PML-N Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif, in a meeting on Thursday with former Faisalabad district nazim Ch Zahid Nazir in Murree, has strongly criticised the PPP government, which he has said has disappointed the people, blaming it for failure to implement the orders of the Supreme Court, and not making serious efforts to overcome the price hike, the shortages of gas and electricity or to improve the law and order situation. Considering whom he was meeting, his reference to the gas loadshedding occurring in Faisalabad was particularly apposite, since the crisis not only affected just one city or district, but the whole country. He warned that this could lead to a flood of people which could overwhelm the government. The PPP-led government should not regard this as simply the carping of an opposition figure, but of a wellwisher who started the current tenure in alliance with the PPP, and who had signed the Charter of Democracy with the late Ms Benazir Bhutto. It was known at the time of the alliance that his party, the PML-N, would be in competition with the PPP at the next election. It is true that any hope the PML-N might have had of forcing an early election faded with the return of the MQM to the government fold, but the next general election is approaching with great speed, and if Mian Nawaz is positioning himself for such an election, he can hardly be blamed. Indeed, the woes he listed are very likely those on which he plans to campaign. Though this election is probably what he means when he refers to the flood of people, one interpretation might well reach to the turmoil in the Middle East, and the prospect of a people so greatly frustrated by the multiple crises in their lives that they might overthrow the entire system. By allowing these multiple crises to fester, the government is only creating space where adventurers might have free rein. The government, instead of merely dismissing these statements, must take them seriously and immediately mend its ways. There is a lot of serious work to be done to alleviate the problems of the people, which is the purpose of government, not merely staying in power. Instead of claiming, without any basis that it has an excellent record, it would do well to put the technical and political resources at its disposal to make the situation less out of synch with the feelings of the people. That will mean making sure that Supreme Court orders are implemented without any regard for persons, or any attempt, as at present, to save the President from the consequences of his actions.