If Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen is to be believed, the floor is open for business. Finally, the government appears excited to loosen its purse strings, and the perks of the much-touted economic revival are all set to trickle down to the masses. For once, there was talk of at least some relief for the world and his wife. Yet, following the dismal track of the Pakistani parliament, the economy took a nosedive as politics reigned supreme. Soon after the PM’s address to the house, Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif lambasted Islamabad for presenting a “prescription for destruction.” Keeping his end of the bargain with Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari raised the usual anti-IMF banner. No matter how razor-sharp his critique may be, it would be extremely hard to convince “Pakistani(s) to reject the PTI’s budget,” once the sweeteners start flowing. After all, our nation–the one ravaged by inflation and unemployment on top of pandemic restrictions– would be extremely eager to clutch tightly to any lifelines it may get its hands on. Had the slicing and dicing been reserved for press conferences and fiery television appearances, the opposition attacks would have just been routine. Who can forget the passionate tearing up of budget speeches or opposition benches uniting in a token walkout of the yesteryears? Yet, what transpired during the budget session can best be described as a practically useless exercise. Lacking all reason and sense., the ferocious protest did nothing other than drown out Mr Tareen’s voice. Plainly put, there seemed to be a competition between opposition legislators as to who would shout the loudest. The continuous desk-banging and the sloganeering ruckus would have only made sense had the members listened to what the finance minister had to say. How could they fundamentally object to something they had not given a moment’s attention to? This is not to say that the treasury benches had sent out a clear signal for an appetite for debate. The usual heated row aside, MNA Saif ur Rehman’s remark about opposition parties using the women MNAs as a shield to approach Mr Tareen’s desk was particularly distasteful. Equally revolting is the viral video of Layyah’s Majeed Niazi casually taking a page out of misogyny 101. His gender-based slurs against Bilawal cannot and should not be defended under any circumstances. The government would (hopefully) be sagacious enough to condemn such below-the-belt comments so that it can stand apart from the opposition’s cacophony. Otherwise, staying true to its course–giving its people a “feel-good” innings–would be considerably challenging. With a brigade of rivals hell-bent on tearing its economic performance, due diligence is needed to ensure no shortcomings can taint the agenda. Financially speaking, the skipper is cushioned comfortably and can easily fend off any campaign against him. Yet, the real task remains shaking off any bad optics whatsoever! The budget definitely looks good on paper. Let’s hope the ambitious goals are achieved accordingly! *