Pakistan: Ahead of no trust vote, Imran Khan's PTI leadership 'dented'

Islamabad [Pakistan], March 22 : Irrespective of the outcome of the no-confidence vote against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, analysts believe his leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is already significantly "dented".
Pakistan's National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has summoned a session of the Lower House at the Parliament in Islamabad on March 25 for a no-trust motion against Imran Khan.
Imran Khan's party is facing an internal revolt, with several members of the National Assembly (MNAs) deserting the PTI and joining the opposition ranks.
The disgruntled MNAs numbering about two dozen, fearing backlash from the PTI central leadership and the cadres, lodged themselves at the Sindh House, a PPP-run facility. They openly threatened to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion, European Times said in its report.
The nine-member opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and Pakistan People Party (PPP) had signed the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government on March 8.
These developments led the PTI to accuse the PPP and the rest of the opposition of indulging in "horse-trading."
In the 342-member National Assembly, the party has 155 members and the support of 23 members from six other parties. It needs at least 172 members to sail through the no-confidence vote. With 24 of its own MNAs turning dissidents, PTI's task of securing adequate numbers has become even more massive and, in fact, impossible, European Times reported.
While the PTI reposes its faith in Imran's leadership, developments since 2018 make it clear that his leadership style has brought the party and Pakistan to the current political crisis, the report said.
Since the PTI government was sworn in, there have been questions about the functioning of Imran's government, managing the parliament, and tackling the grievances within the PTI. The party had one of the thinnest majority in Pakistan's recent political history, yet its behaviour was as if it enjoyed the strongest of the majority, European Times reported.
Imran was seldom keen on consulting the opposition on any business, from the appointments to statutory bodies like the Election Commission of Pakistan or any global developments.
This autocratic attitude undoubtedly contributed to PTI's waning political fortunes and ties with other political parties, according to the report.
His frequent clashes with the military, such as appointing the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, also sapped him the "support" of the powerful Army.
On March 11, Imran's speech at an election rally in Lower Dir, where he openly lashed out at the Army and his political opponents, may have sealed any chance of his survival.
Realising that his captaincy will likely be over soon, Imran has now resorted to what he does best - brinkmanship, European Times reported.
Khan has warned the opposition that he would be more dangerous for them if ousted from power. He has also called for a rally in the capital on March 27 to mobilise his support base or whatever is left of it. But evidently, the die is cast on Imran's political future, the report said.