PARTLY FACETIOUS: The PM does get irritated pretty quickly

“The Khan did another Nawaz Sharif.”

“I have told you once I have told you a hundred times don’t compare the two men – it angers The Khan and I am sure it angers Nawaz Sharif though his expression never changes – remains Sphinx like and…”

“I take strong exception to that.”

“Well The Khan does get irritated pretty quickly - I mean it’s in a sportsman’s terms of reference to challenge the umpire who do make mistakes and…”

“Not our umpires!”

“If you are saying what I think you are saying…”

“Don’t attribute your thoughts to me, all I meant was that umpires in all professional sports make errors and some players, not all, do call them out on their flawed decisions; anyway I took exception to your Sphinx reference – Nawaz Sharif’s expression doesn’t change not because his face is a lot rounder than The Khan’s but because he has learnt not to show emotion in public…”

“Hmmm, anyway when you said The Khan did a Nawaz Sharif you know that the turncoats make or break a government and my advice to you: just be grateful that we have a periodic change of face in the prime minister house while the majority of the cabinet and parliamentarians remain the same…”

“And this irrespective of the fact that the politicians’ pledges to their constituents remain unmet – anyway, no that was not what I meant when I said The Khan did a Nawaz Sharif.”

“Were you referring to the U-turns the two men have taken? Here let me inform you that never having been in government The Khan had no idea what was possible and what was simply not possible…”

“In what field of government: Politics? Foreign relations? Economic policies?”

“All three and more; anyway that too wasn’t what I was referring to. I was actually referring to Nawaz Sharif making the same mistake again and again - even at the cost of what he cherishes the most notably to occupy the office of prime minister - to prove that he never made the mistake the first time – a mistake which he has made at least three times spanning decades and….”

“I get it, you are referring to The Khan’s erudite views on rape and women’s clothes and he needs to stop discussing the matter with the women in his family and instead look at research available on the net and…”

“I agree, as a private citizen he has the right to his opinion but as the prime minister he needs to be careful or else he will alienate donor countries and donor agencies that link women’s rights to loans – a view they base on research; besides The Khan may also alienate his own constituency, middle class women did vote overwhelmingly for him….”

“Hmmm, perhaps he has forgotten that the religious right is not supportive of him but then those who become the chief executive in Pakistan invariably begin to believe that they will remain in power till death do them part.”

“Indeed.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021