To accomplish the challenging task that lies before Pakistan, Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif, addressing the very first cabinet meeting on Monday, has had a candid message for his Ministers: deliver or else face dismissal. He left no one in doubt that he needed results and would expect them to prepare, within a matter of two weeks, a plan of action outlining ‘priorities and targets’ to fulfil the promises the PML-N had made to the electorate. And for that they should carefully study the party manifesto. Further, to keep them on their toes, he warned them that their work would be periodically reviewed to judge whether it was up to the mark. Mian Nawaz could point towards only some of the problematic areas that called for quick attention because it was virtually impossible to describe them in toto or indicate from where to pick up the thread. Loadshedding, economic collapse, growing poverty and intolerance were some targeted areas since a successful tackling of them would make a visible difference. He counselled them to immediately cut down their non-development expenditure by 30 percent. There would be zero tolerance for corruption. Maintaining his firm stand on drones, he reiterated that they constituted violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity. PTI’s Imran Khan has submitted a strongly-worded resolution against drones in the National Assembly. Quoting from the texts, it points out that the strikes are in violation of the UN Charter, the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The resolution states that the NA seeks to remind the government, as pronounced by the Peshawar High Court, that it is under obligation to safeguard the life and property of its citizens.The task appears too big. In fact, things, across the entire spectrum of society – economic, social, moral, and what have you – have gone so far down the hill that cynics would place no faith in the rhetorical assertions of politicians that they are determined not to let the nation down, this time around. Though it is principally for the government to prove these voices of doom wrong, without people’s willing cooperation – paying taxes and utility bills, practising austerity, etc – it would be much harder to turn the corner around. In Mian Sahib’s strong words there was the lurking fear that should his government fail the people, they would hit back with a vengeance. For, now it is clear that they no longer are dumb animals to be driven around and, at best, pitied, but have become conscious of the worth of their vote. Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best; for it is too early in the day to pass judgments.