“So whose narrative is right do you think?”

“Narrative as for a campaign or narrative as in within the party?”

“Ah that’s an interesting question. But other than The Khan is there any other party focused on a narrative for a campaign at this time.”

“Not quite sure – Nawaz Sharif is not backing down from his two pet peeves - Daronomics and Maryamania, the former alienating the general public and the latter the saner elements in his own party.”

“Hey if you can’t place your near and dear ones in a party that bear your name then what is the point!”

“I guess, and Asfandyar Wali is following the same model as he has installed his son…”

“Let’s talk of that party if they win any seats in the next elections - I mean right now they are in the wilderness so not relevant.”

“What about the MQM? You reckon their remerging will make a difference to their political fortunes in the next elections?”

“I am not sure; their Sheikh Rashid Junior is yapping away thinking that the party has the same clout as during…is the ban still on?”

“On MQM’s Nawaz Sharif? Am not sure but anyway who is this Sheikh Rashid Junior?”

“Farooq Sattar, junior because he is half the size of Sheikh Rashid…”

“He makes up for it by out-shouting Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the party leader. And that kind of behavior maybe because of his previous status in the party.”

“Are you sure, I thought that the Governor selected by whoever should have given Junior a lot of clout within the party.”

“Ha ha, perhaps and meanwhile Daronomics is steadily making a bad situation not worse but reaching new lows every day….”

“Hey be fair the guy is an accountant, book-balancer, not an economist. Perhaps a better word would be Dartancy – a mixture of Dar and accountancy…”

“I will have you know that the UAE is going to disburse some money next week, so reportedly said Dar and the Governor State Bank. Why are you laughing, you reckon the money won’t be disbursed without the pending ninth review with the IMF succeeding?”

“I don’t know about that but I was wondering that given Dar’s appalling performance since October this year would the UAE sheikh still hire him as a consultant at a million dollars a month payable in cash? Isn’t that what he claimed during hearings on his case of assets beyond known means of income?”

“That case is dead and gone.”

“But…”

“There is no but – put up or shut up!”

“Putting up is a challenge in this country so I guess I will shut up.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023