The Grapevine June 2014

On the 21st of May, Nawaz was scheduled to visit Quetta, same day as an F-16 handing over ceremony in Sargodha. Nawaz publicly postponed his visit, thinking he might get invited to the ceremony. He wasn't. Talk about cold shoulders on army chiefs, Nawaz sure knows how to pick them.

Muhammad Malik, who was appointed Managing Director PTV in February, is yet to receive a formal contract, with Mr. Malik and the PM secretariat still quarreling over salary and perks. If the state channel suddenly disappears from your television screens, don't worry, it's just a matter of zeroes at the end of a cheque.

The PM's adviser on foreign affairs Tariq Fatimi has given strong instructions to the foreign office’s South Asia and India wing not to pass any statement against Narendra Modi. Even when Modi was talking about a sting operation in Karachi for Daud Ibrahim, the foreign office remained quiet. That may have gotten Nawaz an invitation for Modi's swearing-in, but the military establishment might not let him come back

During a PML-Q meeting in which the volatile political situation of the country was being discussed, a senior PML-Q leader Ahmed Yar Hiraj commented that there was no chance of another martial law. To which Chaudhry Shujaat replied, “Why, have military vehicles run out of petrol?”