Is Imran Khan politically doomed?

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Imran has a massive ship to steer and the navigator is not working.—Photo by Mobeen Ansari
Imran has a massive ship to steer and the navigator is not working.—Photo by Mobeen Ansari

Imran Khan was hospitalised after falling down from the stage in a rally in Lahore, just days before the polling on May 11, 2013. He hit TV screens again later in June. In his successive interviews, he emphasised on three points that became the agenda for his party post-2013 elections.

One, the so called War on Terror is not our war. It is America’s war. We shall get out of it and the best way to do it is to bluntly say no to US and hold negotiations with the Taliban to end terrorism and bring peace in the country.

Following the attack on Army Public School, though, he aligned himself with the forces fighting the Taliban.

Two, Khan claimed that the elections were massively rigged but his party had opted not to come out on streets in protest – like the opposition did in 1977 – in the greater national interest, and insisted that a commission should investigate it.

For four straight months, he crusaded for the cause of a 'fair and impartial' judicial commission conducting this investigation.

Three, Imran’s vows about what his party’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa planned to achieve. These were interspersed with lots of ‘Inshallahs’ (God willing) and promised to end corruption, bring transparency besides boasting of making other achievements like producing surplus electricity in 5-years times.

In the year and a half since the elections, Khan has dithered between these three of his major takes, on screens and in streets, without achieving anything in real terms.

Know more: Imran says will never accept defeat

His party can only assume that it has mobilised, made aware, politicised a section of the population but these will remain wishful suppositions unless they pass some real tests.

The party has exhausted its agenda. It is now hardly left with an issue to politick around with.

So, is the party over then?



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