"So did the Lotas make mistakes or didn't they make mistakes?"
"Well, they were allowed to take very few decisions - I mean we had Musharraf taking all non-financial decisions and the Chosen One taking most of the financial decisions."
"The Chosen One was allowed to take only those decisions that Musharraf didn't consider important enough to take."
"OK there was that rider."
"So what did the Lotas do?"
"The Lotas were just enjoying the perks - they enjoyed no real power though."
"Granted that the decision maker was someone else but surely as the ruling party the Lotas made some mistakes."
"I suppose the wheat crisis is their fault, I mean there were some vested interests involved if you know what I mean."
"Chaudhry Shujaat lays the blame for that on the Chosen One."
"Musharraf told him to lay off the Chosen One? You can't go criticising your own Prime Minister."
"Two things: first, the Chosen One was not chosen by the party and, second, the Chaudhry will lay off for only as long as Musharraf is in power."
"You know I hold no brief for the Chaudhrys but seriously what did they control? Yes they had the flagged cars, the foreign trips and if one of them got turned around from Heathrow, Musharraf mobilised the Foreign Office to register a protest..."
"Come on surely the Lotas made some mistakes?"
"Well, they supported Musharraf..."
"That's not a mistake for Lotas of any shape or size."
"So where you have a Chaudhry you also have a Mushahid."
"You are so shallow: just focusing on size."
"Don't be facetious. I was referring to their past and how they evolved into the Lotas they have become."
"In Pakistani politics it's a requirement. I mean Babar is calling for Asif Zardari the man who to-date has divided the party as the next Prime Minister."
"You think that's Lotaism."
"That's choosing your winning horse early in the game and so get some rewards."