THE damning revelation about a botched attempt by the opposition through its two provincial governments to subvert a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was really lamentable.

Ostensibly, the motive behind such a move was to undermine the efforts of the federal government, regardless of a negative and ruinous upshot of such an endeavour which could have had very grave consequences for the national economy.

Luckily, such an ill-conceived opposition bid to scuttle the deal did not bear fruit and the country, which was in a sense on the brink of default, was saved after meeting some seriously tough demands of the lender agency.

Now, when the country is facing a double whammy in the face of a fragile economy and a monumental challenge in the shape of an unprecedented deluge in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), it is imperative both for the government and for the opposition to mend fences at least for the time being. Politics in this hour of extreme distress can only be of the dirty kind.

M.Y. Ehsan Ullah
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2022