The Gandapur Game

He is up to something. No one knows what it is. Perhaps not even himself. Welcome to the deliciously mysterious world of Ali Amin.

The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a man people love to hate. And yet many admire him for navigating choppy political waters with admirable skills. The rumours of his political demise are exaggerated even as he grapples with friend and foe in a frustrating bid to get his leader Imran Khan out of jail.

He doesn’t have much to show for this. Except that he’s still holding on to his office. That itself is no mean achievement.

Especially knowing how many daggers are out for him from within his own ranks. If in doubt, just see what’s happening with the Mines and Minerals bill. Hawks within his party say the establishment wants the bill passed. Which, in their opinion, is a reason enough not to do so. Ali Amin disagrees. He has shrugged off the hawks’ emotional outburst with loaded taunts. The bill may yet undergo rigorous review, but Ali Amin has once again shown that he can exude disdain for pressure.

But power games are not always about disdain and dismissive attitudes. In the game that Gandapur is playing, he has to balance competing and contrasting pressures from the man in Adiala and the man in Rawalpindi. Then he has to wage two parallel wars: KP vs federal government, and PTI vs PTI.

Samson had longer hair, but Ali Amin needs greater strength.

Does he have it? The outcome of the ferocious ‘civil war’ waging within his party will determine the answer. The list of his critics is long: Atif Khan, Shahram Tarakai, Asad Qaisar, Junaid Khan, Salman Raja, Taimur Jhagra are the better known ones. Others may have less name recall but no less firepower at the local level. To fend off such attacks from close quarters while remaining on the offensive is no mean task. The cut and thrust of inter-party and intra-party conflict require skills that only a hardened and experienced politician can boast.

But there’s more to Ali Amin than petty power play. His real significance lies in how his politics is manifesting one important facet of the strategic pulls and pushes of PTI as the party struggles to cope with what is probably the most difficult time since its formation. At the heart of this struggle lies the dilemma of how to deal with the establishment. On this, the party leadership is divided into two groups: those who want to take a tough line with the establishment (they are getting no results); those who want to engage with the establishment (they have not been able to); and those who have engaged with the establishment (they have nothing to show for it). And then, there’s Ali Amin.

He is the only one who believes he can get results, enjoys access to the establishment at the top level and has – or so he claims – got specific relief offers for his incarcerated leader (Khan spurned the offer, say his party people). But things have changed in the last few weeks at two levels: first, the party’s internal feuds have gotten weaponized, and second, greater levels of despondency seem to have crept inside the party rank and file.

Gandapur is at the centre of both.

He threw fuel on the simmering embers of internal feuding when he told an interviewer Khan had told him not to give provincial assembly tickets to Atif Khan and Asad Qaisar because they were “conspirators”. The infighting within the KP chapter of the party is not likely to subside because Ali Amin holds office and also holds a grudge. He shows no sign of backing down. He also has to play to the gallery. Sher Afzal Marwat and Faisal Chaudhry – both ostracized by the present leadership for now, and both not part of the anti-Gandapur lobby – have said in recent days they expect Khan will replace the present team by the next Eid. Will this include Amin Amin? Unlikely.

Yes, unlikely because the pro-engagement group within PTI has grown stronger in recent days. The hard truth is that for this group, and for the party as a whole too, Ali Amin remains the best conduit to the establishment. This one factor ensures his longevity in the CM office, and he knows it. Which is why federal government officials acknowledge that in closed door meetings he presents a side very different from his brash and abrasive public persona. He is, it seems, a man for all seasons. Perhaps even for a season full of despondency.

Nearly two years since Khan was jailed, his party is no closer to achieving his release. All options have been exercised. All have failed. The final insult, say party insiders, is the bonhomie between Washington DC and Islamabad when it should have been the opposite. The future looks hazy and glum.

Which is why, the party and its leader may once again turn to the only man who can open doors that need opening. It’s a tricky game, this balancing act, but the trapeze artist has become skilled. He is up to something. No one knows what. Perhaps not even himself.

Everyone loves a mystery.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025