“Lesson learned is not something that our politicians are good at.”

“You mean attacking…”

“No, no, don’t go there — that doesn’t interest me.”

“Why? Because it is established that attacking the powers-that-be attracts the attention of the general public.”

“I don’t get you?”

“As long as Maryam Nawaz was attacking shall we say senior members of several institutions she attracted huge crowds, and as soon as she began to defend them the crowds seem to have visibly thinned.”

“They just began to attend The Khan’s jalsas.”

“Ha ha, that’s right and so the lesson not learned is that if you get the crowds you may not get the critical support that you need to become the prime minister….”

“Maryam Nawaz’s confrontational approach got the PML-N…”

“Maryam Nawaz is still resident in Raiwind not on the Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, and…and wait the PML-N is one of eleven parties and secondly as Shakespeare put it so well it is not as if I love Caesar less but that I love Rome more…”

“I guess you want the word love substituted by hate…”

“Hey we are a democracy not an autocracy like in ancient Rome so not hate perhaps confrontational…”

“Right so was this the lesson that you reckon the senior leadership of the three national parties have not learned…and I include the reconciliation expert Zardari sahib because I seem to recall his speech where he stated that generals come and go while politicians remain…”

“Even though they may then have to shift to a foreign country!”

“Indeed so that is the lesson not learned you referred to?”

“No the lesson not learned is that an aspirant does not operate the same way as does an incumbent.”

“So what’s the solution?”

“Give the aspirant the title of Acting.”

“I don’t think that is allowed in the constitution for some institutions and…”

“Then either put up if you can or shut up.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022