"As I grow older I find Pakistanis are an enigma."

"Are you mistaking our voting patterns with pledges that remain unmet by various political parties as and when they form a government - it is after all the job of a sitting government to convince us, the electorate, that all is well even when we are struggling to make ends meet, the infrastructure social and physical is grossly inadequate and..."

"Hey are you referring to Khattak's outstanding performance during his chief ministership of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?"

"Don't be facetious, that's politicians for you but what I find an enigma is the nature of the pledges for example The Khan continues to talk of his vision to implement Madinah ki riyast (Madinah administration) and..."

"That is to be appreciated - I mean which Muslim would not want the idealized riyasat administered during early Islamic history and..."

"There you go, but The Khan's constituency consists overwhelmingly of the educated and within that group the youth who let's be honest are more concerned with jobs, not the promise to create jobs, but the existence of jobs in the economy and..."

"So what are you saying?"

"That The Khan is losing his own constituents due to high inflation while not being able to convince the religious right that he presents a more viable alternative to parties led by The Maulana."

"Indeed another example is the roti kapra aur makaan of the Pakistan Peoples' Party - I mean even diehard Zardis, read the pale, continue to vote for the party because of their generational love for the Bhuttos...."

"Hey anday ki zardi, egg yolk, is yellow not pale if you know what I mean..."

"And what did Zardari sahib send to Shehbaz Sharif recently? Mangoes which are yellow?"

"Ha, ha, that's true though I hear Shehbaz Sharif sent half of them to The Niece and another half to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi..."

"Pity because I am sure they were top quality...now coming to Nawaz Sharif clan what has been their slogan? I mean I can't think of one from the top of my head."

"Faith in Sharif, unity under the leadership of Sharif and discipline to follow blindly what Sharif dictates."

"Yeah, that's what the logo states but that dates back to the Quaid. Anyway I reckon they are more into naming names hoping to shame those who dare to go against their financial, political interests."

"Hmmmm, I remember Dar saying when he was finance minister that he would publish the parliamentarians' tax directory and shame those who don't pay taxes but he didn't succeed."

"Besides he forgot to declare the global income of the Sharifs and his own family and..."

"There were some tax laws that allowed those with assets abroad not to declare them...so legally OK, morally..."

"Anyway can you explain what has happened in the recent IHC decision with respect to Nawaz Sharif - who won?" The government says Sharif lost so the government won and the Sharif lawyer says Sharif won!"

"Nawaz Sharif can return any time and file an appeal against any decision so I would reckon Nawaz Sharif won."

"Oh dear, The Khan ain't gonna like it."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021