"So did Dar convince you that the $1.5 billion was a gift from a friendly country and the same country had extended $2 billion worth of oil free to Nawaz Sharif's government after the 1998 nuclear blast and had given next to nothing to the PPP-led coalition government?"
"Well, there was nothing new that he said in parliament."
"But he said he was saying this on behalf of the Prime Minister..."
"Right, I heard but ..."
"There should be no buts my friend, we all know that Nawaz Sharif is close to the royal family, I am not sure if the royal family ever gave us free oil though I am pretty sure they gave us oil on deferred payment and if I recall correctly, Shaukat Aziz while on one of his usual swaggers stated that Pakistan had taken off developmental-wise which led the Saudis to withdraw the oil for deferred payment and..."
"I recall reading that Saudi Arabia promised us 50,000 barrels of oil per day free after the tests in Chagai but I reckon that may have been due to the Kingdom's interest in what was at the time known as the Islamic bomb. Anyway Dar wouldn't mislead the public on that. I mean that can be verified easily. But I see what you mean: if you don't trust the man then you won't believe whatever he says."
"And he has done nothing to gain my trust."
"Well, then its heads he loses and tails you win. I mean you are not going to believe anything he says so the question is moot."
"But..."
"At least try to be a Chaudhry Nisar.'"
"What does that mean?"
"Wait for Dar to mess up the economy before passing judgement, he can twist the data so much you know, I mean if you tell me inflation is down I will only believe it if the purchasing power of each rupee I earn remains the same from one month to the next."
"Not likely, there is a cumulative inflationary impact..."
"Oh dear!"
"Dar's test would be during the local bodies elections though there is many a slip between the cup and the lip there, with Punjab wanting partyless elections."
"Exactly and now you know why Punjab wants partyless elections as it is much easier to lure the winners than to face the prospect of losing elections."
"Yeah, but anyway knowing Dar he would probably blame loss in local bodies elections on the provincial chapter of the party. So my friend tails Dar wins and heads you lose."
"Don't be facetious."
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