here are no two things about the apparent success of the power shows by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in major cities across the country following the unprecedented removal of the prime minister through a successful no-confidence motion. The PTI has the right to celebrate the support it can garner. Optics matter, especially in politics.

Imran Khan has always been a crowd puller – even more so now that he has put on his wounded-cornered tiger persona. On his call, his supporters have thronged to streets in large numbers, waving the party’s flag and swinging to the beat of the tabdeeli anthems. That has been the party’s street politics legacy from the 2013 general elections and a key feature of the 2018 election campaign.

The call then was for a revolution. The call now is for vengeance. Throw in a bit of betrayal and patriotic zeal topped with the saviour complex and – as some would call it correct posturing – this-close-to-tenure-completion narrative and you can see why it will sell – even if sound logic disagrees. This despite the pitiful governance failures, the dictatorial control over civil, political and social rights, the media censorship, the suffocating inflation and a crippling economy for over three years. Some nations do ’ave ’em.

As the party embarks on an all too familiar road to agitation politics, it cannot ignore the series of challenges it will continue to face ahead of the next general elections. While the massive public support from hours into his ouster to the days leading up to the formation of a new federal cabinet must have been a major morale booster for the jilted leader, there is no denying that this in and of itself is not and cannot be a plan for the party’s political and electoral future (given that only recently it has been bitterly stung by the ‘betrayal’ of allies and some its own members).

This week, we explore the plethora of challenges the party is faced with in the wake of its recent departure from the power corridors, and just what the coming days have in store for the tabdeeli party ahead of the next general election.