"The President is back! Long live the President!"
"You are being facetious."
"Don't be so sensitive...what did I say which leads you to accuse me of being facetious, though for the life of me I don't understand why I should be barred from being facetious about any one - be he/she elected or selected especially if my tax rupees are going to meet his/her expenses!"
"Well, you are invoking the proverb, the king is dead, long live the king. But let me tell you President Zardari remains the king."
"A constitutional king because he has fewer powers, especially with respect to a powerful establishment..."
"There you go again! Can't you just wish the guy well as far as his recovery from illness is concerned?"
"I am not a member of the opposition you know, I am only concerned about the policies in place and I remain concerned about the fast pace of deterioration of the economy. I simply cannot make ends meet. My electricity bill is very high even though I am being very careful, my gas bill is rising every month, my food bill is rising by the week and let's be honest the issue of lack of energy supply irrespective of the rise in tariff is making me very angry... I can't take a train anywhere, I have to plan in advance to be able to take a PIA flight because there is more than a 50 percent chance that the flight will be delayed and..."
"Hey, that's not President Zardari's fault. That's all due to Musharraf-era policies."
"Nearly four years after the guy was forced out!"
"OK, then it's the fault of these coalition partners - Bilour of Pakistan Railways is not competent but in the spirit of reconciliation..."
"I have paid too high a price for reconciliation. I say enough!"
"Then the government would fall and not complete its tenure."
"But that is constitutional, right?"
"Well, once the March senate elections are over and once the time bar on Swiss cases comes into effect in April then the government may well take decisions that may make it a martyr."
"Ah, some strategy at last! Pity, it's focused on its political fortunes rather than on the economic fortunes of the people it purports to represent."