"You reckon the opposition can mount a viable threat to the Khan administration?"
"I ain't sure at all - the upswing and downswing of the Zardari-Sharif relationship may make it difficult to come to an agreement."
"Those swings were previously limited to when one or the other was in power in the Centre."
"True but Zardari sahib did not forgive the Sharifs for dumping him when they were in power for one to two years if I remember correctly, not till very recently..."
"Yes, and now with Nawaz Sharif's daughter no longer under threat of years of jail time, and the prospect of the court allowing him to be shifted to Jaati Umra on medical grounds is unlikely to launch a long march with Zardari sahib. Besides common sense must prevail and I believe the joint opposition can not mount a credible resistance to the Khan administration for two reasons: first the Sharif's Noon League is not a party which can mobilize supporters to come out and protest for long periods of time...."
"Noon League?"
"There is this joke about the Sikhs that once the clock strikes noon they begin to act sort of crazy and that's true of Nawaz Sharif. AS soon as he gets to be the prime minister the clock strikes noon and he begins to attack the establishment again and again and again till anger surfaces and viola!"
"That's racism..."
"No, it isn't my great, great, great, great grandfather was a Sikh so it doesn't apply to me."
"You are being facetious; anyway, you forgot the crowds the Noon League attracted during the Long March from Islamabad to Lahore..."
"The party was in power then. Speaking of Zardari sahib, he is not a Bhutto. Bilawal Bhutto has a mixed heritage - Bhutto and Zardari - and perhaps his Bhutto heritage may be working still in Sindh in terms of getting votes but the Zardari heritage appears to be prevalent in the rest of the country - remember when he was campaigning in Punjab before the elections his speeches were well delivered and appealed to the audience but the crowds were thin and the seats won were less than 10 if I recall correctly..."
"So Bilawal is not a crowd puller unless it's in Sindh?"
"Right, and then there is the Maulana, the go-between, He can gather crowds but not where it matters - in major cities and towns of Punjab or Sindh."
"Hmmm, so the march is a non-starter?"
"I would reckon but then in Pakistani politics you never know which side suddenly gets heavier."
"Agreed, sometimes it happens overnight."
"Khan sahib beware the ides of March."
"Shush, besides I hear Khan sahib receives ample warnings and those he heeds."