Grandiose begging

President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari is in Saudi Arabia on an urgent visit to seek royal munificence. The entourage of the president consists of 200 members who mostly comprise those ministers and parliamentarians who will not perform any function during the visit. Among those travelling with the president are minister for local government, minister for law and parliamentary affairs, minister for manpower and overseas Pakistanis and minister for interior affairs. Considering the fact that that the basic idea for the visit is to seek financial help, one fails to understand why so many unwanted people are travelling with the president. Does it make sense to take 200 persons on a foreign trip at a time when the country is passing through a financial crisis that is being described as worst in the history of the country?

Ever since the formation of this government of the people, the number of foreign trips of president and prime minister has increased. Either the president is out of the country or the prime minister is travelling abroad. The Jang has reported that there was complete confusion at the airport before the departure as the number of aspirants to go with the president increased. In my opinion only the foreign minister and advisor to the prime minister on finance should have accompanied. Pakistan cannot afford such luxury foreign trips at the expense of the taxpayer’s money.