditions. PTI-linked sources with past access to establishment circles said it has been conveyed unequivocally that confrontation politics must end before any engagement can resume.
“The message is very clear,” one source said, explaining, “The present political system must continue. There can be no threat to the existing setup, and no political agitation will be tolerated that risks destabilising the economy.”
According to the sources, the country’s economic situation has significantly narrowed the space for political unrest. “At this stage, any political movement or agitation that negatively impacts economic stability will not be acceptable,” a source familiar with earlier contacts said.
Given these constraints, PTI’s future political direction after February 8 remains uncertain, with internal debates continuing over whether prolonged confrontation is sustainable in the absence of dialogue, organisational capacity and public mobilisation.
Originally published in The News
