Temporary tranquilizer.

Amid ever-spiraling inflation and all economic indicators going down, the good news of aid from different bilateral and multilateral donors has created euphoria in government circles.

True this is a temporary tranquilizer for the beleaguered collation government which will help in assisting flood-affected and providing breathing space to the ailing economy to avert much-anticipated default. No doubt a major chunk of the aid would further bloat the pockets and assets of the ruling elite. But in long run, we need widely spoken structural reforms which every government accorded lip service to but nobody intended to undertake these sincerely.

The glaring ground realities provide little optimism. The billion-dollar question is who will bell the cat. Our governance system over the years is being run on corruption, kickbacks, and favoritism. If the reform is implemented in letter and spirit, the whole corruption-riddled governance edifice would collapse. For example, almost every aspirant of being elected as MPA, MNA, or Senators has to invest millions and billions to run an election campaign. And with rare exceptions, every contender for a high officialdom...