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DAWN WIRE SERVICE
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Week Ending : 14 November 1996 Issue : 02/46
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Benazir had refused to quit: report
Changes in economy must: US think-tank
People invited to submit evidence against corrupt
PPP voices fears about caretaker cabinet
Some may be barred from contesting poll: Meraj
Benazir sees Legharis hand in Mirs killing
Benazir inherited cruel streak of her father
Nawaz wants ID condition for voting
Get rid of feudal lords in assemblies
--------------------------------
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
IMF, WB pledge to help revamp economy: Burki
PICIC, IDBP scare siphons off Rs 165m
WBs magic man to revamp the economy
Privatisation proceeds only for debt retirement
Rate of inflation climbed to 11.03% last month: FBS
Pakistan to get $160m IMF loan by next week
Caretakers firm to bring tariff down to 35% soon
KSE 100-share index breaks 1,500 points barrier
---------------------------------------
1,111 disastrous days Ardeshir Cowasjee
Down the same dismal road Ayaz Amir
New beginning or action replay? Dr Anis Alam
-----------
Saeed Anwars century takes Pakistan into Sharjah final
N.Z. lose to Pakistan but sneak into Sharjah final
Pakistan face Dutch in opener as Madras is ready for hockey ties
6 Atlanta Olympians dropped from hockey list
Foreign squash players start arriving
China bag clutch of medals to win Asian Jr rowing
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961112
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Benazir had refused to quit: report
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Nov 11: President Farooq Leghari had urged ousted Benazir
Bhutto to resign with dignity on Nov 4 but she adamantly refused, a London-
based authoritative think-tank, Oxford Analytica, said in its latest
analysis of the Pakistan situation.
She adamantly refused, believing that he would not act against her. On
this front, she appears to have underestimated the extent of national
opposition to her government, the analysis said.
It said although Mr Leghari was within his constitutional powers in
dismissing Ms Bhutto, he could not have acted without the firm support of
the army. Army Chief General Jahangir Karamat had privately expressed to
both Leghari and Bhutto his displeasure over government behaviour.
The caretaker government led by Malik Meraj Khalid, and backed by Mr
Leghari and the army is likely to initiate major social and structural
reforms, and seek to tackle corruption across the political spectrum, it
said.
The Bhutto governments lack of credibility and support could be judged by
the fact that there were no protest demonstrations by the PPP against the
presidents action. None of Ms Bhuttos former ministers was prepared to
speak up in her defence after the sacking. Instead, many people openly
celebrated her dismissal, notably in Lahore, the home city of opposition
leader Nawaz Sharif, and Karachi, where the government has violently
suppressed demands by local Mohajirs for political autonomy. Despite the
presence of troops, the situation in Islamabad quickly returned to normal,
it continued.
The interim government can be expected to take action on three main policy
fronts, it said. The government is likely to launch a major crackdown on
corruption across the political spectrum, but in particular focusing on
Zardari. The president and the army are already believed to have built up
files on alleged abuses of power, and firm action is likely to be popular
with the general public.
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961111
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Changes in economy must: US think-tank
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Staff Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Nov 10: The key thing for the new interim government in
Pakistan is to begin structural changes in the economy, restore law and
order and hold corrupt people to account, an international think tank and
aid-donor foundation chief said on Saturday.
The reform agenda in Pakistan has to take a leap forward, George
Perkovich, Director of the Secure World Programme at the W. Alton Jones
Foundation, a $300 million grant-making organisation based in
Charlottesville, said in an interview.
The interview was published by leading newspaper Washington Times as part
of a full-page review of South Asia in which Pakistan was the only subject
for news analysis and reports.
The papers Assistant Foreign Editor, Gus Constantine, said in a news
analysis the ouster of Benazir Bhutto had returned power to its traditional
holders, bureaucrats acting with the support of the army.
He quoted an unnamed US source saying the politicians have created a mess
with rampant corruption, economic stagnation, inflation and budget
deficits. The source was understood to be an official one.
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961111
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People invited to submit evidence against corrupt
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Our Correspondent
JHANG, Nov 10: Every citizen can submit, to the proposed accountability
commission, evidence and proof against corrupt politicians, government
officials and businessmen.
The commission, to be a part of judiciary, will be set up shortly under a
presidential order, says Syeda Abida Hussain, caretaker Federal Minister
for Education, Science and Technology.
Addressing a Press conference here at Shah Jewana House on Saturday
evening, she said the accountability process would not delay the Feb 3
general elections. Abida said that former parliamentarians, if declared
corrupt, would be debarred from contesting the elections. Those whose cases
were decided after Feb 3, would be unseated if elected, she observed.
She said that corrupt elements would not only face disqualification (from
contesting elections) or dismissal (from service) but would also have to
pay the looted money. Political and out-of-merit recruitment would be
cancelled.
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961108
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PPP voices fears about caretaker cabinet
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Mahmood Zaman
LAHORE, Nov 7: The central executive committee of the Pakistan Peoples
Party has observed that certain steps taken by the caretaker government
have endorsed its fears and made its credibility doubtful in the eyes of
the people.
The PPPs highest policy-making body, which met in Islamabad on Wednesday
with secretary-general Rafiq Ahmad Sheikh in the chair, cited the
constitution of the federal cabinet and appointment of Mumtaz Ali Bhutto as
caretaker chief minister of Sindh as the evidence which substantiates our
suspicion
According to a party spokesman, two members of the cabinet are batch mates
of the president in the civil services academy and one is related to him.
This is nothing but clear nepotism by a person who claims to have an
unblemished past. If the president has the courage to start with unfair
practices only a day after he dissolved the National Assembly unlawfully,
no-one is going to believe that his future steps will be above board, the
spokesman says.
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961108
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Some may be barred from contesting poll: Meraj
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Nov 7: Caretaker Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid has indicated
that his government plans to bar some politicians from contesting the
forthcoming polls by disqualifying them through an accountability law
likely to be enacted in a few days.
Well proceed according to the law. If anyone is disqualified under the
law, he wont be allowed to contest the polls, he told newsmen during his
first visit to the city here on Thursday after being sworn in as caretaker
prime minister.
Malik Khalid said the accountability law would be drafted in a few days. He
said the accountability had actually started and his government was taking
economic, administrative and other measures in this regard.
He reassured the reporters that elections would be held on Feb 3 as
promised by the president in the National Assembly dissolution order. He
conceded that people were suspicious about the governments intentions to
hold fresh polls. But, he said, it was due to the existing political
polarisation and distrust.
The caretaker prime minister arrived here in the afternoon by an ordinary
PIA flight.
He was accorded a bare minimum security and protocol. No pilot car or
motorcycle was present to lead him to the Governors House and then to the
Alhamra Arts Centre where he attended a function.
The small flat owned by Malik Meraj Khalid in Laxmi Mansions (off Beadon
Road) has been declared the Prime Ministers House, but only a uniformed
constable and two plainclothesmen were guarding it.
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961113
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Benazir sees Legharis hand in Mirs killing
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 12: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Tuesday
implicated President Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari in the murder of her
brother, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, who was killed in a police shoot-out in
Karachi on Sept 20.
Ms Bhutto, who was talking to newsmen after moving into a house owned by
Senator Gulzar from her official residence, said: There is a nexus between
my brothers death and Leghari.
She demanded of the President Leghari to bring back the British detectives
called by her to investigate the killing of her estranged brother.
I ask Leghari that if your hands are clean bring back those British
detectives else nobody in this country is going to believe you, she said.
I always felt that my brothers death was part of a grand conspiracy
against my government, she added.
She said the day her brother was killed she told her colleagues that nobody
could dare kill prime ministers brother unless somebody more powerful
and more strong had assured the killers that she (Bhutto) would no longer
remain in power.
Ms Bhutto pointed out that she had set up a judicial commission to
investigate the case but I was not satisfied.
Therefore, she said, she had enlisted the services of the British
investigating team comprising experts decorated by the Queen for solving
some major international crimes.
She said she wanted a foreign team to investigate the case because they
would not have any roots in the country nor they would be pressured,
coerced or intimidated.
I wanted them to get to the bottom of the story, she said.
Ms Bhutto, whose detained husband has been charged by the president in the
proclamation order for conspiring to kill Murtaza Bhutto, accused Mr
Leghari for the first time directly in the incident.
The president has made some foul accusations. This convinces me that
directly or indirectly there is a nexus between my brothers death and the
president because he has tried to justify the presidential action in terms
of my brothers death, she said.
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961113
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Benazir inherited cruel streak of her father
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Our Correspondent
NEW YORK, Nov 12: The fall of Bhuttos is a family tragedy and a national
one for Pakistan. The glorious legacy Zulfikar Ali Bhutto hoped to leave
his children, tightly held for almost half a decade by his daughter, lies
in ashes, says Stanley Wolpert.
In an article in Tuesdays New York Times, the author of books on Quaid-i-
Azam and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, says: Few Pakistanis mourn the dismissal of
Benazir Bhutto any more than they mourn the fate of her father.
Wolpert who was commissioned by Ms Bhutto to write a biography of her
father, says of Ms Bhutto: She staged a bloody crackdown on armed rivals
who conducted a campaign against her in Karachi. She directed a campaign of
harassment against judges and reporters. Meanwhile, her husband, Asif Ali
Zardari, has been widely accused of enriching himself from government
contracts.
Lamenting Ms Bhuttos failed rule, he observes: It was a brief interlude
of hope and pride, specially throughout the Sindh province, where cries of
Jiye Bhutto greeted the prime minister.
But that euphoria quickly ended, even among those who worked closely with
her in the Pakistan Peoples Party. Instead of focusing on efforts to help
develop the economy and trying to provide education and work for tens of
millions of poor Pakistanis, Prime Minister Bhutto worried about how best
to immortalise her father, planning costly monuments and hoping to persuade
the world court to exonerate him.
Wolpert concludes that Ms Bhutto inherited her fathers charisma, passion
for politics and insatiable ambition, but also his cruel streak and
willingness to undermine democratic institutions.
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961114
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Nawaz wants ID condition for voting
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Leader of the Opposition Mian Nawaz Sharif held here on
Wednesday a detailed meeting with caretaker prime minister Malik Meraj
Khalid and demanded from him the reconstitution of Election Commission and
the production of ID cards compulsory in the February 3 elections.
While he stressed the need for producing National Identity Card for polling
vote, he also called for the retention of October 1993 election
constituencies to ensure fair and free elections in accordance with the
constitutional requirements.
The leader of the opposition also gave a letter to the caretaker prime
minister in which he discussed nine proposals for having transparent
elections throughout the country.
The most important pre-requisite for free and fair elections was an
independent election commission. As required under Article 218 of the
Constitution, a new election commission should be re-constituted, as early
as possible, he added.
OVERSEAS PAKISTANIS: It is vital that millions of Pakistani voters living
abroad should be given the right to vote. The Supreme Court had decided on
15 November, 1993 that voters registered in Pakistan and living abroad
cannot be denied their right of vote and the government should make
arrangements to enable them to vote at the next general elections.
The chief election commissioner accordingly asked the ministry of law to
amend the relevant laws to enable the Election Commission to appoint
returning o officers in locations abroad with a large Pakistani population.
On 8 November, 1994 it also asked the ministry of foreign affairs to study
arrangements for this purpose. Just before the October 1993 elections, he
said the PML had made certain proposals in its letter dated 15 September,
1993 to extend voting facilities to the overseas Pakistanis. This was
followed by more detailed proposals in July 1994.
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961114
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Get rid of feudal lords in assemblies
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Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Nov 13: Caretaker Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid said here on
Wednesday that time had come to get rid of feudal lords who had no interest
in peoples problems but had been occupying assembly seats generation after
generation.
Addressing a function arranged by a local traders group, Mr Meraj Khalid
said although his governments term was limited to 90 days, it would devise
strategies to streamline the much messed up political and economic matters
and ensure that the next government followed the guidelines given.
He said his government did not want to postpone elections fixed for Feb 3
next year on any pretext, but would introduce the accountability law at any
cost. This law, he said, would cleanse the political arena of feudal lords
who always managed to return to assemblies only to plunder public funds and
grossly misuse their positions causing all sorts of problems for the
society.
It now depends on the nation to help the caretaker government in achieving
the goal of providing clean governance to the country. February 3 is going
to be a decisive day in our history. Hopefully, the people will give a bold
verdict and reject parties which did not prove worthy of the voters
trust, Mr Khalid said.
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961111
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IMF, WB pledge to help revamp economy: Burki
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Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Adviser to the caretaker Prime Minister on Finance,
Planning and Economic Affairs Shahid Javed Burki on Saturday announced his
structural reforms programme to revamp the flagging economy and disclosed
that the World Bank and the IMF would offer more resources to attain the
objective.
We are determined to devise a mechanism to stop slippages and corruption.
While the IMF has promised to provide a new funding line other than the one
already pledged, the World Bank too would be extending generous resources
to help improve the countrys overall economy, he added.
Speaking at a news conference immediately after taking the charge of the
finance ministry, he pointed out that the job of the caretaker government
was to revamp the economy by providing what he termed a solid base.
President Leghari has assured me that the policies introduced by the
caretaker government would continue beyond 90 days specially during his
(Legharis) remaining two years in office.
He said he planned to pick up the thread from where Mr Moeen Qurashi had
left to bring about a qualitative change in the socio-economic scene and
with a view to ensuring a sustained economic growth.
Mr Burki pointed out that a number of task forces had been set up to
recommend improvements in the following areas: Fiscal reforms, review of
public expenditure and acceleration of the privatisation process.
Its a fairly difficult task, but we would certainly try to achieve our
objective of reforming the economy, he said.
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961111
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PICIC, IDBP scare siphons off Rs 165m
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Mohiuddin Aazim
KARACHI, Nov 10: Two leading financial institutions witnessed a virtual
panic run on Sunday resulting in withdrawal of Rs 165 million from their
deposits following a statement of caretaker Advisor on Finance Mr Shahid
Javed Burki.
In his first press conference at Islamabad on Saturday, Mr Burki was quoted
by official news agency APP as saying that the government plans to abolish
and consolidate various financial institutions including the Pakistan
Banking Council, Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (IDBP), Pakistan
Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation (PICIC) and Regional
Development Finance Corporation.
While IDBP reported withdrawal of Rs 95.0 million from its deposits, the
PICIC lost Rs 70 million on Sunday, the first working day of the week,
officials of the two institutions informed Dawn.
There was a huge withdrawal of Rs 70 million from PICIC offices across the
country today, a senior official of the corporation told Dawn adding the
normal daily withdrawals range between Rs 5.0 million to Rs 10 million.
We lost to our depositors Rs 95 million throughout Pakistan, said an IDBP
official. He termed the withdrawal unusually high compared with normal
withdrawals which he could not quantify.
Both the officials said PICIC and IDBP brought the huge withdrawals to the
notice of the ministry of finance relating the same to the newspaper
reports about the possible winding up of PICIC and IDBP attributed to Mr
Burki.
The ministry responded quickly and issued a clarification also carried by
official news agency APP saying the government had no plans to abolish
PICIC and IDBP or any other financial institutions for that matter.
But by the time the clarification was flashed by APP in the afternoon the
damage was done. PICIC share value dropped to Rs 6.0 from Rs 9.0 recorded
on last trading day depicting the confidence-shaking of the investors.
Once something shakes the confidence of the investors it is very hard to
rebuild it, remarked a senior PICIC official.
He said out of the total Rs 70 million worth of withdrawals on Sunday Rs 16
million flew out from PICIC offices in Karachi alone. He said the panicky
depositors made a run not only on current and saving accounts but also on
term-deposit accounts. The run was so severe that it also wiped out the
daily inflow of around Rs 5.0 million in our recently-announced term-
deposit scheme with life insurance.
He said the issuance of a clarification by the ministry of finance would
probably halt further withdrawals from PICIC but it would not be of much
help in securing back the lost deposits.
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961109
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WBs magic man to revamp the economy
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M. Ziauddin
THE BAD news, despite the change of government is that the Rs. 41 billion
package of the IMF-approved additional budgetary measures announced late
last month would stay. But, the good news is, World Banks another miracle
man Shahid Javed Burki is coming to Pakistan to set the countrys economic
house in order within three months.
Burki had actively helped the former caretaker prime minister Moin Qureshi
during the latters three month tenure in August-October, 1993, but from
behind the scene.
He would now have an opportunity to begin from where he had left off. He
would do well by losing little time in criticising the economic policies of
the previous government and paying more attention to remedying the
situation in the short time he has been allowed for the job.
There is hardly anything which he does not know about Pakistans economy.
And his experiences in the World Bank as the incharge, first at the China
desk and then at the Latin American desk, should enable him to tackle the
problems confronting the economy of his own country with greater dexterity
and despatch.
Burkis recent newspaper articles on Pakistans economy give a clue to his
thinking on the subject. He surely must have some ready made prescriptions
for the sickness from which our economy is afflicted with.
To start with, there is this problem of abysmally low savings rate which
has continued to keep the rate of investment even with borrowed resources
at equally low levels of around 18- 19 per cent affecting adversely the
rate of economic growth while the population has been galloping at the rate
of 3.5 per cent.
This problem is directly related to the problem of massive tax evasion in
the country where out of a population of 120 million, only one million pay
taxes. And this problem has two dimensions. One, the corrupt to the core
personnel in the CBR. Second, our national culture of contacts and
influence.
It should not be difficult for the new finance minister to get the economic
wing of the FIA to give him the real low-down on all the CBR field staff
who live beyond their legitimate means. And using the existing rules he can
send them all home. This will take care of more than half the problem. The
other half, that is the problem of culture or contact would wither away in
time on its own if bribes, contacts and influence fail over time to yield
the desired results for the tax evaders.
Moreover, not only the income tax rates in Pakistan are forbiddingly high,
but the slabs are also too many making the whole exercise of filing income
tax returns highly complex and cumbersome for the honest tax payers.
It would make every Pakistani into an honest tax payer if all slabs are
abolished and every one earning more than Rs. 60,000 a year (whatever be
the source of income) is asked to pay 10 per cent of their income as income
tax.
Also, if all excise duties and existing sales tax are removed and a 5 to 10
per cent consumption tax( at every point of consumption ) is imposed in a
graduated manner (affecting luxury consumptions the most and not affecting
at all food items and such other essentials), not only the entire economy
will get documented but the collection would be more than what one is
getting from the existing indirect taxes.
Simultaneously, the interim government could consider lowering the maximum
import tariff rates to 35 per cent. This will bring down the cost of
imported raw materials and intermediaries.
All these steps will have a salutary effect on the overall rate of savings
and investment , consequently pushing up the rate of economic growth to the
desired levels.
In the meanwhile, the interim government could consider speeding up the
process of privatisation of the nationalised commercial banks and public
sector investment banks. One commercial bank and one investment bank in the
hands of the government should more than suffice.
A banking sector largely in the private sector would ensure that bank
defaults remain within reasonable limits and no advances are made on the
basis of political influence or other non-economic factors.
The menace of burgeoning budgetary deficit could also be tackled by the
interim government first by dismantling all the unwanted divisions,
ministries and departments ruthlessly, without being afflicted by the
thought that the action would result in intensifying the problem of
joblessness. More money in the hands of the private sector would finance
increased economic activities creating more jobs which would eventually
take care of those who will lose jobs by the reduction in the size of the
government.
Shahid Javed Burki like most of his technocrat colleagues is a great
champion of the idea of making the agriculturists pay tax on their incomes.
The ousted government had taken a decision in principle to impose the tax
after having reached an agreement with the IMF. Now all that is required is
to impose the tax which the interim government should shirk away from on
the excuse of having no mandate to take such steps.
While at it, Mr. Burki can also look into the logistics of collection of
this tax without, on the one hand, letting the collectors harass the tax
payers and, on the other, making it impossible for the agriculturists to
evade their legitimate dues. This way, he can ensure collection of more
than Rs. 2 billion, the previous government had estimated under this head.
According to one calculation, if he goes about it in the right way, may
succeed in ensuring collection of more than Rs. 20 billion in the first
year.
With more revenues in hand and less government to look after, enough
financial space would be created for taking in hand well thought out socio-
economic development projects having the right priority in the national
scheme of things.
However, in order to ensure that the annual borrowing limits are not
breached by even a billion, it would be advisable to bring in a clear cut
law making it punishable by demotion or dismissal if any project director
comes back with an escalated financial re-evaluation of his project before
the end of the year.
The President in his address to the nation on Nov. 5 rightly said that only
an elected government had the mandate to bring in far reaching changes in
the economy and other sector of national life. But the points raised above
have received bipartisan support from both the large parties from time to
time. Both the Muslim League and the PPP whether they were in power or out
of power have supported these ideas. Some of these points are also
mentioned in their election manifestos. So, if the interim government takes
some unilateral actions on these issues, they would actually be only
helping out in advance the party which will win the next elections.
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961109
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Privatisation proceeds only for debt retirement
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Ihtasham ul Haque
The caretaker government has started looking for new avenues to generate
funds and all the five major public sector corporations were being asked to
urgently clear their dues to ease the current acute treasury position.
With the change in the government the World Bank and the IMF are said have
called upon Pakistan to implement their agreement in letter and spirit to
receive $360 million for Pakistan. This includes $160 million of the IMF
and $200 million from the World Bank on account of Social Action
Programme(SAP).
It was in this context that new caretaker government headed by Malik Miraj
Khalid has asked the officials of the five major corporations to clear
their dues as was decided by dismissed PPP government.
Regular instructions to the authorities of the major corporations were
issued to clear their dues failing which strict action would be taken
against them. A fresh move has been made for the recovery of government
dues from various organisations so as to improve the liquidity position.
The new government has pledged to live in its financial means and President
Leghari has reportedly directed the new caretaker prime minister to ensure
cut in non development expenditure. The previous government had even cut
its development budget and funds worth Rs.20 billion are to be taken away
by the government due to which many development projects are likely to face
lot of problems.
Even the Karachi Mass Transit System will now be delayed for one year. The
Rs. 25 billion project would not get Rs.2 billion during the current
financial year as the new government is also not in a position to arrange
funds for this project.
Major corporations which have been asked to clear their dues include OGDC,
Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and State Cement Corporation of Pakistan (SCCP).
To deal with this issue the previous government had first held a top level
meeting presided over by ousted prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
According to the minutes of that meeting, the following decisions were
taken and reportedly being pursued by the caretaker government. WAPDA -
Privatisation proceeds from Kot-Addu must be used for retirement of WAPDA
debt.
The State Bank will reverse the transfers of any such proceeds to federal
government. However, no amount of proceeds will be used for payment of
interest or any other revenue expenditure of WAPDA. WAPDA was to pay
arrears of its liabilities in first four months by the end of October, 96.
With a view to improving the financial position of WAPDA it was further
decided that 10 per cent disinvestment of Kot Addu will be effected
immediately at the original price of disinvestment. The proceeds from this
would be used by WAPDA. WAPDA will ensure timely payment of its dues to the
government and will re-examine its development budget with a view to
facilitating payment of its obligations to the government. Low priority
projects, wherever needed, will be cut down.
PTCL must clear its dues to the Ministry of Finance as early as possible.
Thereafter, all obligations will be paid as and when they fall due.
Proceeds from securitisation of PTCLs receivables should be used to make
payments for the arrears of principal and interest of foreign re-lent loans
paid by the EAD on PTCs behalf.
The State Cement Corporation - SCC will make payments to the government of
all outstanding arrears on account of foreign cash development loans/debt
servicing liability. The SCC will transfer to the government the balance of
cement development surcharge, if any.
The SCC will take immediate action to relieve itself of responsibility for
running cement factories which have been sold but where disposal has been
held up by stay orders. The OGDC would reconcile the position of its dues
owed to the Ministry of Finance.
The SNGPL must discharge its liabilities of OGDC immediately. If needed,
SNGPL may review its development projects with a view to facilitating
payment of dues to the OGDC. Regarding the Pakistan Steel Mills, a
committee was to examine the financial position of the Mills.
The PSM, however, was asked to pay all its dues to the government or
Banks/DFIs. It is said that the caretaker government has particularly
decided to look into cases of corruption and financial mismanagement of the
PSM due to which things are deemed to have deteriorated.
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961112
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rate of inflation climed to 11.03% last month: FBS
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The rate of inflation increased during October 1996 at
11.03 per cent as compared to the corresponding month of the last year,
after having dropped below 10 per cent during the preceding two months,
according to a Federal Bureau of Statistics press release.
During August and September 1996, FBS had reported an increase of 9.54 and
9.83 per cent respectively over the corresponding months of 1995.
The Consumer Price Index, which is considered a measure of inflation, for
last month with 1990-91 as base stood at 184.17, showing an increase of
1.20% over the Index of September, 1996 when it was 181.99. All the Group
Indices have registered an increasing trend, states the FBS.
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961114
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pakistan to get $160m IMF loan by next week
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD, Nov 13: Pakistan is expected to receive two tranches of $160
million ($80 million each), immediately from the IMF after the signing of
an agreement on Standby Arrangements before the end of next week.
An Extended Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) worth $1.5 billion is
also expected to be finalised by about this time following which about $200
million would be released by the Fund under this arrangement.
Informed sources told Dawn here on Thursday that the visiting head of the
IMF delegation, Mr Paul Chabrier, held a long meeting here on Wednesday
with caretaker prime ministers adviser on finance, Mr Shahid Javed Burki,
and discussed with him details of both the agreements.
There would be a special cabinet meeting on Thursday which would be
apprised about the new funding arrangement with the IMF.
The former Bhutto government had already negotiated a fresh agreement with
the Fund for securing $160 million as part of two tranches of 600 million
dollars Standby Arrangements. The third instalment of $80 million was due
in December.
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961114
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Caretakers firm to bring tariff down to 35% soon
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ihtashamul Haque
ISLAMABAD, Nov 13 : The Task Force on Tariff reforms met here on Wednesday
under the chairmanship of Minister for Commerce, Muhammad Zubair Khan and
constituted 5 sub-committees to mainly propose bringing down tariffs to 35
per cent, as early as possible.
The Task Force had been set up on the instructions of Prime Ministers
Advisor on Finance, Planning and Economic Affairs, Mr Shahid Javed Burki.
He is said to have assured the World bank and the IMF to rationalise
Pakistans tariff structure specially bringing it down to 35 per cent.
Although World Trade Organisation (WTO) has decided not to call for
minimising the tariff rate to 35 per cent and given time to year 2003, the
World Bank and the IMF are said to be exerting pressure on the caretakers
to do the job within 90 days. They wanted to have the tariffs reduced to 35
per cent by the caretakers who should also set time-frame for its
implementation which should be unchanged and the president Farooq Leghari
who has two more years in power should guarantee its continued
implementation.
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961114
-------------------------------------------------------------------
KSE 100-share index breaks 1,500 points barrier
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 13: Stocks maintained their recovery drive on Wednesday as
blue chips rose further on heavy buying originating mainly from the
institutional traders but the market lacked general support.
The filing of petition against the dissolution of the National Assembly by
the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the speaker seeking the
Supreme Court verdict on the issue and restoration of the government evoked
mixed reaction in the rings, although it certainly added to the uncertain
future outlook, dealers said.
However, the KSE 100-share index finished with an extended gain of 24.14
points at 1,506.72, breaking the 1,500 barrier, although the underlying
sentiment remained highly volatile.
After losing massively in pre-mid week trading, the index gained 32 points
during the last two sessions and whether or not it maintains its recovery
tempo at the weekend session too is anybodys guess.
Opinions about the near-term direction of the market are, therefore,
divided but there is a near-consensus among leading brokers that the index
could hover around the current level, fluctuating either-way by about 50
points.
Analysts said the current political uncertainty will continue to take its
toll as investors might not like to hold long positions until the Supreme
Court gives its final judgement on the two petitions.
And added to it are uncertainties tied to the February 3 elections, notably
their outcome and economic policies of the winning parties, they stated.
So, there is not a single psychological depressant but a number of them,
which will continue to haunt investors during the next three months.
Floor brokers said the market could witness flutter here and there but the
outlook will remain uncertain until the political situation is clear.
That was perhaps why investors did not go beyond safe haven and indulged in
alternate bouts of buying and selling in half a dozen sound shares.
However, some of the bank, cement, energy and chemical shares came in for
active support at the lower levels and have raised hopes that the sailing
on these counters will be relatively smooth.
Big gainers were, therefore, led by Askari Bank, Bank of Punjab, MCB,
Cherat Cement, PSO, Sui Southern, ICI Pakistan and Fauji Fertiliser, which
posted gains ranging from Rs 1.25 to Rs 2.75.
Other good gainers were led by 11th, 12th and 16th ICP, Central Insurance,
J. K. Spinning, ICC Textiles, Hinopak Motors and Pak Datacom, which also
finished modestly higher on active short-covering at the lower levels.
Losses on the other hand were mostly fractional and reflected lack of large
selling barring PEL Appliances and Philips, which suffered steep decline
ranging from Rs 14 to Rs 29 on news of lower sales owing to the imposition
of sales tax.
Dadabhoy Insurance, which showed good gains during the last two sessions,
again came in for profit-selling and was marked down by Rs 10.
Bannu Woollen, Javed Omer, Sapphire Fibre, Siemens Pakistan, BOC Pakistan
and Engro Chemicals, which suffered fall ranging from rupee one to Rs 1.75,
were among the other leading losers.
Trading volume suffered a modest fall at 42.284 million shares as compared
to 45.167 million shares a day earlier owing to the absence of leading
sellers.
Hub-Power again topped the list of most actives, up 75 paisa on 13.915
million shares, followed by PTC vouchers, up 55 paisa on 9.565 million,
Dewan Salman, firm 65 paisa on 9.401 million, ICI Pakistan (r), steady 15
paisa on 3.425 million, and Dhan Fibre, higher 55 paisa on 1 million
shares.
Other actively traded shares were led by ICI Pakistan, up 65 paisa on
0.910m, Fauji Fertiliser, higher Rs 2.75 on 0550m, FFC-Jordan Fertiliser,
firm 65 paisa on 0.450m, Pakland Cement, easy 25 paisa on 0.156m, MCB, up
Rs 1.25 on 0.137m, Faysal Bank, higher 85 paisa on 0.136m, and Askari Bank,
up Rs 1.15 on 0.110m shares.
There were 287 actives, which came in for trading, out of which 101 shares
rose, 118 fell with 68 holding on to the last levels.
On the corporate front, the board of directors of Century Paper has
declared cash dividend at the rate of 10 per cent plus bonus shares of an
identical amount for the year ended June 30, 1996.
The directors of Hilal Tanneries, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation
and Shaffi Chemicals have omitted the dividend for the same period.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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961108
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1,111 disastrous days
-------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ardeshir Cowasjee
WHAT has Benazir left for us? An impoverished country, many more poor
people, many more illiterates, and a damaged international reputation.
What has she gained for herself and her family? Wealth robbed from the
nation, a very ill and heart-broken mother, a murdered brother, a brother-
in-law accused of murder, a defamed husband.
Benazir and her PPP stalwarts say they will fight back. Of course they
will. They never had it so good. The fight, they say, will be for
democracy. Are they democrats? Their fight will be for the reacquisition of
power and pelf.
As for Ghinwa Bhutto, placed as she now so unfortunately is, I asked her
what it is she wants for herself and her children. A mature young woman,
for her 34 years of life, she wants her husbands murderers found and
punished, and she wishes to secure for her children the legacy that is
theirs by birth. A difficult agenda, but she has her priorities right.
What support has she from Mirs family? None, apart from that of her
mother-in-law, she admitted and Nusrat, very ill, has become extremely
forgetful. She wishes to live in her home at 70 Clifton with Ghinwa and her
children, but is not allowed to by her daughter. After Mirs death and her
return from abroad, Nusrat came to Ghinwa one evening saying she would like
to stay with her. She stayed the night, and the next morning before the
household awoke Benazir arrived with muscle woman Rukhsana Bangash and
whisked Nusrat away. Ghinwa was told that that Nusrat had gone on Umra. But
she had no idea that day where she was at the moment.
I asked if there had been any rapprochement meetings before Murtazas
murder regarding the settlement of any political or property disputes
between brother and sister. The sister had sent her messenger, to inform
Mir that, to start with, he would have to part with half the library built
up by Zulfikar and housed in 70 Clifton (about which ZAB himself used to
boast that most of the books had been acquired with other peoples money)
and half of his gun and carpet collection (most of which were gifted). Mir
had felt highly affronted and the messenger was shown the door.
Why are you not represented before the inquiry tribunal headed by Justice
Nasir Aslam Zahid that is determining the circumstances of Mirs death, I
asked. She did not agree with the limited terms of reference under which
the tribunal was inquiring, and which stipulated that its report, when
finalised, would be handed over to the home department of the Government of
Sindh in other words, to Home Minister Abdullah Shah. This meant, at the
time we met, that it would never be made public. She would agree to be
represented with the terms of reference expanded and with the proviso that
the report be submitted to either the President or the Chief Justice of
Pakistan for publication. And, with finality, she said that she was
restrained by people and circumstances which she felt too embarrassed
to discuss.
I explained that Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah had ordered that the
tribunal be headed by one of his most fair and fearless judges, with whom
sits Justice Dr Ghous Mohammed and Justice Amanullah Abbasi about whom only
good is said. She could not hope for a better panel. These judges would not
necessarily feel restricted in any way in their ascertaining of facts. Her
representation at the tribunal can only help her cause. As for her personal
restraints, with the dismissal and fall of Benazir and her government,
these should largely lessen. I hope Ghinwa will now arrange to be
represented before the tribunal, inform them of what she knows and feels,
and exhibit to the judges the recording of the last Press conference held
by Mir four hours before he died.
Tumandar Leghari must be praised for finding the gumption to do what he has
done. Had he only done it six months earlier, we would have been better
off. After the seventh day of the dissolution, he must stop talking about
elections in three months. First there has to be accountability, and
maximum recovery of what we have lost. Then, a census, which has not been
held for 16 years. The engine of democracy can only be run by democrats,
people who feel for the people.
A constitution is made for the good (only the good) of the people. It
cannot be read or interpreted otherwise. It cannot and should not be used
to facilitate the designs of robbers.
Malik Mehraj Khalid, a good reasonable man of 80 years, prone to doing
right, wore at his swearing-in what he has always worn rather than the
costume innovated for the ushers at the court of Emperor Akbar.
We are happy that Lt.-General Sahibzada Yaqub Khan is our foreign minister
and not our COAS. He understands the Great Game and is also attuned to the
Americans. Should the forces of evil attack us, the Seventh Fleet will have
anchored by the time our fuel and spares run out.
Shahid Javed Burki knows his finance and is held in high esteem in the
capital of the world. Mohtarma Syeda Abida Hussain and Omar Afridi are good
choices. Shahid Hamid has good portfolios Defence and Establishment. He
should be able to maintain a working relationship and liase with the
fountainhead. The rest will have to prove themselves.
Fakhruddin has constantly and forcefully criticised Article 58(2)B under
which he has now benefited and sworn an oath. Accountability in his hands
will falter. Who will he side with while giving his opinion when Benazir
goes to court seeking the restoration of her government? What sort of
advice can he give the President?
The President must undoubtedly know that contrary to the advice of Finance
Minister Babar Ali, Moeen had installed M.B. Abbasi as head of the NDFC.
Moeen should come back and count how much Abbasi has made us lose. The
National Bank of Pakistan, which he now heads, once a very prestigious bank
and the only Pakistani bank whose letters of credit were accepted abroad,
has been downgraded by Moodys to an E+ rating.
As this goes to Press, Governor Kamaluddin Azfar is still in the Governors
House. Azfar has throughout his term in office aligned himself with Syed
Abdullah Shah, his chief minister, and been a party to, among other things,
the horrifying case of Feroza Begum and her son. He cannot approbate or
reprobate. Send him home, Mr President.
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961111
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Down the same dismal road
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ayaz Amir
HOW many times have we been down this road before and yet how amazing that
we learn nothing from the journey. Politicians no sooner in office than
they begin to tempt the fates and Presidents, after using Article 58(2)b of
the constitution, stuck repeatedly between the need to appear impartial and
the more overriding need to justify their deed.
For any caretaker arrangement to have credibility it must be seen as
neutral. It must not take sides no matter what the provocation or how
corrupt and inglorious the government which it has just shown the door. Yet
no sooner does a President dismiss a government than he has to submit
himself to two necessities: first, to prove and justify his action and,
second, to ensure that the dismissed government does not return to power.
This virtually pushes him into a partisan corner, the more so because the
dismissed entity usually loses no time in making him that is, the
President its foremost target.
This is what happened in 1990 when Benazir Bhutto was dismissed by Ghulam
Ishaq Khan and this is what is happening again now that Benazir has
received her dismissal orders for the second time in her tumultuous career
at the hands of her one-time lieutenant and confidant, Sardar Farooq
Leghari. The caretaker set-up now in place is not as blatantly partisan as
the team Ishaq chose in 1990. But for all that it has a distinct anti-PPP
flavour. Consider some examples. The caretaker chief minister of Sindh,
Mumtaz Bhutto, who makes Jam Sadiq Ali look like a soft cake, is no apostle
of neutrality. Much the same can be said of Zafarullah Jamali in
Balochistan who, even if not overtly anti- PPP, is a politician with his
own axe to grind. The former PPP men taken into the federal cabinet
(Shafqat Mehmood and Javed Jabbar) are disgruntled souls. Even Malik Meraj
Khalid, who for all his unassuming manner is no ones fool, has had his
differences with the former prime minister.
More questionable than this anti-PPP bias which Benazir can be expected
to put to good use when she again plays the martyr, a role which she has
honed to perfection has been the stance of the army. No explanation has
been forthcoming as to why army detachments had to be used to seal off the
Prime Ministers house on the morning of the governments dismissal. No one
will deny the armys key role in national affairs but why must it be so
obtrusive about its actions?
The caretaker set-up has also not been able to give a satisfactory
explanation for Asif Zardaris detention. If there are criminal charges
against him, by all means arrest him. But if there is no evidence on this
count (which is not the same thing as saying that he is innocent), he
should be allowed to walk a free man. Husband and wife may have presided
over the most corrupt dispensation in Pakistans history the
circumstantial evidence in this regard being mind-boggling but that is no
excuse for denying them due process under the law.
Indeed, what the caretaker government is proving is that a week is a long
time in politics. It has been unable to explain its priorities or remove
the growing confusion in the public mind about whether circumstances can
arise in which accountability takes precedence over elections. And it has
not been able to give a satisfactory explanation for Benazirs dismissal.
The presidential order dissolving the National Assembly is a masterpiece of
clumsy drafting, while the Presidents address on radio and television was
a public relations disaster. Even if a murder takes place in broad daylight
it still has to be proved in court. The evil of Ms Bhuttos tale has not
been adequately presented before the people of Pakistan.
The presidential proclamation rests heavily on three reasons for the
governments dismissal: the violation of human rights in Karachi, the
killing of Murtaza Bhutto and the hurdles raised by the government in the
way of implementing the Supreme Courts verdict in the Judges Case.
Examined closely, these reasons appear to be less than convincing.
Of course human rights violations have occurred in Karachi but, if there be
any honesty in the matter, when they did happen they evoked little outrage
on the part of the army or the presidency. Leghari and Benazir fell out for
different reasons but certainly not over the situation in Karachi. In fact,
if Benazir Bhutto can be credited with any single achievement it is for
having crushed the MQMs mini-insurgency, something which the army itself
found hard to do. In the zeal to make a damning enough case against Benazir
Bhutto, it would be a pity if the clock was turned back in Karachi.
Certainly the MQM should be brought in from the cold and certainly police
excesses should be checked and investigated, but care should be exercised
that in doing so the MQM is not allowed to resurrect its former reign of
terror. In any case, proving the PPP leaderships direct involvement in the
extra-judicial killings in Karachi, while certainly possible, will not be
easy.
As for the hearings into Murtaza Bhuttos killing, no one knows what may
happen tomorrow but with the DIG and SSP comprehensively contradicting each
other, no vital link with Zardari, as the authorities might have hoped for,
has so far emerged. Unless it does, it becomes a problem slapping criminal
charges on him.
This leaves the verdict in the Judges Case. But the proclamation itself
only avers that the government dilly-dallied in implementing it.
Reprehensible though such procrastination may be, it hardly furnishes
enough grounds for dismissing an elected government.
This does not mean that there were no grounds at all for dismissing what
arguably was the most disastrous government in the countrys history. But
it does mean that the President has not really succeeded in making out a
convincing case for his action. Nor is this just an academic point because
unless the President gives a more Churchillian performance, and unless the
caretaker set-up is shorn of its anti-PPP bias, the danger will remain of a
section of the electorate denouncing the results of the coming elections.
There are not many more cycles of protest and upheaval that Pakistan can
afford.
It is, however, one of the in-built contradictions of the Eighth Amendment
that true neutrality in a caretaker set-up can never be guaranteed unless
the axe-wielder too steps down after chopping the head of his victim.
Something close to this happened in the latter half of 1993 when both Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Ishaq agreed to step down together.
Despite the reservations that Nawaz Sharif later came to entertain about
the caretaker administration headed by Moeen Qureshi (a man who for all his
other qualities was obsessed by the need for self- publicity) that was by
and large a neutral government and it conducted a fair election. The
challenge before Leghari is similar to create a level playing field for
everyone but a challenge that will not be met easily with the Mumtaz
Bhuttos and the Jamalis in the caretaker field.
Another thing to remember is that if Moeen Qureshis caretaker
administration is supposed to have given a good account of itself, one
reason for this was the simplicity of the baggage it carried. The aim
before it was to hold clean elections, take urgently-needed measures to
shore up the economy and, if possible, to address the problem of corruption
in a general sort of way. It could concentrate on these tasks because it
was neither driven by political prejudices nor distracted by the mirage of
accountability.
President Legharis case is altogether different. He is not only expected
to oversee the holding of clean elections. An articulate lobby is also
expecting him to clean up the national stables by initiating a process of
accountability. It is here that we come up against the second great
contradiction in Article 58(2)b. Its use is justified only if the country
is threatened with disorder or a government has been guilty of great evil.
But once used in this manner, it arouses expectations of correction: that
not only will the evil be lanced but the temple itself will be cleansed.
But three months the constitutional deadline for holding elections is
not time enough for cleaning the temples of Babylon. These are competing
imperatives which simply sow doubt and confusion in the public mind. If
this is what is happening at the moment, it is scarcely being helped by the
inarticulate noises coming from the presidency or from the pale shadows
doing yeoman service in the caretaker government.
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961112
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New beginning or action replay?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Anis Alam
THE President has been pleased to dismiss the Benazir Bhutto- led PDF
government, accusing it of rampant corruption and misgovernment. His action
is a repeat of the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khans charges first against
Benazir Bhutto in 1990 and against Nawaz Sharif in 1993.
In the eight years since parliamentary democracy was restored, three
elected governments have been dismissed on charges of corruption and
misgovernment. Both major parties, the PPP and the Muslim League, have been
indicted. Innumerable cases of corruption against major functionaries of
these governments are pending in courts.
With the latest dismissal new names will be added to those accused of
corruption and misuse of power. What is, however, not clear is whether
those accused of corruption and misgovernance will ever be made to pay for
their deeds. In the last eight years, no-one has ever been convicted of the
crimes that he has been charged with. One could rightly ask, what is new
this time?
What is sad, however, is the fact that every time an elected government is
dismissed, some people rejoice. PML(N) leaders and supporters celebrated
the dismissal of the Benazir government. PPP leaders and their supporters
were overjoyed at the dismissal of the earlier government of the PML(N).
Political opponents are hated with such vehemence that leaders are willing
to destroy the very political system essential for their own political
survival, in their desire to destroy their political opponents. This
intolerance has now spread throughout Pakistani society, exacerbating
sectarian, ethnic, tribal and denominational tensions.
The Presidents action has again demonstrated the fragility of the
parliamentary democratic system in Pakistan. The extreme polarisation
created during the long era of Zia-ul-Haq persists even today. The parties
are unwilling to tolerate each other. There is a constant tussle to
dethrone the party in power. This situation has enabled groups of the
unprincipled elected representatives to blackmail every government in
power. They change loyalties for personal favours in the shape of cash,
plots, lucrative contracts, licences, loans and positions for their
favourites.
Since 1985 these parliamentarians, emerging under the non- party system,
have played havoc with the democratic set up and debased it in the eyes of
the common people. Massive horse- trading takes place any time a government
faces a vote of confidence. Parliamentarians are taken to Changa Manga,
Saidu Sharif, Peshawar, Islamabad, etc., to isolate them from rival
bidders. It is necessary that before election are held electoral reforms
are enacted to debar people with such records in public office.
It is amazing to note that very little, if any, legislation has been
discussed and enacted in the assemblies during the eight years since
restoration of the parliamentary system. Universally criticised
constitutional amendments and ordinances like the Eighth Amendment and the
Hudood Ordinance enacted by a military dictator have not been removed
because of lack of agreement among the main political parties. Most of the
time governments have relied on the non-parliamentary practice of
presidential ordinances that are hardly ever discussed in the assemblies
and enacted again and again.
The main function of the assemblies is to legislate and discuss government
policies and actions to ensure that they are legitimate and in the national
interest. The assemblies have not functioned as they ought to have.
It is obvious that democracy in Pakistan has been reduced to election of
parliamentarians. Once elected, a majority of them, especially those on the
government side, tend to behave in the most dictatorial manner. They flout
the laws of the land and demand, and usually get, privileges not due to
them. They tend to use their position to enrich their kith and kin and
themselves.
Both parties are weak on organisation. They have been organised from top
downwards. There is no internal democracy in either of them. The PPP is
Benazir, the PML is Mian Nawaz Sharif, the PML(J) is Hamid Nasir Chatta,
the JUI is Maulana Fazlur Rahman or Maulana Samiullah, the JUP is Maulana
Noorani or Maulana Abdul Sattar Niazi. These leaders nominate functionaries
at the lower levels. At no time does the ordinary worker get a chance to
elect his/her leader. The leaders are chosen for them by the supreme
political leader. This keeps the political parties organisationally weak.
Only at the time of agitation or election is the party machinery activated.
At other times it lies dormant and dysfunctional. This is as true of the
PPP as of this PML. If democracy has to take roots in Pakistan, political
parties with well-defined programmes have to be organised from the
grassroot level upwards.
Every government, whether representative or otherwise, only works for the
benefit of its chosen group, be they industrialists, businessmen, trade
groups, transporters, landowners, property developers, contractors or large
landowners. Every government has favourites of its own. It is only the
pressure of organised groups that forces governments to provide services to
that group. In developing countries the political parties are usually weak.
The only organised groups are the armed forces, propertied classes,
industrialists and traders (chamber of commerce and industry), feudals,
professionals and labour in large-scale industry. Working people, peasants,
labourers, petty shopkeepers and peddlers are not organised. Hence their
interest hardly ever gets prominence in the policies of the governments.
Governments the world over are now committed to development. Every
government, whether democratically elected or otherwise, and every
politician of some consequence, talks of eradicating poverty, disease,
unemployment and ushering in an era of justice, peace and prosperity. It
was not always like this. It is the present century which has demonstrated
that with judicious and planned use of science and technology in the
production processes, every country can be rich and prosperous. In the
present century, one country after the other has risen from the ranks of a
poor, backward agrarian society to become a prosperous industrial nation.
Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Greece,
Italy, Spain and Portugal are just a few of the examples.
The World Bank Development Report for the year 1996 listed 51 countries as
being low-income. These countries had a total population in excess of three
billion and their average per capita gross national product (GNP) in 1994
was put $380. In Pakistan the per capita GNP in 1994 was put at $430.
However, a few of the low-income countries are also making giant strides
along the road to prosperity. These are the so-called new tiger economies
of Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia which have left the
ranks of poor economies to join the ranks of middle and upper middle-income
economies. China, a country of nearly 1,200 million people, has managed to
increase the per capita GNP by a whooping rate of 7.8 per cent during the
decade of 1985-94.
In Pakistan, however, this rate of growth was just 1.2 per cent. Even India
managed a rate of 2.9, more than twice that of Pakistan. these countries
have developed their human resources by investing heavily in education,
health, and infrastructure and are now reaping the benefits in terms of
very high growth rates. Pakistan remains one of the poorest among the poor
countries. Our record in providing social services like education, health,
safe water, immunisation, shelter, transport and communication is
especially bad. Over two-thirds of the population are illiterate. Sixty per
cent of the girls and forty per cent of the boys of primary school-going
age remain without schools, nearly 80 per cent of boys and girls do not
finish secondary school. Less than three per cent of the young reach post-
school educational institutions.
About 65 per cent of the population does not have access to safe drinking
water, 70 per cent have no sanitation. The public transport system is
either non-existent or has deteriorated over the years. In the villages
hardly any social services exist. Most of the utilities like water, gas
electricity and sanitation provided by the state are monopolised by the
upper and middle- income groups. Most governments have not been responsive
to the needs of the common people.
Dismissal of civilian governments has been frequent in Pakistans political
history. These dismissals have been done some times by military dictators
as in 1958, 1977 and 1988 but also by civilian heads of state as in 1990
and 1993 and now in Nov. 1996. Every time these governments were accused of
corruption and misgovernance. Why are civilian governments in Pakistan
regularly dismissed, usually by authorities not directly elected by the
people? To understand this, a little digression is needed. One has to
understand the nature of state and its institutions in post-colonial
countries like Pakistan.
A major source of tension is the fact that the state in post- colonial
countries is not the creation of the indigenous social groups, the
landowners, the merchants and the industrialists. It is a legacy of the
colonial times. It was created by the colonial authority for the
safeguarding and promotion of colonial interests. As colonialism is forced
to retreat by movements for independence, the state with its institutions
is inherited by the party leading the movement. Unless the movement was
very strong with deep roots among the various social classes and people,
the civil and military bureaucracy, instead of being subservient to the
government, assumes an independent role. Making use of the subservient
character of the landowners and merchant class during the colonial era, it
starts to dominate and manipulate politicians coming from land-owning
families.
Older, well-established nations evolved during a long time, during which
dominant social groups created institutions to safeguard and promote their
interests. The civil and military bureaucracy running state institutions is
subservient to these groups. In countries like Pakistan the civil and
military bureaucracy, instead of being subservient to the people, tries to
lord it over them. Democracy does not suit them. hence attempts to bypass
democratic rights and democratic rule. Elected governments are dismissed,
giving way to direct or indirect rule by military.
Most post-colonial countries have thus been ruled by the military for long
periods of time. In the absence of democracy and democratic institutions,
brutal repression of less privileged nationalities, regions and smaller
ethnic and religious group takes place. In the year 1988, 68 countries were
being ruled by military. Violent conflicts often erupt.
People want a revolution which would bring peace and prosperity and restore
their dignity as human beings, irrespective of their, cast, creed, colour.
Post-colonial countries will, therefore, continue to be hotbeds of
discontent till such time as they are able to provide justice, equity,
dignity, and prosperity to all of their citizens.
The present tension and state of uncertainty in Pakistan have to be seen in
the light of what has been discussed above. The only road that leads to a
bright future and a place for us among civilised nations is the road of
democracy. All political parties, social groups and interest groups should
organise themselves for the defence of universally accepted human rights,
rule of law, democratic values and democratic institutions.
Pakistan is beset with innumerable problems basically related to its
underdevelopment. Our people are as industrious and ingenious as any in the
world, our land as varied and rich as anywhere. But lack of vision and
leadership from politicians allowed the civil and military, bureaucracies
to assume a leadership role right from the early years of Pakistans
independence. Their arbitrary, authoritarian rule has pushed Pakistan among
the most underdeveloped of the nations of the world. Their attempts at
nation building from the top have not only led to the dismemberment of the
country but also to trebling the number of illiterates and the rise of
ignorance, bigotry, sectarian and ethnic conflicts, inter-regional
illiterates and the rise of ignorance, bigotry sectarian and ethnic
conflicts, inter-regional and inter-provincial imbalances.
General Yahya Khans attempts at legitimacy led to the introduction of the
so-called ideology of Pakistan by his fellow General, Sher Ali khan.
Instead of cementing the people of Pakistan as one nation it led to civil
war in the eastern wing and its eventual separation from Pakistan. General
Zia-ul-Haqs search for legitimacy resulted in his policy of Islamisation
that brought ethnic and sectarian conflicts to a pitch never witnessed
before. Pakistanis stand more divided today than ever before. There are
several well organised armed religious groups that openly declare their
hatred of representative democracy.
A start can still be made to put the affairs of Pakistan on the right
track. Let there be a national consensus on the following points:
1. Pakistan is for all the people of Pakistan. All Pakistanis, irrespective
of race, colour, religion, sect, ethnicity, language and gender are equal
citizens before law, all enjoying the same fundamental rights as enshrined
in the United Nations Charter.
2. The development of Pakistan can only be possible through the development
of its manpower potential. A massive programme for short as well as long-
term development in this respect should be launched.
3. The prosperity of the people and the country is possible only through
the fullest development of the agriculture and industrial potential with
maximum possible safeguards for the environment.
4. Pakistan is a developing country. It can develop only by drawing on the
experiences of other countries that have become developed in the last 200
years France, Germany, the US, Japan, Korea and China among them. It is
futile to try to chart any so-called Pakistani or Islamic course.
5. Pakistan is a poor country facing enormous problems; a galloping
population growth, alarming concentration of wealth among a small minority
leading to rising differences in well being among various sections of the
population, and inter and intra-regional disparities. All this has raised
the genie of obscurantism, sectarianism and ethnicity.
6. A realistic assessment of Pakistans position in the world ought to be
made. Foreign policy adventures like that in Afghanistan ought to be
shunned. Adventures in neighbouring regions as advocated by the likes of
Qazi Hussain Ahmed should be firmly resisted. Undivided national attention
should be paid to our own problems and their solutions.
Where brute force does not yield any solutions, wise diplomacy works
wonders. Let us try to negotiate with India to reduce mutual security
concerns and embark on a mutual reduction of arms and armies. We just
cannot afford to spend all the government revenue income on defence, law
and order and debt servicing, leaving the people without any social welfare
services. After all, people must have something for whose defence they
could be exhorted to sacrifice. In view of the fact that successive
governments in Pakistan have spent insignificant percentages of revenue
income on health education, social welfare of the people, it is no wonder
that the average citizen sees government and its institutions only as
oppressors and not as protectors. Politicians should come to an agreement
among themselves to change this perception.
961113
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Saeed Anwars century takes Pakistan into Sharjah final
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Viren Verma
SHARJAH, Nov 12: Pakistan, well known to make a mess of things, are equally
an exciting side to watch when in full flow. On Tuesday, with their openers
finally finding their usual delicate touch, they ruthlessly bruised the ego
and pride of world champions, Sri Lanka, with a convincing eight-wicket
victory in the Champions Trophy cricket tournament here.
With this glorious victory. Pakistan became the first team to book a place
in the final. A surprisingly subdued Sri Lanka, who have rounded off their
league engagements with three points from four matches, now await the
outcome of tomorrows Pakistan versus New Zealand match. If New Zealand,
who also have three points, win, its all and over for the Sri Lankans. But
if they dont the run-rate will come into play, which is slightly tilted in
favour of Sri Lanka.
On Tuesday Pakistan were simply impeccable in every department of the game.
They bowled well, fielded excellently and batted with grace and conviction.
Saeed Anwar, who had scored an unbeaten 104 in Pakistans last match
against New Zealand on Sunday, picked up from where he had left off.
Striking the ball with authority, Anwar blasted a grand 112, again
unbeaten, to post his second century in the tournament and 11th of his
career, spanning 112 matches.
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961114
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N.Z. lose to Pakistan but sneak into Sharjah final\
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Viren Varma
SHARJAH, Nov 13: How intriguing and ambiguous can interpretations of
cricket rules be? One got a bitter taste of it during the last league match
of the Singer Champions Trophy cricket tournament today.
The match between Pakistan and New Zealand, for a change, took the back
stage and it all boiled down to which team - New Zealand or Sri Lanka -
would qualify for the final...and how. Whether the net run-rate or the
aggregate outcome of matches between the two teams in question - a new
addition to the mind-blowing wordings of cricket rules - would decide the
fate of the second finalist.
New Zealand finally sneaked into the final after a day-long drama and
confusion over Rule 11.1. they will take on Pakistan, who topped the group
by beating New Zealand by four wickets today with six points from our
matches.
If New Zealand had won their last match there would have been no confusion,
no problems, but their loss, threw open a debate over the standard playing
conditions. With this defeat, New Zealand finished with three points from
our matches, exactly the same as that of Sri Lanka. Since New Zealand had
beaten Sri Lanka in a league match and tied the second, they earned the
right to make it to the final despite an inferior net rates.
The confusion arose over the interpretation of Rule 11.1. Tournament
referee Mike Smith, former England captain, contacted David Richards, the
ICC Chief Executive, to seek his opinion. And it was decided during lunch
time that the run-rate would come into play.
But the New Zealand team management was not satisfied. They contacted their
board, who, in turn, sought further clarification from ICC. Richards then
spoke to Ali Bacher of the South African Cricket Board, the architect of
the rule, and the two finally decided that since New Zealand had performed
better in the league stages against Sri Lanka, they would go through to the
final.
The objective is to see which team performed better than the other,
Richards said in a Press statement.
Unfortunately, the wording of the rule is ambiguous, as it refers to ...
the winner of all of preliminary matches played between them... That,
taken literally, could mean that the winner would be the winner of each and
every match. Equally, the word `of can be taken to mean originating from
(Oxford English Dictionary.), the statement said.
I have spoken to the South African cricket board and they have advised
that the wording is the aggregate outcome of all matches played between the
two teams. The exact workings of Rule 11.1 are: In the event of the teams
finishing on equal points, the right to play in the final match or series
will be decided by the most wins in the preliminary matches or, when teams
have both equal wins and equal points, the team which was the winner of all
of the preliminary match (as) (played between them) will be placed in the
higher position or, if still equal, the higher net run rate in the
preliminary matches. The Sri Lankan management later took things in the
right spirit though Dhammika Ranatunga, Chief Executive of Sri Lankan
Board, said the rule needs a bit of `tightening up.
The highlight of the match a superb six-wicket haul by Man-of-the-Match
Waqar Younis and a 115-run stand between Adam Parore and Lee Germon which
equalled the world record for the seventh wicket between Jeff Dujon (57 not
out) and Malcolm Marshall (66) posted against Pakistan in Gujranwala on Nov
4, 1986.
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961113
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Pakistan face Dutch in opener as Madras is ready for hockey ties
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Walter Fernandez
KARACHI 12: Pakistan face off the Netherlands in the opener of the 18th
Mens Champions Trophy World Hockey Tournament scheduled to be held at
Madras (India) from Dec. 7 to 15.
Preparations continue in right earnest for the Champions Trophy Tournament
organisation has been under the watchful eye of the International Hockey
Federation (FIH), both from Brussels and in person. FIH Technical Manager
Adrien Peters visited Madras in September to assess the tournaments
progress on all counts.
Based on Mr. Peters report, the FIH affirmed the continuing organisation
and approved the final match schedule, while still expressing concern about
inadequacy of certain facilities. As the floodlighting will not be in place
for the tournament, it was agreed that all matches would be played in
daylight.
The tournament also marks the beginning of the FIHs official working
relationship with API Television, the FIHs television distribution
representatives. The London based company was awarded exclusive TV rights
for a four-year period to a package of the FIH Tournaments, which they in
turn sell and distribute.
The Champions Trophy is the first event covered under the contract. In one
deal already negotiated, API TV have sold satellite rights for Asia and the
Indian Sub-continent to ESPN Asia.
Within India, host broadcaster Doordarshan will be broadcasting all of the
tournaments 18 matches live on national network as well as providing the
feed for international distribution.
And on another television note, following its successful implementation
during the Atlanta Olympic Games, the FIH is once again asking teams to
adhere to a policy of `no white below knees during the Champions Trophy.
This policy makes it easier for viewers, particularly those watching
television, to follow the white ball.
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961114
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6 Atlanta Olympians dropped from hockey list
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Ilyas Beg
LAHORE, Nov 13: Out of the 17 members of the Pakistan hockey team who were
in Atlanta, former captain Shahbaz Ahmad Senior, forwards Tahir Zaman and
Anis, full-backs Naveed Alam and Rana Mujahid and goalkeeper Khalid Mahmood
have not been included in the 34 probables picked for the National hockey
camp which gets under way in Karachi from Friday evening.
The players will report that day and training will begin on Saturday
morning which will continue till the final selection of the 16-member
Pakistan team for the Champions Trophy to be held at Madras from December 7
to 15. The team is expected to be finalised by the end of this month. The
former Olympian Jahangir Butt has been appointed coach and Safdar Abbas as
Assistant coach of the team.
Announcing the names of the trainees after the two-day trials at the
National Hockey Stadium and a meeting also attended by the PHF president
Muhammad Nawaz Tiwana, secretary Col Mudassar Asghar and manager-designate
Khawaja Tariq Aziz, besides the selection committee members, chief selector
Mir Zafarullah Jamali told a crowded Press conference that the effort to
re-structure Pakistan hockey has been started. He said that the injured
Olympian Tahir Zaman and international winger Ijaz Ahmad might be included
in the camp as soon as they fully recover.
Following are the 34 probables:
Goalkeepers: Mansoor Ahmad, Qasim, Ijaz Khokhar, Ashfaq Hussain.
Right-full-backs: Danish Kaleem, Aamir, Ziauddin.
Left-full-backs: Ali Raza, Tariq Imran, Aamir Wakil.
Right-halves: Muhammad Usman, Irfan Yousaf, Moazzam Saeed.
Centre-halves: Muhammad Khalid, Irfan mahood, Imran Yousaf.
Left-halves: Shafqat Malik, Wasim, Waheed Shahid.
Right-wingers: Haider Hussain, Atif Rana, Muhammad Ali.
Right-inners: Muhammad Sarwar, Rahim Khan, Atif Bashir.
Centre-forwards: Kamran Ashraf, Ijaz Rasool, Najam Qazi.
Left-inners: Shahbaz Junior, Anis, Aleem Raza.
Left-wingers: Anis Ahmad, Babar Abdullah, Babar Hussain. # The chief
selector clarified that only those players have been considered who
appeared in the trials. He said that some promising boys have been seen
during the trials, who will get chances to be included in the future
national camps after the Champions Trophy.
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961114
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Foreign squash players start arriving
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Sports Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 14: Seven foreign players, three from England and one each
from Australia, South Africa, Sweden and Canada, arrived in the city today
for the two-day World Open squash qualifying round, scheduled from Nov 15
at the PIA Jahangir Khan Squash Complex.
Tournament Director Hasan Musa said today the draws for the 32-man
qualifying round , from which eight qualifiers would go into the main round
of the 20th World Open, will be taken out on Friday at the venue of the
tournament.
The PSA has already sent the names of the 24 participants for qualifying
round on the basis of their lower rankings and among them are Mir Zaman Gul
(No 28) and Kumail Mahmood, (No 63) the rest belong to other countries.
Pakistan Sohail Qaiser (world no 72) who did not compete in the Sindh Open
stands a fair chance to be in the World Cup qualifying round in case any
listed foreign player does not come for the qualifier, said Hasan Musa.
The World Open, carrying big cash prize of US dollars 130,000 is scheduled
to commence from Nov 17 at the DHA Squash Complex.
Mr Hasan Musa further stated three foreign international referees plus
local referees and markers will supervise the World Open matches. The list
is finalised and the names will be announced in a day or two, said the
Tournament Director.
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China bag clutch of medals to win Asian Jr rowing
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Farhana Ayaz
ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: China extended its dominance at the 4th Asian Junior
Rowing Championships by claiming a bulk of six gold medals, three each in
mens and womens events, and one silver out of the eight finals here at
the conclusion of the four-day regatta contested at Rawal Lake, Saturday.
Japan snatched two gold, a silver and a bronze, Korea secured three silver
and two bronze medals, hosts Pakistan clinched three silver medals all in
the mens category while Taiwan took a haul of four bronze. Uzbekistan also
finished within the medal tally owing to its coxless pair crew which
wrapped up third place.
The Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Syeda Abida Hussain,
was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. Before distributing medals to
the athletes she extended a special welcome to the participants from the
great Asian nations and highly appreciated the number of women competitors
in the event. Mumtaz Ali, President Pakistan Rowing Federation (PRF)
admired the working to his team which made possible the harmonious manner
in which the regatta was held.
China missed out on entering the final contest against all the eight gold
medals at stake during the event, when its single sculler Gudlian Qin was
not allowed to compete in the pre-finals on Saturday after he failed to
provide his permanent ID card as an evidence about the age. Manager of the
Chinese team Chen Chunxin, said member of Chinese Qins date of birth could
not be checked although he claimed that the rower was under-18 years of
age. I called back to reconfirm his age but since the boy lives several
kilometres away from Beijing in the countryside it was not possible to
provide the ID card before the finals here, Mr Chen said.
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