PML-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif told Sindhi leader and former Sindh Chief Minister Mumtaz Bhutto, at a meeting with him on Monday during a visit to Karachi, that the way to change the government was to have fresh elections after dissolving the National Assembly. He maintained that had he been the Prime Minister, he would have left power a year back and opted for fresh elections. The government must not ignore this as something said by an opposition politician, but by the countrys only person who has actually dissolved a national assembly when he could. It should not be ignored that the Constitution provides for the National Assembly not to last more than five years, and to be dissolved even before that, but only by the Prime Minister. Mian Nawaz outlined one of the reasons for such a premature going to the people: loss of the ability to govern. If a government feels that it no longer determines events, it must go back for a fresh mandate, and either return recharged with an even fresher mandate from the people to tackle their problems, or make way for others whom the people trust more. Apart from the problems of inflation and the energy crisis, the government saw the Karachi killings take place before its eyes, and thus it would only be correct to go to the people for a validation of whatever solution it wants to bring to the issue. Of course, it would probably need no approval for the options of punishing the culprits, but it has apparently not done so yet, even though at least some have been captured. Democracy demands that the inability to deliver on the platform on which the party in power has fought the polls should result in the resignation of the government. The government should show its willingness to take good advice, no matter the quarter it emanates from. At the moment, all that stops the government going is the desire of certain Ministers to keep the perks and privileges of office, something towards which Mian Nawaz referred obliquely. This is no excuse to hold the nation hostage, and the Prime Minister must act to resolve the Karachi situation, no matter what the cost.