ANJUM IBRAHIM
Deputies have become a formidable force in the hybrid system
“Too much too soon.”
“What is this, a reverse day?”
“What?”
“Reverse day — the actual proverb is too little too late.”
“Oh, that is for the West.”
“Are you referring to the Wild West?”
“No the present day West where democracy is now flourishing a la Pakistan style — arresting those who protest against their own government policy, so a disconnect between the wishes of the people who elected them…”
“Hmmm so we are the trailblazers in this too?”
“Indeed, so what’s this about too much too soon?”
“Islamabad was under lockdown when the protest march was still in Lahore.”
“Learn to see the glass as half full my dear, I, for one, was happy to see that there was once again digging around the containers, you know this practice was abandoned by the Interior Minister in Islamabad due to the fact that it damaged the roads which required money that the government has little of but…”
“Don’t worry about money, the finance minister is attending the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank and I have full faith in his ability to borrow some more dollars.”
“Hmmmmm speaking of the Interior Minister, why is his deputy the one who is on television hurling threats at the protesters?”
“Deputies have become a formidable force in the hybrid system – the deputy prime minister…”
“Hush, anyway, maybe the Interior Minister was busy giving a cricket trophy to a team that would not…”
“Don’t be facetious, a game is a game is a game. And there is the game of cricket, then there is the game of politics and then there is the game of international relations – they are all games.”
“Anyway, the Interior Minister was busy condemning the attack of the Taliban against our forces.”
“Isn’t that the domain of the Defence…”
“Shut up: one question; why has Trump appointed a close friend as the Indian Ambassador while we still have an acting US Ambassador?”
“That is because Trump is meeting our chief executive and field marshal directly, while Modi isn’t.”
“Hmm, that does make sense.”
