IN 1660, Charles II returned to England to reclaim his throne, after years of exile in France.

This year 2024 marks the restoration of another monarchy, in Pakistan. Here, history is replayed with a local twist. Our Charles (aka Nawaz Sharif) returned after years of royal exile in the United Kingdom, only to yield the throne to his less popular younger brother Shehbaz. History, though, is replete with warnings. Charles’ younger brother, later King James II, ruled only for three years before being deposed.

Pakistan has not one but two monarchies — the Sharif and the Bhutto-Zardari dynasties. Once rivals, they have decided to join, not in matrimony like the union of the Spa­nish royal houses of Aragon and Castile in 1469, but in an unequal, uneasy partnership. They have agreed to share the crown of thorns.

Pakistan has never been an easy country to govern, and never more so than today. It is confronted by a phalanx of problems — unbridled population growth, insufficient resources, recurring insolvency, and an arthritic administrative structure. It is an indigent geriatric — too poor to live, and too indebted to die.

Short is the period between being sworn in and being sworn at.

Soon, if PM Modi has his way (he has already vitiated the UN’s........

© Dawn