For a country languishing on the precipice of a disaster, slashed down foreign exchange reserves to a tragic $4.31 billion should have been the last straw; jolting the authorities out of their complacency. That overseas Pakistanis are not in a mood to send back dollars and exports to the Middle East have registered a 14.8 per cent decline are all the signs that needed an adequate response from a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed administration. Sadly for all of us, the government has not yet sensed the need to prioritise economic revival largely because it is far too busy fighting political battles. Considering the IMF impasse, Pakistan needs an immediate shot in the arm to avoid default troubles. But to borrow words from the former finance minister, “the government is not aware” of the true extent of the crisis at hand. While some of the movers and shakers have decided to step into the open in a bid to restore normalcy so that the government may finally find some breathing space to focus on governance, the pounding of the doomsday clock does not seem to affect any of the players. The responsibility lies on the shoulders of all stakeholders. If the coalition government was actually as considerate of the backbreaking inflation, personal vendettas would never have been allowed to get in the way of loan procurements. On the other hand, the much-talked-about people-centric opposition willingly chose to overshadow national interest to secure its endgame. Sandwiched between them, as always, is the survival of the common man whose ability to provide for his family is diminishing by the day. There appears no respite from the Damoclean sword of skyrocketing prices as earning capacities are shrinking, thanks to rampant political instability. The writing on the wall continues to scream all that matter to sit at a deliberations table to chalk out a way out of this deadlock. After all, what use would be this fight to come to power if the entire kingdom has been destroyed beyond repair in the process? *