Political appointments are routinely made by political parties when they assume power. The only difference between appointments made in the developed world and those made in the Third World is that in the former they recruit the best available talent, which can achieve results for them. In the latter case, cronies are, usually, hired even if they do not meet the minimum qualifications for the job. The PPP has to realize that it is in power now and has to show results. Mere slogan mongering will not take them anywhere, nor will stuffing of jiyalas into jobs they are not qualified for. Take for example the recent embarrassing episode that should tell you something about two PPP appointees. Our Ambassador to United States gave an Iftar dinner in the honour of visiting Pakistani President in New York and intentionally forgot to invite Pakistan's permanent Envoy to UN. Not to be undone, the Envoy kicked up a lot of fuss. What sort of diplomatic articulation can you expect from men who indulge in such trivial catfights? Mr Haqqani may be a good analyst on international and political affairs but he has shown utter lack of etiquettes in diplomacy where there is no room for such immature one-upmanship. I wonder how are these two johnnies going to safeguard our national interests if they cannot between themselves agree to behave in a dinner for their President? -RASHID ORAKZAI, Quetta, via e-mail, September 29.