Musharraf gets his political ideas from US, where he used to command heavy speaking fees on the lecture circuit. There, they don’t have jalsas, they have conventions. They also don’t have too much of the door-to-door stuff there but TV/radio appearances. Both conventions and broadcast appearances are OK.
Along those lines, his team has had another idea from US politics: raising money through dinners and appearances. This is the rate for dinner with the man; this is the bill for a photo-op and here is the fee for just shaking his bloody hand.
And his team certainly did let some feelers out for any takers of these deals. Could you get a combo? Add only Rs 100 and you also get fries and a coke with your handshake?
Now, the generalissimo is no Atif Aslam but according to the law of large numbers and P T Barnum’s timeless dictum (“A sucker is born every minute”) there just might be the odd interested party.
Post-script: the shoe-throwing incident has to be mentioned. Damn these guys with their bad aim.
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Plenty of wheeling and dealing behind the scenes for berths at the caretaker cabinets. “Former minister” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Now that the prime minister and four chief ministers are firmly in their respective places, expect some action on the provincial fronts as well. Like the CM situation, KP has already sworn in its nine-member cabinet earlier than the others. Who gets what here is going to be interesting.
Normally, the CMs hold the home department themselves. But the caretakers can probably have separate ministers. That should be the most prized slot in our power structures. The business community might be interested in the industries’ slots.
And the nouveau riche would want just about anything to get a modicum of respectability and “arrival”.
