“So tell me what do you think of Dar’s return?” “There is no doubt that his path has been eased, considerably eased…”
“Right and by path you mean?”
“He has an aversion bordering on dread, trepidation, terror, horror…”
“OK but of what?”
“Jail, Musharraf put him in jail”
“Our selected don’t really have the penchant for sufferance – I mean Shahzad Akbar is out of the country….”
“And the low IQ one who remained - Gill the Fish…”
“I rest my case.”
“So politicians as opposed to the selected have a better capacity to withstand jail time….”
“The time limited to The Deal or return of one’s party whichever is earlier.”
“Indeed but tell me what does Dar’s return signal?”
“The fact that Miftah Ismail Failed with a capital F – the guy left the portfolio with an IMF deal that was even more harsh on us, the public, compared to what was signed off by The Khan’s team...and…wait…did not bother to mention the floods in the Letter of Intent he signed off on and…”
“Right but I reckon Dar’s criticism of Ismail in Nawaz Sharif’s ear day and night and…”
“That too perhaps but his placement could be to by-pass Shahbaz Sharif and…”
“Don’t think so, Shahbaz Sharif may accept being the life-long underdog of his brother and by extension his niece but not Dar – I reckon he will be able to handle him as effectively as he has the Man Without A Portfolio and his resistance to give a position to the Man Who Shall Remain Nameless and…”
“OK so what does Dar’s return signal?”
“The strengthening of the Sharif clan vis-a-vis the stakeholders…”
“Does the corollary hold?”
“What corollary?”
“The weakening of The Khan….”
“All I will say is slow and steady – like drip irrigation.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022