Prior to Imran Khan’s rally in Faisalabad the other day, the Punjab CM held a meeting with the bigwigs of APTMA, the country’s premiere association of textile mills. The barons didn’t pull any punches. We used to get more power than this during the PPP’s tenure.
Well, this was like showing a red rag to the power minister. You people are nothing less than corporate beggars, he thundered. Key officials in the local distribution company were present. Tell them, their boss demanded of them, that they are lying.
They are not, in fact, lying, came the sheepish reply.
The minister cut a sorry figure while the CM started placating the tycoons.
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Coal-fired power is all the rage these days. A Chinese company, a Fortune 500 concern, is taking the lead in constructing these power plants in Pakistan.
Recently, the Punjab CM gave a large number of the executives of the firm a lunch. Boy, was the one dish rule violated like a camper amongst grizzly bears. The menu, including dishes Pakistani and Chinese, was quite something. Pro-business-shro-business, bah. THIS is why the foreign companies like the Sharifs in power. They know the way to a multinational’s heart.
