Pakistan, March 24 -- Although chatter on the street had suggested that a hung parliament would not sustain for long, not even the harshest critics had the confidence to predict this early of a crack. Differences have already developed between the premier and one of the most influential people on his team, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi.

Speculations abound about Mr Naqvi insisting on bringing his bureaucratic team to Islamabad while PM Shahbaz Sharif refuses to budge from his own preferences. Air has not yet been cleared even after Mr Naqvi called on his office in an attempt to settle the differences.

Meanwhile, things do not appear as rosy in the finance ministry. Reconstituting cabinet committees, the latest directive deprived t...