ISLAMABAD: The PTI leadership is disappointed with the allegedly "managed" but unexpected defeat in the Haripur by-election, a key constituency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the party holds provincial power.
According to party sources, the loss has triggered serious introspection within the party's top ranks, prompting discussions on whether its long-standing confrontational posture has narrowed its political space even now in its stronghold — KP — rather than expanding it.
The leadership is now said to be considering a move toward dialogue-centric politics.
Senior party leaders, sources said, are reviewing the Haripur setback and believe that the political space PTI has been struggling to regain is "shrinking even within the KP", despite the party running the provincial government.
The by-poll defeat in a constituency vacated following the disqualification of former National Assembly opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan, has been seen internally as a warning sign that the current approach may no longer be sustainable.
Informed insiders told The News that soon after the by-poll results, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan visited Omar Ayub Khan at his residence to discuss the situation.
The two leaders reviewed the implications of the loss and examined, in Barrister Gohar's words, "the pros and cons of the party’s political approach over the past three years".
Barrister Gohar confirmed the meeting when contacted, saying he and Omar Ayub discussed the party’s future course. Omar Ayub’s wife had contested the Haripur seat.
Party insiders said that Gohar's post-by-election comments to the media in which he subtly hinted at adopting a new strategy reflected the thinking within the senior leadership.
"It is clear that the powers that be are still not prepared to fully accept the PTI's mandate," a source said, adding that this realisation is pushing top leaders to reassess the confrontational posture.
Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has long been regarded as one of the saner voices within the PTI, consistently advocating dialogue and political engagement over confrontation.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi and some other jailed leaders have also called for the initiation of dialogue but the confrontationists in the party never let it happen.
The Haripur defeat, insiders believe, has strengthened the view of saner voices within the party, as more leaders now see a negotiated political path as the only viable way forward.
However, the final decision will be taken by the jailed PTI founder chairman Imran Khan, who so far has been listening to confrontationists and not to saner ones.