The PPP is continuously ignoring the warning signs from the party workers, who have arrived at the mid-term as the party in power, and should be in an enviable position, being in the driving seat, but they are resigned to having been passed over yet again in the goodies department. Unlike other countries where the fruits of the political victors are distributed evenly - or on a merit system, the PPP party has devolved their own system based mainly on a corrupt structure wherein the job opportunities are 'sold and the monies so generated are passed up the party chain. The situation today is far more serious, with fewer jobs, and more mouths to feed, the despair is mounting. The party rank and file are depressed further, for they are convinced that having joined the party, having cast their vote for their beloved party, and having won the government it would be easy street for them. Alas, there was an acute shortage of goodies, made worse by the increase in the number of visible Pajeros. The crushing reality of becoming a winning have-not is making the party loyalists to start wondering whether all the fuss over the NRO is detracting from the creation of more goodies. Instead of creating more jobs, from industry - the private sector, the party in power is overloading the public sector, PIA and the Steel Mill, pushing it further into the red. Everywhere the search is for the quick buck which leads to one scam after another. This loss of hope in the party rank and file is making the top tiers wobbly, and unstable. Meanwhile, a PPP minister issued a statement that not all suicides were caused by poverty. Probably the most unwise statement of the decade There are millions of Pakistanis who are convinced and believe that the independence of the judiciary is our only hope. And that the Supreme Court will deliver its judgements fairly, and without fear. To cast doubts on the higher judiciary, as suggested in a weekly, is to strike at the fundamentals of any society. Further action must be taken against those making such accusations, even frivolously. The honour of our higher judiciary is sacred to all of us. In a country such as ours, where corruption has brought us to the brink of disaster, we are faced with MNAs and MPAs, who have committed perjury to win their seats, and are now bent upon destroying the only institution other than the army that is functioning. We are drifting towards a country where we are without any direction and no hope. The sooner the judiciary can stem this rot, and rid us of these Dastis, and their promoters, by taking action against the Election Commission for not registering a suitable case under the appropriate law to remove him from the political scene - forever, the better it will be for the hapless people of this country. The Prime Minister has erred in allowing him to re-enter the House, and democracy is being shown to allow criminals to succeed in our society. He has also let his sense of political expediency make a mockery of his party, and that of his Shaheed leader. For once the Minister of Interior Rahman Malik has done the honourable thing by offering to resign if he is found to be complicit in the telephony scam. It is heartening to note that Nawaz Sharif is now insisting that looted money should be returned forthwith. He has now realised that this is the call of the people and that they will not tolerate the loot and run of the incumbents. They will be brought to book, and the money will be returned. It was done in Nigeria, Haiti, and the Philippines. Nobody ever lived to enjoy their ill gotten gains. The return of the money is just a question of 'when. The PPP should have concentrated on moving the country forward, instead of becoming mired in the NRO, which may by itself destroy the party. Indeed, the loss of hope is death for the people, for they have nothing else. The writer is a political analyst.