T ill behoves a political party that claims to be the biggest and most popular in the country to be so mired in chaos all the time. Yet it sometimes appears as if this is exactly what its leader intended. At each turning point in national politics since the PTI`s founder was jailed, the party has demonstrated a lack of capacity to function rationally. Former prime minister Imran Khan, while he still had access to his party cadres, routinely vetoed any course of action that could risk weakening his hand. But the government`s decision to cut off that access did not help either. Over the last year, the government has tried to compel the remaining PTI leadership to make major choices on the party`s behalf independently. Here, the PTI`s lack of internal discipline has prevented it from acting as a reasonable, reliable counterparty for negotiation and dialogue. The lastminute breakdown of recent talks between the government and opposition, which preceded the imposition of governor`s rule in KP, is a prime example. The government later blamed the PTI for changing its demands until the eleventh hour. This week alone, a senior office-bearer resigned, only to be persuaded to reconsider, and a senator quit the party`s WhatsApp groups after a row with its leadership.

There is a certain calculation in how the PTI has been shaped.

No one but Mr Khan can lead it. This is at once the party`s Achilles` heel and the strongest guarantee that the former prime minister remains the only figure who can hold meaningful negotiations with the government. The government has not realised this. Meanwhile, by using state power to suppress the party, it has also strengthened the PTI`s victimhood narrative.

That approach is not merely counterproductive, it is wrong in principle: a mainstream party cannot be wished away through arrests and legal manoeuvres, and each such attempt erodes the democratic space on which the government itself depends.

Regrettably, the government has also struggled to counter the appeal of the PTI`s narrative by offering a better alternative, either through better policymaking or improved management of the economy. The citizenry, meanwhile, is stuck between the two: an opposition whose own leadership will not let it function, and a government that seems bereft of ideas and is adrift amid the challenges it faces. The breakthrough is still far away.