"The price of electricity has been increased by 10%."
"Right but the price of gas has been reduced."
"Is there a trade-off there you think?"
"Not at all. We use more electricity during the summer months, which are very near at hand, and more gas during the winter which is over for the year."
"So you reckon the government thinks it's pulled a fast one on us."
"If it does then it's staffed by even more naive people than I thought."
"Why?"
"At the end of the day the common man will see how much each rupee he or she earns will buy that will determine the government's rating."
"And with elections coming..."
"They will be a farce, you know it and I know it."
"But why can't they resolve the energy crisis?"
"They say they will by building expensive dams."
"A bit late in the day, don't you think? I mean Musharraf has been in power for over seven years now and..."
"Right but he has agreed to borrow from development institutions not at concessional terms but at the highest rate they can possibly..."
"That's true but the fact of the matter is that he has to do this if we are to meet our energy needs..."
"And then there is purchase of energy from the Central Asian Republics and..."
"But to access that source we need to go through the civil war torn Afghanistan."
"That's true but the potential is there."
"If I was Musharraf I would retire now, he would become an elder statesman and everyone will respect him for leaving and..."
"An elder statesman? Like Nawab Bugti?"
"Nawab Bugti was certainly an elder but not a statesman? I think the jury is still out on that."
"But you know where I am going with this?"
"Yes I do unfortunately."