PARTLY FACETIOUS: French President, German Chancellor, Pakistani PM in same boat?

“Not fair.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not fair, I say, you can’t accuse people of corruption without an investigation.”

“True but where investigations are; how can I put it delicately…”

“My advice: don’t put up at all. Why are you laughing?”

“Well the English expression put up or shut up doesn’t apply in the Sub-Continent right? I mean you put up if you hold the office or shall I say till you hold the office, otherwise there is a blanket shut up.”

“Cultural and lifestyle differences…”

“I am not sure whether they apply any more. UK’s Starmer is taking decisions that those who voted for him are not supporting — he is embracing Zelenskyy of Ukraine every chance he gets while the British public is not supportive of the large donations to the Zelenskyy losing war front…wait… donations funded by raising domestic taxes and cutting benefits for the vulnerable and…”

“The French president and the German Chancellor are in the same boat.”

“Well I reckon Shehbaz Sharif has also got a place in that boat though the three Western leaders are refusing to give him a life vest…”

“Shut up, we will get the GSP+ from Europe, and we will get some assistance from the UK. But when I said, it ain’t fair, I was being specific. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is focused on reforming the corrupt customs department.”

“What is not fair about that!”

“Well, we don’t know if it’s incompetence, I mean some of the appointees have neither the education nor the experience to be able to perform.”

“Examples?”

“Musaddaq Malik is a pharmacist and he is heading a crucial ministry - climate change – that is assuming extreme relevance…”

“Hey he is a minister, I was seeking some examples from the babus.”

“We staff the Federal Board of Revenue with generalists thinking that discipline alone will improve performance, but that hasn’t workedin the past and is not likely…”

“Give me names?”

“I will not put up but as suggested shut up, and the reason is that the civil service is supported only by babus, I mean 97 percent who sit the exams have a BA degree….”

“Hmmmm.”

“What! Besides, naming and shaming has never ever worked…”

“Take your own advice: shut up.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025