“Who does Prince Harry remind you of?”

“Well, I can’t really think of anyone – I mean his great grand uncle left the throne when he married the American divorcee but he abdicated – he was not the spare like Prince Harry if you know what I mean.”

“Well, excuse me, but when Prince Harry left his royal duties he was no longer the spare – I mean Princess Charlotte was the spare by then! Anyway I mean who does Prince Harry remind you of in terms of the Sharifs or the Bhutto Zardaris or The Khan’s party?”

“Amongst Sharifs I would say Nawaz Sharif – he is in exile too and the kind of bashing Nawaz Sharif is getting in his home country is kind of like the bashing Prince Harry and his wife are getting in their home country.”

“But there is one crucial difference between the two – Prince Harry was always a spare while Nawaz Sharif is waiting for a time when one of the four tires in use needs a change and the spare has become critical…”

“Is it punctured or there was an IED on the road or…”

“Shush, don’t get technical, you know what I mean.”

“For your information the way the economy is going today I reckon it’s not a car or a limousine or a bus – it’s a rickshaw – only three tires and I have never seen a rickshaw carrying a spare…”

“If you are thinking of his younger brother Shehbaz then forget it! Shehbaz Sharif is once removed from the spare and yes Maryam Nawaz performed particularly poorly in AJK but daddy reckons the fault is not hers…”

“And what daddy says still goes?”

“I wonder if he will ever understand that if she takes over, his legacy would simply erode just like the Pakistani rupee – sadly for the N in the PML to remain relevant he would have to redirect his efforts towards someone else…”

“Hmmm, what legacy my friend?! Anyway she does make good copy!”

“Agreed; she has mobilized her supporters though: some have been talking in terms of rigging and others on the number of votes actually polled and…”

“Yeah, yeah, anyway in the Bhutto Zardari camp there are no spares, all tires are in use…”

“And in The Khan party?”

“One camp leader has been outed…”

“Not the right word to use.”

“Who is to know - The Khan’s C team is mainly from out of Punjab and…”

“You mean B team?”

“Nah, The Khan has an A team and a C team – and in the A team there is himself and….and…and…”

“Don’t be facetious.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021