Sohail Afridi has been sent in to bat as Ali Amin Gandapur stands retired hurt. This change of guard in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is likely to have wide-ranging political ramifications. At the outset, the decision has reinvigorated a new spirit in a lame-duck PTI, which stands divisive to the core. At the same time, party leader Imran Khan has, by asserting himself, proved beyond doubt his indispensability to the party.
The choice of Afridi is not a surprise as he is considered a party loyalist and a Khan comrade. Moreover, as he belongs to Khyber Agency, it is an apt decision to throne someone who can better handle the tribal affairs as Pakistan is engaged in a war of attrition with a faceless enemy, and security forces and civilians are paying a heavy price for it.
Afridi has, at least, three tasks to deliver: one to ensure that the PTI’s policy of bringing an end to military operation in the province is realised; to work out a robust strategy to seek a lawful release of the party founder; and, to stimulate the party and help it out of the woods.
Gandapur’s departure has a telling tale of trial and error, and it was almost certain that he would be shown the door. One aspect was the infighting in the party that had sunk the performance of the provincial government; second was his roughing of feathers with Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, as he crossed swords with her over several policy issues; and third was his proven inability to lead from the front in the political realms. His mismanagement of marches to the federal capital and his decamping on November 26, 2024, had led to decimation of his political capital.
The instability prevalent at this point of time necessitates adherence to the Constitution, by assuring that a peaceful change is ushered in on the floor of the house. Steps in exigency as taken by ECP by pronouncing PTI legislators as ‘Independent’ is an attempt to open floodgates of floor-crossing. That is tantamount to rigging. Time to desist from such immature moves that will further chaos and instability.
