Federal Housing Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat might have wished to run with the hare by pursuing his petition before the Supreme Court about the Rental Power Plants (RPPs), while running with the hounds, by joining the Federal Cabinet with the rest of his PML-Q colleagues, thereby becoming the only person to have been a member of both the Musharraf-era and the PPP Cabinets. Be that as it may, his appearing before the Supreme Court to argue his case personally only serves to highlight the agony felt by the ordinary citizen at the loadshedding enforced by the government, and which it only ended after the populace erupted into protest. Mr Faisals revelations were astounding, showed the government in a poor light, and shed light on the RPPs, which had been its solution to the power crisis. On Thursday, when he continued his arguments, Makhdoom Faisal spoke about the age of the RPPs, prompting Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading the two-member bench, to remark that the court was looking for an expert to conduct on-site inspections. The Makhdooms argument that due diligence was not carried out by the federal government is an almost sure indication of something that he was careful to avoid doing, pleading his membership of the Cabinet, that someone was making money through corruption. This impression was further strengthened by his noting the transfer of a Water and Power Secretary, prompting the Chief Justice to remark that this was not the first instance of an officer doing his job honestly, being transferred or suspended. What Chief Justice Chaudhry did not say was that such transfers might mean that money was not being made by someone who could arrange the transfer. The next general election is around the corner, and the government is facing an opposition campaign based on the very shortages the RPPs were supposed to remedy and on the corruption that allowed them to become part of the problem, and not of the solution as planned. The circumstances do not allow it the luxury of awaiting the outcome of the case.The energy shortage problem must be solved, and immediately, if it is to have a positive impact on the electorate before the general election. The issue of Makhdoom Faisal appearing before the court against his own government is an issue that can be taken up with him himself, or the leaders of his party, as he is part of the coalition, not of the PPP.