Two years after arrest, Imran Khan’s PTI appears a shadow of its former self

On the second anniversary of Imran Khan’s arrest, Kamran Khan declared the once-mighty Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) effectively finished, arguing that the party’s fall from grace is now irreversible.

“The PTI began and ended with Imran Khan,” Kamran Khan said in his vlog. “Whether the allegations against him are true or false, the courts will decide some — history will decide the rest. But what’s clear is that today, two years later, the tsunami has fizzled into foam.”

Khan painted a grim picture of a party that just three years ago controlled Pakistan’s National Assembly, the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, and the governments of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Today, it has no real foothold in power.

According to Khan, the events of May 9, 2023 — when protests following Imran Khan’s arrest turned violent — marked the turning point from which the party never recovered. Since then, nearly 200 leaders and workers have been convicted in anti-terrorism courts with sentences of up to 10 years, he said.

“In reality, PTI is now run by a handful of lawyers,” Kamran Khan said, naming Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Secretary General Salman Akram Raja. “The first and second-tier leadership has either vanished or is in hiding.”

He added that while PTI rejected dynastic politics — Imran Khan’s sons remain absent from political life and even struggle with visa access to Pakistan — this very lack of familial continuity has left a leadership vacuum. The party’s third-tier figures are now scrambling for dominance, deepening internal divisions.

“PTI’s supporters rightly question the current leadership. Infighting has become the norm,” Khan said.

Despite securing 88 National Assembly seats through allied independents and winning 31% of the popular vote — more than any other party in the February 2024 elections — PTI failed to translate that success into real power. The party was denied reserved seats after a Supreme Court ruling and now functions under the banner of the Sunni Ittehad Council.

Meanwhile, the governing alliance of PML-N and PPP commands a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Kamran Khan also said PTI’s legal path to relief has narrowed. A recent constitutional amendment has limited its ability to seek intervention from the Supreme Court and high courts. Dozens of lawmakers still face possible disqualification over May 9-related convictions, with a final court deadline of Aug. 8 looming.

“Imran Khan himself has already been convicted in five cases, and more verdicts are expected any day,” Khan said.

He named more than a dozen high-profile figures who left the party after May 9, including Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Pervez Khattak, Shireen Mazari, Ali Zaidi, and Usman Buzdar. Some have retired, others joined rival parties, and a few remain in hiding.

Kamran Khan said PTI’s popularity also took a hit when public opinion shifted sharply in favor of the military following Pakistan’s military victory in a May war with India. “PTI’s anti-establishment narrative collapsed. The people and the armed forces stood united once again.”

He said efforts to reconcile with the military failed partly due to the hardline stance of Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was later arrested. “It’s unclear who is making party decisions now.”

Khan also blamed Imran Khan for poor judgment during his tenure, alleging he surrounded himself with corrupt individuals and ignored repeated warnings. “He defended some of the worst characters,” he said.

The party’s last hope — American support under President Donald Trump — has also crumbled. Instead of pressuring Pakistan over Khan’s imprisonment, Trump praised Field Marshal Asim Munir and invited him to the White House.

“For some, August 5 marks poetic justice,” Kamran Khan said. “When history is written, it will show Imran Khan sacrificed his government and party to ego and poor decisions — often driven by his wife’s influence.”

Khan concluded that while PPP and PML-N have weathered political storms through dynastic roots, PTI’s one-man structure has left it exposed.

“It might make a comeback someday,” he said, “but today, it’s simply ‘It used to be PTI.’”