"I am extremely worried..."
"Well, Mian sahib being Mian sahib isn't going to act out of character."
"I don't get you."
"He succumbed to the apex court verdict but then proceeded, in his mind at least, to show the world his party's people power that would return him to the Prime Minister's House with a bang."
"Yes, he has always exhibited a contrariness... besides he can even today return to the Prime Minister's House but perhaps not with a bang."
"You reckon his puppet Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will bow down to whatever is the will of his leader; especially as he is not even occupying the House. Or, wait, you reckon Kulsoom Nawaz will win the seat vacated by the Prime Minister, be made the prime minister, and surely the First Husband would then accompany his wife to the House."
"Oh dear! Mian sahib will hate that - I mean it would really be the reverse of Zardari sahib's political journey - from Prime Minister to First Husband instead of from First Husband to President."
"Don't be facetious, but speaking of puppets I am at a loss to understand why Ishaq Dar's area of influence has been reduced through a notification and not a peep out of anyone - I mean he is not the head of the Statistics department, nor of Privatization anymore, and won't head the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet."
"Let me answer by a question or two: is the Ministry of Finance still almost daily engaged in rebutting criticism of Dar policies during PPP? And has anybody seen or heard from Dar during the PPP?"
"PPP is not in power silly, though Zardari sahib is strangely quiet and I for one will reserve my judgment on the party's future line of action till the real PPP Oracle speaks".
"Oh, sorry for the confusion when I said PPP I meant Post Puppet Phase."
"If Abbasi is a puppet then you must reckon the reduced role of Dar and need I add his uncharacteristic silence during the PPP is due to the fact that he himself wants out of the game and wants to slip out of the country perhaps and the reason: he is no longer an approver and he doesn't take well to torture as we know and..."
"That's one view though others are saying that the puppet is no longer a puppet. Which is more believable you tell me?"
"I reckon the former..."
"Look on the bright side: maybe now we can begin to take more economist as opposed to accountant informed policy decisions."
"Perhaps and perhaps not - this is an election year after all."