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Imran must hurry to fix economy as rivals gang up

It seems the prime minister just can't have a good day. The bailout, if it can be called that, ought to have given the government something to celebrate after some labourious begging. Yet instead of celebratory hugs they had to put their heads together again to thwart yet another conspiracy brewing in Islamabad. It turns out that all the time the good PM was out with the begging bowl - to save future generations and all that - the country's old 'political masters' were up to their old tricks.
You can expect bad news for someone whenever former president Asif Zardari sits down with Maulana Fazlur Rahman, leader of the right-wing JUI-F and the embodiment of the mullah-politician hybrid that has become so central to Pakistan's politics over the last two decades. Both met the other day, and seemed genuinely worried about democracy under the PTI dispensation. Fazl was visibly more distressed. But then he's been uneasy ever since the election; when 'outside forces', he says, influenced the outcome to chuck him from the House, which he had graced since, well, forever!
That is why he leaned on Zardari to bury the hatchet with the Sharifs. They could have grilled the government earlier, he reminded the former president, if only they had worked together. The PTI's majority, razor thin since the election, is further compromised after the recent by-election. But Shahbaz talked trash about Zardari throughout the campaign, so Bilawal wouldn't support him as joint PM candidate against Imran (even though they had some pull in the numbers game), and the PML-N wouldn't change the candidate just because the PPP said so, and so on.
Now, with the by-election giving the PTI a bit of a red nose, and the government also doing its best to lose popularity in record time, it seems the old guard is considering moving in for the kill. Zardari didn't say the word but the Press is already buzzing with talk of an attempt at a no-confidence vote not too far down the line. But this is Pakistan, after all, so that is definitely not all.
Lately the anti-corruption machinery has been zeroing in on Zardari and his equally wealthy sister. And word is that the public is about to be treated to a replay of Nawaz's fall, with a JIT (joint investigation team) and all, and just names changed to Zardari and his sister. That is why the PTI is reading the tea leaves very differently. The noose is tightening around him (Zardari) so he's just playing a gambit; trying to pressure the government into an agreement -  with the most corrupt and wealthy among the opposition, at least. Musharraf did it too, after equally impressive chest thumping and promises about weeding out corruption.
Perhaps that's why Information Minister Fawad Chaudhary tweeted that Zardari should be meeting his lawyers instead of shady politicians, and any anti-government drive would have to be launched from jail.
For the PML-N, the situation is a godsend. So far, they're the only one really confronting the government as well as bearing the brunt of its corruption crusade. Plus, they've also been ridiculed by the PPP all this time. And so what if Zardari is picked up half way through the proposed agitation. It would still give Nawaz some traction. And who knows what's to happen if they can really take it to the no-confidence vote. The government has a twenty-something lead in the House when counting all its allies. But some are already straining at the leash and there is the odd chance that alliances down in Sindh and Balochistan might not hold too long.
The government seems confident but it has reasons to worry. For one thing, it has been steadily losing public goodwill as well as support. And while two months is too early to gauge any government's performance, its performance in the by-elections last week was something of an embarrassment. For another thing, it's just far too hamstrung by an imploding economy to implement any progressive agenda. Celebrating the so-called bailout as a big victory would be ill advised. So they'll park three billion in the state bank and defer oil payments for a year. How does that do anything to the balance of payments problem? How good will Imran Khan look going around with his begging bowl again when the 'breather' has run its course?
Zardari's threat might be more bark than bite, but he's already got a divided opposition talking about toppling the government. They don't call him a genius at wheeling and dealing for nothing. Now the people must not only see if the government can get the economy going and save them from default and hyper inflation, but also if they can keep themselves in power without much trouble.
-Shahab Jafry is a senior journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan