The PTI government never looked as shaky in the last few years in power as it now appears. Leadership’s decision to embark on mass contact rallies, addressed by none less than the PM himself, seems to be a last-ditch effort to recover the lost standing of the party among the people. But mere bravado without performance has no public appeal. Not to talk of providing good governance, it’s the economy that has suffered the most in the last few years. Covid cannot be used as a scapegoat for the economic meltdown. “It’s the economy, stupid” is the phrase coined by James Carville in 1992 during Bill Clinton’s election. Carville was an adviser in Clinton’s election campaign. Clinton himself used this phrase to reassure his electorates how concerned he was about their economic well-being. The slogan clicked to the voters and Clinton moved into the White House. Presently, the class disparity stands out distinctly. The rich that constitutes the upper layer of the society don’t feel the squeeze by the high cost of living as much as do the lower strata of the society. Educated but unemployed youngsters belonging to the unprivileged section of the society see no future for themselves in the country. When most of us read daily statements of the politicians, it appears as if they live in a different world and have no idea how the poor scavenge to sustain themselves. Public aversion to them for being insensitive to their basic needs is more palpable now than ever before. And there’s no one among the ruling elites to empathize with them, as the economy doesn’t look shattered through the windows of bullet-proof limousines. Isn’t it time to remember that “it’s economy, stupid?” Covid cannot be used as a scapegoat for the economic meltdown. Since his container days, the PM has steadfastly followed a single-point agenda of hauling up the looters, plunderers and dacoits of public money and recovering the booty from them. Even some of his speeches when visiting abroad on official trips had a punch of accusing his opponents of corruption. With time, people think he only has one arrow in his quiver to aim at his political opponents. Whether or not his strategy to roll his opponents over the coals had any substance, the people would have been satisfied had his government succeeded in alleviating their difficulties as promised. Had the PTI leadership been as determined to improve the national economy and establish the supremacy of rule of law as it has acted to hunt its political opponents; its popularity wouldn’t have suffered so immeasurably. The poor are only interested in meeting their daily needs to survive; the idea of netting the corrupt doesn’t make their hard lives any easier. In fact, a large segment of the population is not much interested in who rules as long as people are gainfully employed and there is law and order in the country. The PM recently said that ‘missing rule of law’ is the most serious problem the country faces. When the PM seems helpless in maintaining the ascendency of rule of law, the plight of the poor segment of the society affected by it can be well imagined. His statement that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor speaks for the poor law and order situation existing in the country. The concept of ‘rule of law’ in a democratic system is that both affluent and poor classes of the society are governed by the same rule, without any discrimination of social status – equality before the law. Don’t we observe how the rich and influential manage to stay above the law and poor rot in jails for years before they are declared innocent? However, when the opposition parties gear up to push their agenda against the government, the PM decided to award citations to ten top performers in his view. Murad Saeed stood first among the awardees. Congrats to him. But foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s was so disappointed for being ignored in the race that he hit it out openly in the press. It may well be the last hurrah for Murad Saeed, but FM Qureshi is someone important in the making. So he hopes. Besides, it was hardly the time for such a ceremony that was bound to sow discord among many PTI leaders who were ignored. Whimsical decisions have no timing. The writer is a Lahore-based columnist and can be reached at pinecity@gmail.com.