Pakistan, Feb. 13 -- What is politics but the art of the impossible? As archrivals eat their words to contemplate power-sharing formulas and others who had stepped to the front with pledges to eliminate the entire setup of a political party announce plans to go offstage themselves, general elections 2024 have proved to be the biggest and most sensational political thriller.

There's no telling what would now become of the much-talked-about IPP whose balloon is fast running out of hot air. Is the chief ministership of the heartland still on the table? While history is replete with examples of such kneejerk yet doomed-from-the-beginning experiments, that the trajectory would be so short-lived might not have crossed the minds of many.

After...