------------------------------------------------------------------- DAWN WIRE SERVICE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Week Ending : 5 February 2000 Issue : 06/05 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents | National News | Business & Economy | Editorials & Features | Sports
The DAWN Wire Service (DWS) is a free weekly news-service from
Pakistan's largest English language newspaper, the daily DAWN. DWS
offers news, analysis and features of particular interest to the
Pakistani Community on the Internet.
Extracts, not exceeding 50 lines, can be used provided that this
entire header is included at the beginning of each extract.
We encourage comments & suggestions. We can be reached at:
e-mail dws-owner@dawn.com
WWW http://dawn.com/
fax +92(21) 568-3188 & 568-3801
mail DAWN Group of Newspapers
Haroon House, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Please send all Editorials and Letters to the Editor at
letters@dawn.com
(c) Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Ltd., Pakistan - 2000
DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS
CONTENTS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS + No other dispute with India: CE says talks on Kashmir issue only + US to stay engaged with Pakistan: Inderfurth + National Command Authority formed + Withdrawal of oath order urged: PML, allies want judges einstated + Pilot deposes in court: PK-805 was refused landing in Pakistan + IMF to focus on Pakistan's debt profile + Subversive activities: Musharraf stresses effective police role + Dispute with Sindh: Wapda rejects decision on power bills + Pakistan not on Clinton's itinerary + Five judges elevated to SC + Electoral law being changed: CE --------------------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMY + World Bank for merger of private banks + Customs introduces electronic assessment system + Minister hints at rise in medicine prices + 'GST levy at retail level from next fiscal year' + Sindh raises wheat price by Rs50 per 100kg + Active trading witnessed on cotton market + Monopoly Control Authority in 'limbo' + Govt to rationalize tariff on 20 industrie + CBR collects Rs186bn revenue in 7 months --------------------------------------- EDITORIALS & FEATURES + The view from Washington Irfan Husain + The undiluted triumph of the bayonet Ayaz Amir ----------- SPORTS + Australia outclass Pakistan to clinch tri-nation crown
=================================================================== DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS =================================================================== NATIONAL NEWS 20000205 ------------------------------------------------------------------- No other dispute with India: CE says talks on Kashmir issue only ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf on Friday said he wanted to defuse tension with India and open dialogue to resolve the festering dispute of Kashmir. "I don't want tension, I want peace," he said in the second part of his interview to Pakistan Television. He said except Kashmir, "there is no other dispute as these are irritants," between the two countries. "I am ready for dialogue but the talks must focus on Kashmir," which he said, was the only dispute plaguing bilateral relations. However, he said his offer should not be misconstrued as a sign of weakness. "Our desire for negotiation is in the interest of peace but the other side has to reciprocate," he said. A solution to the Kashmir problem is vital for peace and stability in South Asia, he said. General Pervez Musharraf said he was making the offer of talks with full sincerity of purpose. Asked to comment on President Clinton's visit to South Asia, the Chief Executive said if the objective of his visit is to promote peace in this region then this can be realized through reconciliation between Pakistan and India. He said if President Clinton excludes Pakistan from his South Asian itinerary then the action would be regrettable as instead of reducing tension this might escalate it. He said he would soon undertake a day's visit to Afghanistan and discuss the issue of terrorism which is also affecting us. He said the Chairman of Afghan Council of Ministers Mulla Mohammad Rabbani had assured him that terrorism camps if any would be closed in Afghanistan. He rejected the impression that any Mujahideen organization was involved in terrorist activities. He recalled that the Muslim spirit of jihad was revived during Afghan Jihad against Soviet occupation when United States and Pakistan worked together. He said once revived, this phenomenon is seen in Kashmir, Bosnia and Chechnya. He said splinter groups and not Mujahideen organizations are involved in terrorism. He said suchgroups are bringing bad name to Mujahideen. Giving his vision of Pakistan, the Chief Executive said he wants to build Pakistan into a strong, self-reliant, dignified country where the poor has the same rights as the affluent. He said poverty alleviation programme being launched with 15 billion rupees this year would be supervised by army monitoring system to ensure judicious utilization of the amount to transform the life of the poor. He said the actual work will be carried out by civil labours so as to generate more jobs. However, army would be involved to ensure that like desilting campaign, development work too is carried out properly. He pointed out that every district has its own problems and the programme would be directed to resolve these problem. He said micro credit bank is also being launched this year which would extend small loans to the people. Emphasizing that the economic revival depends on political stability, improvement of law and order situation, continuity of policies and sincerity and credibility of the government, the Chief Executive said we will work out a strategy to achieve these objective during a conference being convened in Islamabad next week. The CE said every objective remains elusive if there is no proper implementation and execution machinery. With this in view, he said, police reforms are being worked out. Similarly, other institutions would also be restructured so as to being about a fundamental change in the country. Asked what is guarantee of continuity of his policies he said grassroots level governance and decentralization of power would bring about an institutional change. It would be the effort of the government to introduce electoral reforms so that only motivated, committed and honest people are elected to represent people. He hoped that this system would be difficult to change. The Chief Executive dwelt at length on the prevalent educational system and the changes he proposes to make. He proposed a three- tier setup of the religious institutions. At the basic level, Maktab will be responsible to impart reading and writing skills as well as basic arithmetic to the student beside routine religious education. There is a need to improve the syllabus of the Madrassas, which should be responsible for both religious and other education up to higher secondary level. At the provincial level, there should be Darul Uloom, which should supervise Madrassas and Maktabs. These Darul Uloom should teach all subjects besides religious education. To a question, General Musharraf said a conference will be held in the first week of April to have a threadbare discussion on the problems faced by womenfolk and chalk out a plan for their uplift. He said women have been given representation in the National Security Council and federal and provincial cabinets and they would also get berths at the district level.-AFP/NNI DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 000204 ------------------------------------------------------------------- US to stay engaged with Pakistan: Inderfurth ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, Feb 3: The US intends to stay engaged with Pakistan despite the current difficulties and wants to see evidence that the process of returning to democracy is in motion there, State Department's senior-most official dealing with South Asia said on Wednesday. Assistant Secretary Karl Inderfurth told a seminar at Howard University while the October military coup was a regrettable setback for South Asia as a whole, "our goal, which General Musharraf says he shares, is to see Pakistan put back on the democratic path in the shortest-possible time frame. "To the extent that we see evidence that this process is in motion, it will be in our own interest to see how we can most appropriately and effectively encourage it," he told the seminar on South Asia. "We do not approve the general's method of taking control, and we are talking very frankly to him and to his newly-appointed officials about their plans to restore civilian democratic rule to this key country," he said. Inderfurth said in his last visit to Pakistan he was given the new vision of Pakistan by its foreign minister. "That vision is of a progressive, modern, democratic, Islamic state. This is a vision we can support." He said Pakistan's potential as an example of progressive Islamic democracy was one reason for its importance to the US today. "But there are other reasons as well. Pakistan is important because it is a link - both economic and political - between the Indian Ocean and Central Asia, because it has significant human and economic resources, and because it has historically been a friend of the US. For all these reasons, we intend to stay engaged with Pakistan despite the current difficulties it is facing." Inderfurth described the October coup in Pakistan as "unfortunate" and said "this was but the latest interruption in Pakistan's troubled effort to build a strong and sustained democracy. An elected prime minister has never served out his or her full term in office; indeed, the military has been in charge for fully half of Pakistan's fifty-two years." President Clinton and Secretary Albright, he said, had decided even before the South Asian nuclear tests that the US would adopt a policy of greater engagement with the countries of South Asia and that was why the president would be travelling there next month. "We no longer view India as a land of elephants and maharajas. India is now seen for what it truly is: an emerging economic powerhouse and world power, a dynamic nation forged from amazing diversity, and a successful democracy with over a billion people," Inderfurth said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- National Command Authority formed ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: In accordance with Pakistan's well- known nuclear policy of responsibility and restraint, as reaffirmed by the chief executive on several occasions, and with the objective of creating an institutionalized command and control mechanism, consistent with Pakistan's obligations as a nuclear power, the National Security Council on Wednesday approved the establishment of National Command Authority (NCA). The meeting was chaired by Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf. The NCA will be responsible for policy formulation and will exercise employment and development control over all strategic nuclear forces and strategic organizations. It will comprise Employment Control Committee and Development Control Committee as well as Strategic Plans Division which will act as secretariat. The apex Employment Control Committee will be chaired by the head of the government and include minister of foreign affairs (deputy chairman), minister of defence, Minister of Interior, chairman of joint chiefs of staff committee( CJCSC), services chiefs, director- general of Strategic Plans Division (secretary) and technical advisers and others, as required by the chairman. The Development Control Committee will also be chaired by the head of the government and include CJCSC (deputy chairman), service chiefs, director- general of Strategic Plans Division and representative of the strategic organizations and scientific community. The Committee will control development of strategic assets. The Strategic Plans Division, headed by a senior army officer, has been established in the Joint Services Headquarters under CJCSC. It will act as the secretariat for NCA and will perform the functions of planning and coordination, in particular for establishing a reliable command, control, communication, computers and intelligence (C4I) network for the NCA. APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Withdrawal of oath order urged: PML, allies want judges reinstated ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Jan 30: The PML and allied parties on Sunday condemned the proclamation of the Oath of Judges Order (OJO) 2000 and demanded its immediate withdrawal and reinstatement of those judges who did not take the fresh oath. A joint parliamentary party meeting through a resolution rejected the government's assumption that the chief executive had the power to amend the Constitution. The resolution reiterated that the power to amend the constitution was available only with the chosen representatives of the people of Pakistan. In another resolution, the suspended parliamentarians condemned growing Indian brutalities against the Kashmiris. Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Raja Zafarul Haq said that a total of 135 suspended MNAs and senators had attended the meeting. He was critical of what he called the government's one-point agenda to victimize the PML leaders and said the rulers had forgotten the seven-point agenda announced by the chief executive. The PML leader did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with other political parties in the near future. Chaudhry Jaffar Iqbal, the deputy speaker of the suspended national assembly, said the PML had no plan to resort to agitation. Copies of the two resolutions were provided to newsmen. According to one resolution, the meeting termed the OJO arbitrary and unconstitutional which had placed the judiciary at the mercy of the chief executive. It said the OJO dealt a serious blow to the independence of the judiciary and shook the confidence of people as it was intended to forestall an independent decision on various petitions challenging the military takeover. The resolution appreciated the "principled and honourable" decision taken by some judges, particularly the former chief justice, not to take the fresh oath, pleading allegiance to the PCO, to proclamation of emergency and to other steps taken by the military authorities. It said that by doing so the judges had sacrificed their high offices and career for the sake of the supremacy of the Constitution, independence of the judiciary and their conscience. It noted that as a consequence of the OJO all powers now stood vested in the chief executive which was destructive of the concept of the rule of human dignity, of fundamental human rights and of the federation of Pakistan. According to the other resolution, the meeting noted with concern the aggravation of tension along the LoC, the growing atrocities being committed by the Indian forces on the people of Kashmir and the aggressive attitude being displayed by India. It resolved that the nation was ready to meet any threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country. The PML and allied parties reiterated their full support to the people of Kashmir in their just struggle for their right to self-determination, the resolution added. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000204 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pilot deposes in court: PK-805 was refused landing in Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Feb 3: The pilot of the flight PK-805, carrying General Pervez Musharraf and 197 others on board on Oct 12 last year, deposed on Thursday in the anti-terrorism court No. 1 that he would not have landed at the Karachi airport without ascertaining the identity of Maj-Gen Iftikhar, general officer commanding (GOC) of Karachi, who had assured that the runway was clear for landing. While being cross-examined by the defence attorney, the ninth prosecution witness in the plane hijacking case, pilot Captain Syed Sarwat Hussain of PK- 805 testified before ATC-1 Judge Rahmat Hussain Jafferi that he had in fact requested the chief of army staff to ascertain the identity of the "person claiming to be Maj- Gen Iftikhar." "I had 198 passengers on board with limited fuel and if I was not allowed to land at Karachi or Nawabshah and refuel the aircraft, it would have crashed soon," he said. To a suggestion put by defence counsel Khawaja Sultan, the pilot of PK-805 said it was incorrect that Gen Pervez Musharraf wanted to ascertain the identity of the GOC Karachi. "In fact, the identity of Maj-Gen Iftikhar was confirmed at my request," he added. He agreed to the suggestion of the defence counsel to the effect that before Gen Musharraf talked to Maj-Gen Iftikhar, the air traffic control had asked him to contact the control tower, where General Iftikhar was present. However, he said, it was incorrect to suggest that he deliberately suppressed the contents of the talk the COAS had with the GOC Karachi from the cockpit of the aircraft. Earlier during the cross-examination, the pilot of PK-805 did not agree to the suggestion of the defence counsel that he was contacted by Captain Shahnawaz Dara who instructed him to go to Nawabshah at the time when he learnt that Karachi and Nawabshah airports were closed for the flight. He, however, agreed to the suggestion of Khawaja Sultan that he received a message from the air traffic control to proceed to Nawabshah airport for landing after he received instructions from Capt Dara. He also said it was correct to suggest that he had sufficient fuel to land the aircraft at Nawabshah airport or return to Karachi when he was midway between Karachi and Nawabshah. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- IMF to focus on Pakistan's debt profile ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Haris Anwar KARACHI, Feb 1: Pakistan's ability to meet its international debt obligations on time is the core issue the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be taking up with the Islamabad, official sources said. Pakistan is expecting an IMF mission soon to start negotiations on a stalled-credit programme. Its technical team is already in the town to review fiscal and monetary targets. Sources said, given the worsening current-account deficit Pakistan's chances of resuming normal debt servicing from January 2001 were getting slimmer. December 2000 will mark the end of a consolidation period as agreed with the Paris Club of creditors. But the payment on certain portions of the rescheduled commercial debt will fall due much before that. Pakistan has to pay 80 per cent of over $1.2 billion swap funds rolled over by the foreign banks in the last quarter of 2000, while the payment for the remaining 20 per cent has already started. Similarly, trade-related facilities have been negotiated on a bilateral basis and do not coincide with the Paris Club's repayment schedule. Half-way into the current fiscal year, Pakistan's trade deficit stands at $783 million against the full year's target of $800 million; foreign investment fell to $306 million compared to $376 million, and remittances to $432 million from $488 million in the first half of 1998-99. Official and independent sources are of the view that the calm prevailing in the exchange rate markets indicates difficult days ahead, as the government will have to take certain steps to build its case for an extension in the debt relief period. Last year, Pakistan faced a financing gap of over $4 billion on its external payments, but it did not pay this amount, because of space provided by the bilateral and commercial debt rescheduling. But what is worrying the authorities is how to rehabilitate Pakistan's ability to meet a similar or a larger financing gap without access to commercial credit abroad. Interviews with the officials and market players suggest the government is determined to maintain a trade-off between the deteriorating balance of payment and a a stable exchange rate. At this stage, it is reluctant to use the exchange rate to reduce its current account deficit. "We feel that our real effective exchange rate is not overvalued; so altering the exchange rate to increase exports and reduce imports won't work," one official observed. With the CPI inflation just over three per cent on a year-to-year basis, the authorities feel that the inflation differential, a major indicator for the exchange rate adjustment, vis-a-vis Pakistan's major trading partners, is not alarming at this stage. Official sources believe that the scope of import containment through an exchange rate adjustment has become relatively small. "We have observed that its impact on imports is only for a short period, and this year the imports, which have been picking up, are not sensitive to price," an official said. Petroleum products, 24.6 per cent of the total import bill in the first half of 1999-2000, remain the single largest item on the increasing import bill. While the quantity of crude imports actually declined 6.69 per cent on year-to-year basis, its average per unit cost rose by 81.46 per cent. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000131 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Subversive activities: Musharraf stresses effective police role ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Jan 30: Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf has directed all agencies and police to remain alert and improve their efficiency to check sabotage activities. He also stressed the need for seeking cooperation of the people in this regard by creating awareness among them through the electronic and print media about the need to keep a watchful eye on subversive elements, and to inform the police whenever they found or see any person leaving some a packet or a pipe. Gen Musharraf issued these directives at a meeting held at the Governor's House on Sunday. After the meeting, which lasted over three hours, Interior Minister Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider briefed the newsmen about the decisions. Mr Haider said that this was the second meeting where a comprehensive briefing was given to the chief executive on the overall law and order situation in Sindh, with particular reference to Karachi, police performance, traffic issues and problems being faced by people. He directed the IG Police, Aftab Nabi to restore confidence of people at the earliest. Earlier, at the meeting held on Saturday at the Corps Headquarters, issues being faced by people were discussed in the light of the briefing given by the monitoring team. While at the meeting held at the Governor's House,the chief secretary, the home secretary and the IG Police assisted the Governor Mohammad Daudpota at the briefing. The interior minister said the series of bomb blasts in Karachi and other parts of the country recently were very unfortunate, and precious lives were lost. "They are part of terrorism. Pakistan is victim of terrorism, and the enemy is using our people for its nefarious designs. People ought to be vigilant and cooperate. They would be educated against acts of terrorism in mosques, bazaars, at bus terminals and other public places, and police phone lines should be available so that such devices could be defused." In reply to a question, he said that an Indian national arrested recently in Mirpur had confessed that he was trained in India and money paid to him to carry out bomb blasts in Pakistan. Recalling the bomb blasts in Lahore, Sialkot and Mirpur, he said they were being investigated and necessary steps being taken to check further recurrence. He said that in the backdrop of Indian hostilities, we suspect Indian hands in bomb blasts in Karachi. Responding to a question, he said the government had no information about involvement of the PML in sabotage activities. He said he had no report about existing of any organization with the name of Al- Nawaz Group. The PML leadership had made it repeatedly clear that their party did not want any confrontation with the army as the national interest was supreme. Reviewing the police attitude, prosecution skills and pursuing of cases, the chief executive gave clear directives for taking objective and realistic short- and-long term steps to improve the police performance and its image in the public. Mr Haider said the chief executive had asked the IG, DIG and SHOs to remove their weaknesses and take disciplinary action against irresponsible police officials. PEACE COMMITTEES: The interior minister said that in order to remove public complaints a list of notables would be prepared to induct them on peace committees. These committees would have access to SHOs, SDMs and DCs. The committees would convey their observations and complaints to the army monitoring teams to rectify them Besides, he said, a team would be constituted consisting of magistrate, army officer, and notable to inspect one police station and a prison in a month. He said the proposed prison reforms also came under discussion as there were many prisoners whose cases had not been decided although they had completed the period of the sentence which they could face if convicted. He said such cases would continue to be reviewed. Already on Eid-ul-Fitr, in Sindh some 2,000 prisoners benefited from the review. Out of the 2,000, 350 were released from Karachi prisons. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dispute with Sindh: Wapda rejects decision on power bills ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The decision given by Justice (Retd) Shafi-ur- Rehman in a dispute between Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and the government of Sindh over the outstanding electricity bills has been rejected by the former as it has decided to challenge the same in a court. Wapda in a first step for challenging the decision of the arbitrator has already gone to the court of civil judge Islamabad where the award will be filed on Feb 3. The civil court has issued notices to the government of Sindh. Mr Ilyas Khan advocate, counsel of Wapda when asked by this correspondent whether a decision given by a retired judge of Supreme Court can be challenged in a court of much lower level, said that there was no legal bar on them for taking up the issue in a lower court. Wapda, he said, has serious reservations over the decision given by Mr Rehman after hearing both the parties over several months. Mr Ilyas said that after going through the formality of filing the case in civil court Wapda would file its objections on the award. He claimed that the interim award was inconsistent with the final award, which he said would be the first and foremost objection of Wapda on the award. In the interim award the arbitrator had admitted that 55 percent of the Wapda's claim was just but in the final award there had been some mis-calculations. He said arbitrator had ruled that 25 per cent of the theft and pilferage should be recovered from the beneficiaries, which he added was not appropriate. Different departments of government of Sindh had been responsible for the unauthorised connections or theft therefore the government of Sindh should pay for that, he added. Mr Ilyas was of the view that the amount of evidence furnished by the Wapda during the course of hearing had not been fully appreciated in the final verdict. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan not on Clinton's itinerary ------------------------------------------------------------------- Shaheen Sehbai WASHINGTON, Feb 1: The White House announced on Wednesday the long- expected visit of President Bill Clinton to India and Bangladesh, skipping out Pakistan, at least for the moment. The president will visit India from March 20 for five days and will arrive in Bangladesh on March 25. Simultaneous announcements were also made in New Delhi and Dhaka. " I am looking forward to the visit to India and our two countries have tremendous economic potential," Mr Clinton said when asked at a news conference held at the White House on Tuesday morning. " He will be the first president to visit India since 1978 and the first ever to visit Bangladesh," the White House announcement said. "No decisions have been made about other stops," the announcement said in obvious reference to Pakistan, which was also originally part of the South Asian visit. The announcement came after several weeks of hectic diplomacy between Pakistan and the US, including visits by several senators and senior administration officials, failed to provide sufficient justification for the White House to include Islamabad in the president's itinerary. " Channels are still open between the two sides to provide some plausible reason for the president to at least make a stopover in Pakistan as Mr Clinton personally wants not to exclude this important country in a historic trip that he wanted to make as a peacemaker and trend-setter," a South Asian expert said. The White House announcement also spoke of "other stops," but a Pakistani source said it had not yet been clarified what was actually meant by that, whether the president wanted just to stop over in Pakistan or stay for some time. But that will be putting the horse before the cart as a decision has to be made whether he will go to Pakistan first. Pakistan's ambassador to the US Dr Maleeha Lodhi toldDawn that Pakistan had been told that a visit was still under consideration. Asked whether any specific steps had been sought by the White House to enable the visit, the ambassador said a visit by a president was his prerogative and there could be no bargaining over it. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Five judges elevated to SC ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bureau Report ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: The government elevated five judges to the Supreme Court on Wednesday. According to a notification, the president has appointed Justice Rashid Aziz, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court; Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Chief Justice Sindh High Court; Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice, Balochistan High Court; Qazi Farooq, former chief justice of Peshawar High Court; and Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, judge, Sindh High Court, judges of the Supreme Court. After the elevation of Justice Rashid Aziz Khan to the SC, Justice Mohammad Allah Nawaz has been appointed Chief Justice of Lahore High Court. Justice Deedar Hussain Shah has been appointed Chief Justice of Sindh High Court and Justice Javed Iqbal Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court. After these appointments, the number of SC judges has risen to 12, leaving five posts vacant. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 000204 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Electoral law being changed: CE ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Feb 3: The Chief Executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has said that his government is giving autonomous status to Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC). "Induction will be absolutely on merit. There will be no recruitment on ad hoc basis," Gen Musharraf said in an interview with PTV telecast on Thursday night. He said recruitment from grade 11 onward, including SHOs, would be done through FPSC and thus will be merit-oriented. He said the government intended to revive the Efficiency and Discipline Act in full play. "There will be concentration on career planning, progression and training." The chief executive said the devolution of power to district level and ameliorating the lot of downtrodden and poor people of the country was the basic objective of his government. He said that his government would devolve power to the district level and make them self-supporting. It will be, he said, a four- dimensional framework: 1) right people are elected and they take control of district government; 2) providing justice to the people at their doorsteps; 3) making districts financially autonomous; and 4) to devise a mechanism to weed out the corrupt and incompetent members of the district bodies. The districts would be able to raise finances themselves in areas to be determined by the government to meet their needs, the CE said. He said the poor districts would be provided assistance. He added the government would ensure that the right people were elected to the district bodies. "For this purpose, some sort of electoral reforms would be effected". ACCOUNTABILITY: To a question, Gen Musharraf said the accountability process may look slow but the government working was not. The CE said he agreed to a degree that the process of accountability was not as fast as he desired. But, he said, it had two major reasons. Firstly, he said, "conversion of information into evidence for prosecution purposes is difficult. "We don't have capable prosecutors and investigators of white collar crime."
=================================================================== BUSINESS & ECONOMY DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- World Bank for merger of private banks ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mohiuddin Aazim KARACHI, Feb 2: The World Bank thinks it is time for Pakistani private banks to go for mergers: the visiting WB mission has told this to State Bank officials as well as to heads of local private banks. The State Bank agrees with it and is planning to increase the paid-up capital requirement for private banks to compel them to seek mergers, where necessary. A source close to SBP said the issue came under discussion at a meeting between the mission and senior SBP officials here last week. "The officials told the mission that SBP may increase the paid-up capital requirement to compel small private banks to go for mergers." At present the minimum paid-up capital required for a private bank is Rs500 million. A senior banker said members of the mission raised the issue of mergers also at a meeting with Chairman Badr-ud-Din Khan of Gulf Commercial Bank and other members of New Private Scheduled Banks Association here last week. "The members of the mission were of the view it is time for us to seek mergers where necessary." A World Bank financial assessment mission led by Joseph Pernia is currently on an official visit to Pakistan to see how banks are performing after three years of banking sector reforms. The reforms began in 1997 with financial assistance from World Bank. As part of these reforms private banks were asked to raise their paid-up capital from Rs300 million to Rs500 million by the end of December 1997. Now all private commercial banks minus one have paid-up capital of Rs500 million or more. Indus Bank continues to operate with a Rs300 million paid-up capital amid warnings from SBP to enhance it. SBP Governor Dr Ishrat Husain has already asked private banks to seek mergers and be viable enough to compete with large state-run commercial banks. Barely a fortnight after taking over the office of SBP governor in December last he told heads of private banks to explore this possibility. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Customs introduces electronic assessment system ------------------------------------------------------------------- KARACHI, Feb 2: The Collectorate of Customs (Appraisment) has introduced "Electronic Assessment System" (EASY) for the assessment of bills of entry effective from February. Under EASY, on presentation, the bill of entries relating to selected items/importers will be entered in the computer at the Customer Service centre. The computer will automatically assess the liability of duties and taxes and the process of manifestation and assessment of the bill of entry will be completed simultaneously in the Custom Service Centre. After this the importer/clearing agent will straight away proceed to make payment of duties and taxes in the Cash branch. There will be no need now to take the entry to Appraising groups for assessment. After payment of taxes, the importer/clearing agent will take delivery from the port after examination. According to the Collectorate press release, this system aims at expeditious assessment of bills of entry, reduction of contract between tax officer and tax payer, reliance on automation for assessment and simplification of procedure. In the first phase almost over one hundred importers/firms/multinational companies, who are listed for "Express Lane Facility", alongwith imports made by Public Sector organizations viz Federal/Provincial governments/state-owned corporations/local bodies and universities etc are being dealt under "EASY" scheme. This system is also available in respect of goods which are liable to zero percent rate of duty or specific rates of duty. The appraising group will now carry out post clearance confirmation of the assessment. The procedure and list of eligible importers/items has not only been circulated but the same is also being made available on internet (on CBR's Web Site) as well as these are on display on monitors of Customers Service Centre.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Minister hints at rise in medicine prices ------------------------------------------------------------------- ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: Federal Health Minister Dr.Abdul Malik Kasi has hinted at a seven-to-10 per cent increase in drug prices. Talking to the APP here, he said the matter had been referred to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) for consideration. He said that after the ECC's decision, the issue of increase in drug prices would be moved to the cabinet for final decision. About formulation of new price adjustment mechanism on case-to-case basis, he said the proposal was discussed but later dropped on account of multiple reasons. "There was no increase in drugs prices since 1996 despite the government's agreement to allow price increase on a yearly basis," he said. The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) and the Pharma Bureau, an umbrella organisation of 24 multinational companies, were demanding 40 per cent price increase for drugs but the demand was turned down by the ministry. Dr. Kasi said the health ministry had proposed to allow seven to 10 per cent increase in the prices in order to protect the consumers. Drug manufacturers claimed in their representation to the health ministry that after 1996, dollar value against Pakistan currency was enhanced by 100% while devaluation, enhancement in taxes, increase in utility bills, price increase in raw material, increase in fuel and electricity charges and increase in excise and customs duty had minimised the profit margin. The minister said that drug manufacturers were facing serious problems which should be resolved. He said Rs.40 billion pharmaceutical trade was shrinking as after 1996, investment in pharmaceutical industry was slow and trivial. He said the present government was considering to give some relief to the drug manufacturing industry but, at the same time, the national interests, including those of the common man, would be protected. To a question, he said the government had not only resisted price increase in medicines for the last four years but also reduced the prices of 75 drugs.-APP DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 000205 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 'GST levy at retail level from next fiscal year' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtashamul Haque ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: Minister for Finance, Shaukat Aziz has said that the mechanism for adoption of General Sales Tax (GST), at retail level, has been simplified and made practicable to be recovered at all cost from the next financial year. Aziz also disclosed that a decision has been taken to have only three federal taxes i.e. income tax, sales tax and customs duty. He said that the small traders have been told and are still being told that they would have to pay this GST from the year 2000-2001. Talking to a group of reporters here on Friday he said that Pakistan's tax base was very weak and needed to be widened for which the small traders should support the government. He said that the government was reaching out to the retailers and was telling them to get ready for paying the GST as was the practised the world over. He said by large the traders community would be ready to pay this GST for which one senior official of the CBR Raiz Malik was currently meeting all the concerned people. "We are sorting out the remaining few technical problems related to Gross Profit (GP) rate of the income tax", the finance minister said adding that small traders were being given new system to pay the much waited GST. Talking about the income tax, the finance minister said that the government was currently working on four industries which included textiles, sugar, cement and beverages to have their fair assessment. "As a first step new income tax commissionirates are being set to recover full income tax from these four industries", he said. Aziz claimed that the element of corruption was being removed in the recovery of income tax. "Is not unjustified that one textile owner who has a factory of 25,000 spindles is paying income tax for example Rs50,000 in Peshawar, why should another person pay just Rs25000 or Rs30,000 by having the same spindle units in his factory in some other part of the country", he asked. "The current year is a year of income tax assessment on which we are doing all our work and from the next financial year new income tax policy will be enforced effectively", the finance minister said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sindh raises wheat price by Rs50 per 100kg ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Mohiuddin Azim & Ikram Hoti KARACHI, Jan 31: The Sindh Food Department has raised the price of wheat from Rs625 to Rs675 per 100 kg from Jan 24. This has come as a second price-push factor after a 15 per cent general sales tax on electricity effective from January 2000. The flour millers in Karachi say they are ready to absorb the resultant increase in the cost of production but they do not rule out an upward revision of wheat flour in future. "For the time being we will absorb the increase in our cost of production due to increased wheat price and GST," said former Chairman of All-Pakistan Flour Mills Association Sheikh Akhtar Hussain. Nevertheless, flour millers say some of them had already raised the prices of wheat flour after coming to know that the government was going to impose GST on electricity. They say that an 80-kg bag of wheat flour is currently selling for Rs800-820 up from Rs780-Rs800 two weeks ago. The millers say 10-kg and 20-kg bags of wheat flour are selling for Rs125 and Rs245 respectively up from Rs110 and Rs215 about a fortnight ago. "The reason why the flour millers say they are going to absorb the increase in their cost of production is that they have already raised the prices of atta," said a local miller who declined to be identified. Those who charge higher prices for their brands of wheat flour do so on the pretext of better quality, he said. The officially fixed price for 10-kg and 20-kg bags of wheat flour is Rs90 and Rs180 respectively. For an 80-kg bag of wheat flour, the price was last fixed at Rs680 in Ramazan and it has not been revised since then. Market sources say whereas the 10-kg and 20-kg bags of wheat flour (of inferior quality) are seen selling at their officially-fixed prices at weekly bazars, the 80-kg bag cannot be purchased at the official price from anywhere in town. Karachi-based flour millers say the amount of wheat supplied to them is not more than 50 per cent of their total requirement and they get the remaining 50 per cent from the open market at a very high price. They say whereas the official price of wheat is now Rs675 per 100 kg, the open market price is more than Rs900 per 100 kg. They say the huge difference between official and open market prices often lead to misuse of wheat quota and smuggling. "In Punjab, the official price of wheat is still Rs650 per 100 kg and the open market is slightly more than Rs700. That is why atta is cheaper there," says Sheikh Akhtar Hussain. Punjab-based flour mills on Monday announced to raise retail wheat flour price to Rs160 per 20-kg attributing the price-hike to GST. The new price is still much lower than in Karachi where a 20-kg bag of wheat flour sells for Rs215. Karachi-based millers say they get lesser wheat at the official price, which is one reason why wheat flour is always dearer in Karachi than in the Punjab. Officials of Sindh Food Department say the department supplies wheat to all flour mills keeping in view their last year's offtake in a particular month. In January, the department supplied 64,000 tonnes of wheat to 50 and odd mills in Karachi and 6000 tonnes to chakki owners and Utility Stores Corporation. The millers say their requirement is more than 100,000 tonnes per month. They say the department has also stopped fresh allocation of wheat quota for the time being. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Active trading witnessed on cotton market ------------------------------------------------------------------- Reporter KARACHI, Jan 31: Cotton market on Monday passed through another actively traded session as spinners were not inclined to sit on the sidelines amid market talk of further increase in prices. All the lots offered for sale by ginners were readily picked up by spinners irrespective of asking prices, the highest rate being paid for the southern Punjab variety was at Rs1,850.00 per maund without 15% sales tax. Floor brokers said, although active buying by the mills appears to be chief aiding factor behind the current price flare-up, the reports of higher phutti prices was main factor behind the bullish trend. 'Phutti prices soared to seasonal highs of Rs900.00 per 40 kg on Monday, having sympathetic bullish impact on the ready lint rates', they added. Although most of the small growers have sold their stock some two months back after prices fell to Rs400.00 per 40 kg, how much phutti is left with the growers is pretty difficult to say about the total. According to market sources, leading growers of upper Sindh and the southern Punjab have been holding on to their positions anticipating increase in prices at the fag-end of the season are now bringing their unsold stock to the ginneries at the higher rates. 'If the unsold stocks now reaching the ginneries are substantial, the original crop estimate of 10m bales may be achieved', said a leading broker. The behaviour of prices in physical trading will, during the next couple of days, reflects the size of the unsold stocks of phutti and their likely impact on the prevailing prices, he added. Official spot rates for the fine varieties were marked further higher by Rs25.00, while NIAB variety from the lower Sindh cotton belt was traded at the last level. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000201 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Monopoly Control Authority in 'limbo' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Muhammad Ilyas ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: Monopoly Control Authority (MCA) is virtually in limbo due to the indifference of government authorities over its potential for promotion of healthy competition in the development of market economy, particularly in electronic commerce, independent economists here observed. The government, it seems, is not only insensitive to the implications but has also adopted the line of least resistance. What particularly worrisome is the attitude adopted by government agencies towards MCA. MCA was created in 1970 after countrywide agitation by the people who rejected the trickle-down policy which allowed the rise of cartels and monopolies. This state of affairs had given rise to an acute sense of alienation among the people who felt deprived of the benefits of development in the preceding decade, it was realised. The arguments that allowed the monopolization of fruits of development pervades the official thinking again, they noted. As if they had learned nothing from the experience. Yet, the lack of competition which shows that practices that stifle competition only create, far from making the country conducive to entrepreneurship, deters investment, they pointed out. Talking to various officials in the ministries of finance, industries, commerce etc, the sense one obtains is that they treat the companies as sacred cows, irrespective of their recalcitrant behaviour in terms of inefficiency, violation of rules, persistent default in taxes and debt repayment and so on. That not even the Microsoft Corporation, one of the top companies of the world, is not a "sacred cow" was proved recently by a court in the United States, its position as the doyen of classical capitalist countries notwithstanding. Last year when MCA ordered cement industries to break their cartel and withdraw the price hike following agreement to halve their production, the government agencies stood by the cartel. A basic characteristic of free market, as an independent economy pointed out, is fair competition. Those companies which cannot stand such competition have either to improve their performance in terms of better and cheaper products/services or simply vanish. In Pakistan, however, some of our industrialists want to eat the cake and have it too. After the courts had refused to intervene in the decision of the MCA, it was the government which tried to sabotage the attempt by the authority to make the cement industrialists behave in accordance with the law. The court was told that the government had come to an understanding with the industrialists and that they had agreed to implement the decision of MCA. Infact,however, there was no reduction in prices. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000202 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Govt to rationalize tariff on 20 industries ------------------------------------------------------------------- Ihtashamul Haque ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The government has decided to rationalize the import tariff of 20 industries to make them internationally competitive. "We are finalizing a policy to rationalize the import tariff of about 20 industries by accepting some of the genuine demands of the exporters", said the additional secretary ministry of commerce Suliman Khan. "I cannot offer more details on it at this stage". Speaking at a news conference here on Tuesday in connection with the completion of 100 days of the government, he said that a number of important committees had been set up to make the country's textile industry competitive specially when all textile quota regimes will end in the year 2004 under the Word Trade Organisation (WTO) decision. He said Pakistan will have to face a tough competition in the year 2004 for which all preparations have started specially with the setting of a major committee headed by an industrialist Tariq Sehgol. Khan was confident that Pakistan's current volume of textile and textile mad ups will be increased from about 2.5 billion dollar annually to 8 to 9 billion dollar before the year 2004. "Nothing has been firmed up so far but I can say that we will be able stretch our textile exports nearly to 9 billion dollar within next few years time", he added. Khan said that new markets were being found out for Pakistan's exports. Also, he said thatthe country's exports were being diversified specially by going into value addition. He said that exports target of 9 billion dollar for the 1999-2000 will be achieved. Talking about imports, Khan, who was flanked by joint secretary and the spokesman of the ministry of commerce Nasim Quraishi and the economic consultant on WTO affairs Zameer, said that trade imbalance was being reduced by discouraging the import of consumer goods and non essential items. He said that the government has allowed the import of machinery and industrial raw materials to have greater industrial activity. "We had imposed 35 per cent LC margin on the import of non essential items and consumer goods which had helped us to have our trade imbalance narrowed", he said. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 20000203 ------------------------------------------------------------------- CBR collects Rs186bn revenue in 7 months ------------------------------------------------------------------- Correspondent ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has collected Rs186bn in seven months of the financial year, with the original target set at Rs380bn for '99-2000. The remaining Rs194bn would have to be collected infive months, at the rate of Rs38.8bn per month. By the end of Jan 2000, the average collection amounted to Rs26.42bn per month. CBR officials hope that since the last two quarters of each financial year witness comparatively increased revenue, the collection as per target will not be an extraordinary task. The ST department has made a collection of Rs 31.5bn in the first seven months of the fiscal year, against a target of Rs 120bn for 12 months. In Jan 2000, its net collection was Rs 10.3bn, after paying Rs 2.423bn in refunds. The domestic ST collection in January was Rs 4.53bn while the import related collection was Rs 5.77bn. In the first seven months, the ST department has paid up refunds of Rs 13.6bn. The Income Tax, Customs and Central Excise departments have recorded deposits of Rs 17.7bn, collectively. The Central Excise coffers have Rs30bn, for the first seven months. Customs collection during the month of January receded to Rs 4.7bn.Back to the top
=================================================================== EDITORIALS & FEATURES DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 000205 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The view from Washington ------------------------------------------------------------------- Irfan Husain THE news that Bill Clinton will visit India and Bangladesh while skipping Pakistan has come like a stinging slap in the face. To be excluded from an American president's first visit to the region in a quarter century is a decision that will no doubt be greeted with disguised disappointment in many quarters, while others will pretend insouciance, and say, "So what?" So plenty. Like it or not, Washington is more pivotal than ever before in the global shape of things. Anyone who thinks differently is living in a fool's paradise. Unless we want to be relegated to the Afghanistan and Rwanda category of failed states, we have to engage the United States constructively. The alternative is to sulk on the sidelines and watch the rest of the world move on. With the demise of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a unipolar system where the US calls most of the shots, ideological considerations no longer sway decision-makers in Washington. Where earlier the Americans were happy to do business with dictators like Zia-ul-Haq in Pakistan and Pinochet in Chile, now they are no longer concerned about a communist threat and therefore use different criteria to decide which countries to support. Having comprehensively defeated the Soviet Union and buried communism, policy-makers in Washington now seek to establish stability and secure smooth and friction-free global trade. This is aimed at ensuring a continuous expansion of the American economy and the well-being of the American people as well as shareholders in USA, Inc. As multinationals - mostly American - merge and expand, they seek new markets as well as cheap raw materials and labour. Anybody threatening the health of the American economy does so at his own peril. Had Saddam Hussein invaded an empty desert instead of oil-rich Kuwait - thus also threatening an even oil- richer Saudi Arabia - there would have been no desert Storm and the subsequent (and continuing) pounding of the Iraqi people. Many Pakistanis are of the opinion that the American refusal to intervene in South Asia over Kashmir is somehow 'unfair'. While welcoming them to the real world, let me remind them that life itself is grossly unfair. How fair is life for the have-nots of this world? When faced with a larger predator, animals do not ask for justice; they just run. The fact is that Islam and Muslims have a very serious image problem in the West. Some of it is an atavistic response to the stereotypes generated during the Crusades, but the real damage has been done by Muslims themselves during the latter part of the last century. Palestinian militants, Iranian hostage-takers; Taliban holy warriors; and now Kashmiri hijackers have all contributed to building a composite picture of hirsute fanatics killing innocent bystanders for distant, incomprehensible causes. I am not suggesting that these images are necessarily accurate; nevertheless, they have been etched on the retinas of the American public by a mass media that is more concerned about instant sound- bites, newspaper sales and television ratings than about accuracy and fairness. Also, we are so consumed by Kashmir that we assume that the issue looms just as large on everybody else's horizon. The reality is that most Americans would be hard-pressed to point to Kashmir on a map of the world. As far as policy-makers at the State Department and the White House are concerned, if a choice has to be made between antagonizing India or Pakistan, obviously the latter will suffer. India is a huge market; tens of thousands of American tourists visit it every year; it has no image problem with the American voter; and now that it has embraced economic liberalization as its guiding mantra, there is no longer an ideological gap between the two countries. Pakistan, by contrast, carries some heavy baggage: we are no longer a democracy; we support the Taliban who are viewed in the West as a fanatical rabble that oppresses women; we are seen as arming and training Kashmiri guerillas who have taken to killing innocent civilians as well as kidnapping and killing western tourists; and we have been bullying western businessmen who had invested in Pakistan. Indeed, over the years, military dictators, religious zealots, heroin smugglers and illegal emigrants have chipped away at Pakistan's image abroad to the point that the Kenyan High Commissioner in Islamabad cannot issue a visa to a Pakistani without clearance from Nairobi. Visas for most countries are extremely difficult to obtain as far too many Pakistanis do not return once they are abroad. A green passport is one of the worst travel documents around. Currently, Washington is leaning on us over several issues. The foremost among them is the demand to ban the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen as it is alleged to have been behind the Indian Airlines hijacking. Secondly, the Americans would like us to press the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, the bete noir of the American establishment. Thirdly, they want us to sign the CTBT. Next, the State Department wants some kind of timetable for a return to democracy. And finally, they and the World Bank want the Pakistan government to sort out the Independent Power Producers' mess. This, broadly speaking, is the American agenda for Pakistan. So far, we have refused to engage them on any single point. But it is high time we got real: we live in a world inter-connected at many levels, and most of the nodes are in Washington, whether we like it or not. Take, for example, the Indian campaign to persuade the Americans to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. The "so what?" school of thought is naively convinced that this would not affect us. The reality is that our limping economy would be shattered, and we would be virtually isolated by crippling sanctions. Even oil- rich countries like Libya and Iran have suffered huge deprivations after being put on the list of terrorist states. While Clinton's visit would be largely symbolic, it would signal to the world that we are not (yet) a pariah nation. Presidential visits are usually accompanied by a flurry of agreements, and our ravaged economy could do with any boost it can get. On the other hand, if Clinton skips Pakistan on his South Asian junket, our diplomatic isolation would be virtually complete. But quite apart from addressing American concerns, the fact is that all the items on the agenda are things we should be doing because they are good for us, irrespective of Washington's demands. Cracking down on reactionary militias is something that should have been done long ago; signing the CTBT, too, would bring us back into the mainstream of nations without weakening our defence in any way; we need to settle the outstanding problems with foreign investors; and we must distance ourselves from the obscurantist Taliban. And as far as a return to democracy is concerned, this demand is already being made within Pakistan, and will only become louder with time. DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 000205 ------------------------------------------------------------------- The undiluted triumph of the bayonet ------------------------------------------------------------------ Ayaz Amir WHEN Nawaz Sharif was deposed and General Pervez Musharraf, in order to set the country on the right path, unfurled his seven- point agenda (does anyone still remember the exact points?), the national scene stood denuded of everything except the confluence of two factors: the might of the army and the hopes of the people. The political parties, having brought on their own bankruptcy, did not matter. The higher judiciary, never one to fly in the face of reality, did not count. On the lengthening plains there stood only the people and their army. Whether or not General Musharraf was in any way embarrassed by the burden of hope thus placed on his shoulders, it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that in the first few weeks following the takeover of October 12 he was looked upon by the vast majority of the Pakistani people as the messiah whose coming had long been awaited. What was it that the people of Pakistan did not expect in those halcyon days? A clampdown on corruption, the start of a merciless accountability drive, the chastening spectacle of mighty heads rolling in the dust and, withal, the Pakistani nation, its pride restored, setting out with powerful strides on the road to progress and prosperity. The two factors mentioned above reinforced each other: the nation's hopes brought a glistening sheen to the army's bayonets while the army's undisputed authority seemed to be a guarantee that the nation's wild hopes (for wild those indeed were) would be fulfilled. In the more than a hundred days that have passed since that season of unmixed hope the scales have fallen from Pakistani eyes leading to a more measured and judicious accounting of the benefits or otherwise of military rule. The first jolt came with the appointment of governors, ministers and members of the National Security Council, the last a hyped-up body whose functions are still unclear. Although imposing monuments to mediocrity have been raised in this country before, never was this done in so unambiguous a manner. Even if the deliberate aim was to make dismal selection an uncontested virtue, what actually came about could not have been improved upon. But with the nation more than willing to give the military government a chance the celebratory mood lasted. It began to end when it slowly dawned upon the people of Pakistan that while the military government was full of good intentions it seemed to lack vision and a clear plan of action. With no grand design before it, it is hardly surprising if there has been an obsessive preoccupation with day-to-day tasks: the desilting of canals, the sending of monitoring teams to districts (to remove encroachments and restrict unlawful bus addas) and an accountability drive which began with a splash but soon petered out like a military offensive running into the sand. Far be it from anyone to deny the importance or usefulness of tasks such as canal desilting. But if this be all that the military government has to show for itself in its first crucial months in office, scant justification is furnished for a full-blooded military coup. General Musharraf, arguably, still retains his aura of bluff sincerity. But it is only so far that his government can travel on the strength of this asset alone. The only justification of military rule (apart, of course, from brute force) is performance and when performance is desultory legitimacy is called into question. Maybe, in the inner sanctum of the government grand plans exist for revamping the archaic structure of the Pakistani state. Maybe, known only to the corps commanders, there is a holistic design to lift Pakistan by the bootstraps and take it screaming into the sun. Maybe. What the people are being treated to is a different spectacle: a government lost under the stars. All this in just a few months. The one thing expected of the new team was to give the nation a sense of direction. It has done nothing of the sort, thus drawing attention to its most signal failure. Two things have happened as a consequence. In the spreading light it is possible to distinguish the shape of things more clearly but at the same time the cynicism which has been the defining quality of the Pakistani nation for the past 20 years and more is rising to the surface once again: cynicism as corrosive as the air, as boundless as the ocean. This is a dangerous development. With hope thus being laid into the grave, and the horizon bereft of anything else, what remains is the power of the bayonet, its victory undiluted and complete. For Pakistan this is a novel situation. In every previous phase of Bonapartism in the nation's history, military rule, no matter how powerful or repressive, has had to face political challenges, whether outright or oblique. For the first time what is being seen is a military government which, although less repressive and more confused than any to have preceded it, faces no direct political challenge to its authority. Ever since Benazir Bhutto and her resourceful husband transformed the once-mighty PPP into a private limited company, the PPP is in no position to throw a challenge to anyone. The Muslim League has given ample signs of its resolve by saying repeatedly that it does not believe in a policy of confrontation against the army (obviously inclined to think that a strong democratic position and confrontation are the same thing). Other parties are too small to make a difference. If it were not for the international situation and the need to run every now and then to the IMF for handouts and bailouts General Musharraf could re-invent the Suharto model of eternal government and stay in power forever. The only challenges to military rule are negative ones. Cynicism, frustration and a general air of discontent. If because of governmental non-performance these become more pronounced, the confidence and swagger of General Musharraf and his team, already under considerable pressure, are bound to be affected further. Not that military rule is without its defenders. It still has its fervid partisans but their arguments are self-serving. If the shortcomings of military rule are pointed out, they counter by asking whether a return to the eras of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif is desired. This is a false argument. General Musharraf is under no compulsion to return the country to its past. He is expected to move ahead by clearing the road to a cleaner democracy. But if he sticks around too long in Islamabad, ordering canal desilting and district administration monitoring, he will be repeating the mistakes of his military predecessors, all of whom, without exception, left things worse than they had found them. It would be tragic to go down the same route again. But we seem headed that way because, let there be no mistake about it, prolonged military rule is as much a reversion to the past as a return to the soiled democracy of Bhutto and Sharif.
=================================================================== SPORTS DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS*DWS 000205 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia outclass Pakistan to clinch tri-nation crown ------------------------------------------------------------------- SYDNEY, Feb 4: Steve Waugh's Australia hit their highest one-day score to lift the tri-series title with a massive 152-run victory over 'psyched out' Pakistan here on Friday. The world champions took advantage of their rivals' pathetic fielding to pile up 337-7 from 50 overs after electing to bat in the second match of the best-of-three finals. Pakistan, described by their captain Wasim Akram as psychologically crushed by the Aussies, folded up for 185 despite perfect batting conditions at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Glenn McGrath, whose deadly three-wicket burst in seven balls won Australia the first final at Melbourne on Wednesday, was Pakistan's destroyer again with 5-49. It was Australia's ninth consecutive win in the series that also featured India. The one-day title followed identical 3-0 wins over both India and Pakistan in the Test series. Ricky Ponting was named Man-of-the-Match after smashing 78 off 80 deliveries, helping Australia to their highest ever total against any team in their 453 One-day Internationals, eclipsing their previous best of 332 for three against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1989-90. Openers Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist cracked half-centuries in a blistering start. The pair put on 74 for the first wicket in only 10.4 overs, left-hander Gilchrist contributing 51 off 42 balls. Mark Waugh made 53, adding 96 for the second wicket with Ponting, who ended up as the top scorer in the series with 404 runs from 10 games. Andrew Symonds and Steve Waugh smashed 66 off 54 balls for the fifth wicket, which allowed Australia to score 85 runs in the final 10 overs. Symonds hit a run-a-ball 45 and the captain made 37 as Australia surpassed their previous best of 332-3 against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in 1990. Pakistan were done in by poor fielding, highlighted by two dropped catches by Yousuf Youhana which set up Australia's leather hunt before a sell-out crowd of 40,000. Youhana spilled an easy chance at square leg when Gilchrist was on seven. He then misjudged a skier on the mid-wicket fence before Ponting had settled in. Pakistan's only consolation from a summer that promised much but delivered little was the choice of all- rounder Abdur Razzaq as player of the series. Razzaq made 255 runs and took 14 wickets. The Pakistanis now return home to prepare for a tour by Sri Lanka.- AFP/Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------------- You can subscribe to DWS by sending an email to <subscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following text in the BODY of your message: subscribe dws To unsubscribe, send an email to <unsubscribe.dws@dawn.com>, with the following in the BODY of you message: unsubscribe dws ------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to the top.
Dawn page
Webbed by Philip McEldowney
Last update: .v