You can’t talk about economy without discussing corruption. The perception of the PML-N government in the one year that it has been in power is that of clean economic managers. And perceptions do matter in politics.

Admittedly, the PML-N was not as strongly anti-corruption as Imran Khan’s PTI during the tenure of the last government and perhaps talked more about growth and other economic miracles than accountability. It was rewarded vicariously because of Pakistan Peoples Party’s sheer failure in terms of governance. The image of Shahbaz Sharif as a smart administrator who could deliver mega projects at the drop of a hat stood in sharp contrast with an inefficient party at the centre which could not do anything even about the energy crisis in the country.

They were helped further by the impression created in Punjab that the federal government stole Punjab’s energy and gave it to the other three provinces, if not only Sindh.

With both parties staying within the broader democratic framework, the PPP relied on democratic institutions, like the parliament and cabinet, while the PML-N in Punjab was fixated on getting things done to fit the "good governance" model, even if it meant bypassing the legislature and cabinet. This made the workings of the party at the centre more transparent and, hence, more accountable to the media and judiciary.

The PML-N learnt its lesson well, both from its own success in the province it ruled and from the PPP’s failings.

Once in power, it has been more careful and acts with a lot more finesse than the PPP. Some people think it knows how to put money into other people’s pockets instead of filling their own the way the PPP did. Once again, its eyes are set on the final goal of electoral victory; once again Senate, National Assembly, and cabinet are seen as unnecessary roadblocks that must be avoided at all costs. There is a kitchen cabinet -- not necessarily including elected people -- that takes all major decisions.

So, what happened to corruption under the PML-N government? If you look carefully, there is corruption in all spheres as it used to be. There are no institutional safeguards put in place to check it at any level. It’s just that you fail to see it at the top level. Nobody knows who made money out of dollar depreciation and how many people brought their dollars in the country from abroad. The only time cronyism gets mentioned is in the context of privatisation but that is something which is not too relevant to the discussion so far.

Corruption at the higher levels is difficult to catch and there is no one prepared to do so. On the contrary, in the Corruption Perceptions Index launched by Transparency International in December 2013, it was said that Pakistan’s global ranking had improved by 12 spots.

The latest Gallup Survey 2014 for Pakistan concludes that "a majority of Pakistanis think that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is running the country better". The survey, which is comparative referring to a corresponding period last year, suggests that the economy recorded a positive 48 per cent comparative net performance, corruption control is 36 per cent and inflation control recorded a 20 per cent net change. Comparing the performance of the chief ministers of the four provinces, the Punjab CM topped the list by getting 26 per cent overall net performance rating.

So, everything seems good for the PML-N so far. With CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry out of the picture, the judiciary’s new dispensation is trying hard not to overstep its powers. That leaves us with the other watchdog -- media. That perhaps is the crux of the discussion because this is where the PML-N is known to excel.

Commonly known as ‘media management’, this is what the PPP totally bungled at and suffered for.

On the contrary, the Punjab government was so adept at it that the gaps in the Metro Bus project in its last tenure were never brought into the limelight in a manner that they harmed the original design of the project. Lahore Metro Bus project was a success story that is now ready to be emulated in Rawalpindi, a place physically close to the TV anchors who hold forth every evening. Chances are it will be as smooth a sail there as it was in Lahore.

What an irony that a party that is more clannish than any other is seen as the most clean.