Daily Times

After seemingly forever, a slight thaw has appeared in the frosted government-opposition ties, allowing many to at least hope for life to return to normalcy. Being held at the Parliament House, the crucial talks between the coalition umbrella and the PTI hold the key for any possible breakthrough in the crippling impasse on elections.

The negotiations are still underway while the tabled proposals are now on their way back to respective camps for further deliberations. Meanwhile, the heated frenzy continues to maintain its iron-clad grip on all affairs of the state where anyone and everyone is far too overwhelmed with the trees to see the forest.

That our economy is in ruins has conveniently slipped out the back as the bitter locking of the institutional horns has held the national narrative hostage. The disharmony and its dire implications for the power trichotomy are visible to all but the urge to actually do something for the country to rise above its politicking trouble cannot be found. As for the public, fighting to survive the darkest, most expensive of times has considerably added to their frustration with the existing setup.

Being repeatedly promised elections only to be told of a new about-turn makes them wonder whether the writing on the wall would ever carry a message in their favour. These much-touted winds of change may benefit one political player or the other but who is to force them to work for the welfare of the masses? Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is busy celebrating his vote of confidence and quite rightly so, given the message he has sent to the higher judiciary.

But what message does he have in mind for the people standing under his command? Should they wait for him to sit through the power-brokering until he finds the time to tend to their back-breaking burdens? Or, give up on the idea of the political elite ever stepping down from their pristine pedestals to care for the skyrocketing inflation, crashing rupee and hovering default clouds? *