It’s no surprise that the stock market tanked a good 1,250 points on Monday and the rupee continued its daily fall to historic lows because the country is in the grip of a severe constitutional crisis, there is no government and the bureaucracy is, effectively, running the show. Add to that the inflation numbers that just came in and which, from the looks of things, everybody was just too occupied with the goings-on in Islamabad to notice. At 12.6 per cent, headline inflation during the first quarter of the current calendar year is the highest-ever figure under new the new base, and the third-highest monthly figure since PTI won the election in 2018. It should also be noted that the effects of the so-called PM’s relief package, which froze fuel and electricity prices till the next budget, are yet to show, which means that the price hike has a way to go before it even begins to plateau. And now, without a working national assembly or a federal cabinet, the budget-making process is also expected to hit a brick wall in most ministries. At this time PTI is waiting for the election commission to mobilise and also for the formalities of setting up the caretaker government for the next election to begin, but the opposition seems to have very different ideas. It’s not going to get over the shock of Sunday in a hurry, which is why most eyes are on the Supreme Court to see what it has to say about the circus in the house. And since the top court seems in no hurry to deliver a verdict – surely it will go through all issues meticulously – Pakistan can do very little about the state of limbo it is condemned to be in by those who claim to champion the cause of democracy in this land. Yet those who wish this country well ought to understand that it does not have the capacity to withstand prolonged uncertainty at this point. Therefore, the sooner the honourable supreme court shows the way forward the better for everybody, especially the economy. *