Despite the governments success in creating the impression of stability for the time being at least, the wind of change continued to blow in Pakistan deepening the political uncertainty and forcing the investment decisions to stay on hold. Rather than letting the dust settle somehow, the government itself has fuelled uncertainty and suspense by requesting the apex court to delay the case of its own appeal against the verdict on defunct NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance). The governments seeking time on the burning issue gives out a clear message at least to business circles to wait and see rather than embarking upon major investment decisions. Meanwhile, the appointment of new NAB chief - reportedly a PPP man - has upset not only the so-called major opposition party PML-N but also the coalition partners such as ANP. The Prime Minister while defending this highly agitated appointment has stated that the government was not bound to evolve consensus but consultations were enough for this. The way in which Opposition and coalition partners like Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Haji Adeel of ANP have reacted to the appointment clearly indicates that they were not even consulted on the issue. Dilemma with the Establishment forces, were they internal or external, is that they were not finding any alternative to the PPP regime in bringing about a constitutional change in the ruling set-up. They (the Establishment) are failing to oust President Asif Ali Zardari through a constitutional manner, observed an insider of the government during an informal chat with this scribe. It is said that Establishment forces have now deliberately unleashed former President Pervez Musharraf to defame leader of the PML-N and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in order to minimise the chances of the Sharifs as alternative to the PPP. Musharrafs latest assault on the Sharifs that the February 1999 Lahore Declaration did not include even the word of Kashmir is actually not that vague as his earlier mudslinging has been. With this jigsaw on the political front and economy plummeting while staying on the back burner, the short-term investors in the countrys bourses preferred to stay on the sidelines during the week ending Friday last. Mother bourse of the country namely the Karachi Stock Exchange opened the week under review on mixed note. Even the foreign players that have stayed adamant buyers during the last turbulent weeks preferred to square their positions. This resulted in a sort of stagnation in the market that stayed where it was with meaningless three points increase in the predominant benchmark namely the KSE-100 Index. Profit taking across the board cost the Index nearly a quarter of a percentile during the second session of the week that was. Blue chip stocks at the dips luring investors especially foreigners clipped the losses and the market again managed to close in plus zone on midweek yet again with nominal four points. With the governments claims that it would stay in power in any case, the market bettered towards the end of the week by over a couple of percentiles still the pundits were unable to foresee clear direction of the market ahead.