Islamabad, Pakistan: Once having the power to threaten the security of the country through events such as May 9, 2023, PTI showed a constant decline in 2025 that, according to impartial analysts, is due to a mix of reasons, but the primary reason is an “ideological worn-off”, as PTI continuously followed a policy of over-reliance on so-called “charismatic leadership”, which has already lost charisma and credibility. Moreover, the absence of mature second-tier leadership capable of sustaining momentum may be another reason for the swift downfall in the party’s popularity during 2025.
Built on a cult-like model, PTI, like any other cult, had no organizational structure; consequently, the imprisonment of the cult leader resulted in fragility and institutional isolation. History testifies that for cults, the transition from populism to policy-based politics is almost impossible, and this is also the dilemma of PTI, as populism did not work during the second year of imprisonment of cult leader Imran Khan, who kept changing the provincial, central, and parliamentary leadership continuously in 2025 and avoided sustainable internal restructuring and narrative recalibration. Consequently, the party’s strategic engagement with other opposition parties was not achieved; rather, perpetual confrontation with institutions such as the Pakistan Army and the judiciary made things further difficult for PTI.
The analytical assessment of the decline of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) politics during 2025 shows that the absence of its core leader, Imran Khan, from active politics created a vacuum in centralized decision-making, weakening message discipline. Internal factionalism, the absence of grassroots mobilization, and declining youth engagement are additional factors in PTI’s decline, as spellbinding rhetoric is no longer working. The changing political and economic environment in the country taught the youth that PTI did not deliver during its four years in power, while the new governments in Punjab and at the centre are delivering, and Pakistan’s economic indicators are much better than they were during the PTI government. Moreover, the dust-licking defeat to India in May 2025 also taught the youth that propaganda against the Pakistan Army was unfounded and that the Army is the best institution in Pakistan. The poor performance of KP further contributed to this learning, where the youth is receiving little compared to Punjab and other provinces.
Academicians believe that by 2025, public discourse shifted from anti-elite rhetoric to economic stabilization, inflation control, and governance delivery, while PTI is still trying to sell anti-Army narratives and a pessimistic approach without performing in KP. Some academicians claim that PTI’s earlier political success (2011–2022) benefited from perceived institutional support and tacit accommodation; by 2025, that space no longer existed, and the collapse of PTI was inevitable because it failed to deliver after coming into power. Moreover, a persistent confrontational posture led to a shrinking of intellectual support, as sane minds believe in dialogue and negotiation, but PTI’s leadership consistently rejected these two academic notions—dialogue and negotiation.
Another factor in PTI’s decline in 2025 was that repeated claims of systemic victimization, without tangible political gains, led segments of the public to experience narrative fatigue, and neutral minds increasingly prioritized stability over confrontation.
In the media sphere, reduced coverage on conventional media platforms weakened PTI’s ability to shape daily narratives. Over-dependence on digital platforms constrained outreach beyond the urban, tech-savvy demographic, while contradictory signals—ranging from calls for dialogue to aggressive resistance—created confusion among supporters and allies. The middle class, once PTI’s strongest constituency, exhibited political disengagement due to PTI’s poor performance in KP while accepting the fact that PTI has become merely a vehicle for slurring and lacks the capacity to deliver to the people what it promised and demanded from other parties. This factor compromised PTI’s moral positioning, as it failed to translate rhetoric into actionable power within the prevailing political order.
