FREAKONOMICS!

We are all freaked out!

No one knows what is happening… no one
knows what will happen… but we are all freaked out!

Dollar floats and soars as freely as Imran
Khan’s sky-high claims of rectifying the economy in the past, buying gold is
the gossip of old times, stock market plunges are a routine matter. Basic
necessities are now luxuries, taxes are piling up these days more quickly than
the fats on one’s bones, education was never free, but wasn’t even as expensive
as of today.

Jobs are scant. Health facilities are
sparse. Incomes and earnings getting more and more exiguous. The economy is
shrinking, debt is accumulating, investors are wary, traders are worried, farmers
are distraught, businessmen depressed and youth distressed.

Everyone is caught up in a whirlpool of
stress and strain, yet the Khan government assures us on a daily basis: “All is
well… all will be well”.

Either it’s the innocence, ignorance or
some blind inference that we still sustain some hope in the current regime.
Probably, we are left with no other option. Probably we still want to test
Khan’s delivery.

Either it’s the incompetence of the
government or it’s the incompetence of the collective social judgement. We are
in a state of love and hate relationship with Khan — exactly like our cricket
team. On a rare, unexpected occasion; it delivers something and we are all
cheering up.

Most of the times we are let down,
crestfallen; yet we have no other option. Do we?

Opposition, on the other hand, the prime
task of which is to safeguard the public interests and to keep an eye on
government functioning, is failing to perform too. Though we see a lot of brouhaha
and hubbub by the opposition parties in the National Assembly these days as the
budget session goes on, it fails to substantially affect the smooth passage and
approval of the finance bill.

Reason: united we stand, divided we “sit”.

This division was quite obvious at the
opposition’s All Parties Conference (APC) convened two days back in Islamabad
when the joint communiqué lacked any solid and affirmative strategy.

The ostensible joint opposition had a clear
difference of opinion and strategy between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and
Maulana’s Jamiat Ulemae Islam-Fazl (JUI-F); between within Pakistan Muslim
League-Nawaz (PML-N) of Shehbaz Sharif versus Maryam Nawaz; between smaller
parties and PPP plus PML-N.

So far the synthetic joint opposition is
granting more benefit than inflicting any harm upon Khan’s government. Under
the cloud of thunderous claims by the opposition, it all seems to rain down
well upon the government.

Khan smartly managed to politically
“epoxy-fy” disgruntled Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and
Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), hence securing not just the sanction
of Budget 2019-20, but acquiring a few months’ more time to stabilise his
administration.

Opposition can rely upon mere verbosity via
pressers, media talks, statements and tweets till then. And we are all left at
the mercy of tight economic clenching till then.

October is the new November, they say.

No one knows what is happening… no one knows
what will happen… but we are all freaked out!