No. Silence does not speak louder than words. Yes. That's a reminder for the government to find its voice.

We are, it seems, living in a house of silence. Whipsawed by random events, thwacked by mounting problems and suffocating in a tightly controlled environment, people are compelled to ask: "What the heck is going on, and is anyone doing anything about anything?"

More than a generic social angst, this query is rooted in the absence of coherent answers about problems that define today's Pakistan. If I were to cut to the chase, I would ask the government the following shockingly obvious questions:

1. What is our strategy on Balochistan?

2. What do we plan to do about terrorism from Afghanistan?

3. What is the plan to solve federal government's fiscal problem?

4. Why is the committee on NFC award not meeting and deciding the way forward?

5. Why is the government not reducing its bloated size?

6. What is stopping the government (and provinces) from taxing retail, real estate and agriculture with the same zeal that it taxes the salaried class?

7. Why is the government not privatising (or shutting down) loss-making State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs)?

8. How does the government plan to solve the energy crisis and provide affordable electricity to citizens?

9. Does the government have a medium-term or even long-term plan to solve our debt crisis?

10. Why are the federal and provincial governments not allowing empowered........

© The Express Tribune