DWS, Sunday 19th May to Saturday 25th May 2013

	DWS, Sunday 19th May to Saturday 25th May 2013
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. DWS is sent by e-mail every Saturday. What’s Inside? National News | Editorial | Columns & Articles	For suggestions and comments: Email: webmaster@dawn.com Website: http://dawn.com Fax: +92(21) 35693995 Please send all Editorial submissions and Letters to the Editor to: letters@dawn.com
NATIONAL NEWS
PTI leader shot dead on eve of re-polling By Imran Ayub KARACHI, May 18: A leader of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was shot dead outside her house in Defence Society on the eve of re-polling at 43 stations of Karachi’s NA-250 constituency. . Although police initially said Zohra Shahid Hussain was shot dead on Saturday night after she resisted a robbery attempt, leaders of the PTI were not convinced and sought a thorough investigation. Earlier, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced boycott of the re-polling after calling into question the ‘impartiality’ of the Election Commission (ECP). The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) took an identical decision on Friday. The re-polling had been ordered by the ECP after a petition was filed by the PTI. “As Ms Hussain came out of her house in the Defence Housing Authority’s phase IV, she was intercepted by three youngsters on a motorcycle,” said SSP of South Nasir Aftab. Quoting a member of the victim’s family, he said the armed youths tried to snatch her purse but she offered resistance on which they fired at her. She was hit by a single bullet in the chin and was taken to hospital where she died. The robbers fled without taking away Ms Hussain’s purse or anything else, the SSP said. However, he said, the police had not yet recorded a statement of Ms Hussain’s driver, the only witness to the incident. “We will look into any other angle after recording his statement,” he added. A large number of PTI leaders and workers thronged the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where Ms Hussain’s body was brought for medico-legal formalities. Moving scenes were witnessed at the hospital and several activists were seen crying in anguish. In a cautious reaction, PTI leaders did not rule out the police version but demanded a wide-ranging investigation into the incident before reaching any conclusion. Referring to threats to the party workers, mainly in the city’s district south, Dr Arif Alvi, the PTI’s general secretary and candidate for NA-250, said: “It’s police job to identify the killers and determine the motive,” “We expect peaceful re-polling tomorrow under security provided by the army but the incident has raised serious questions over the situation,” he said In reply to a question, Dr Alvi said he had not received any “direct” threat but workers of his party, mainly in NA-250, had been haunted by a feeling of insecurity during the election campaign. “The police and administration are aware of the situation but have taken no action, he said. PPP boycotts re-polling: Announcing the boycott, PPP candidate for NA-250 Rashid Rabbani said at a pres conference: “The ECP did not bother to hear us while deciding about the re-polling. He said the PPP did not trust the process of re-polling and believed that preparations were being made to sideline real democratic forces.
Security, regional situation discussed: Kayani meets Nawaz in Lahore By Zulqernain Tahir LAHORE, May 18: Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Saturday had an over three-hour long meeting with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Mian Nawaz Sharif at the Model Town residence of the Sharifs. . According to a PML-N official, security matters and the situation in the region were discussed at the meeting. “The army chief and Nawaz Sharif expressed their determination to fight terrorism. Mr Sharif also praised the army’s role in strengthening democracy and providing security during the elections,” he said. A few days ago, Gen Kayani had telephoned Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and enquired after his health. Tariq Azeem, a leader of the PML-N, told Dawn that the army chief congratulated Nawaz Sharif over the victory of his party. “The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and lasted over three hours.” Shahbaz Sharif was also present at the meeting. Observers attached significance to the meeting between Gen Kayani and the future prime minister in view of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan next year. According to them, since the “Afghan strategy” was likely to be reshaped, Gen Kayani must have broached the matter with Mr Sharif. There are other matters like the fate of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf and Gen Kayani’s retirement in November this year. Earlier, Nawaz Sharif had asked the PPP-led government to “seriously take up” the Tehreek-i-Taliban’s offer for talks, arguing that there was a need to begin negotiations with the militants without wasting time. “There is a need to take the Taliban’s offer (for talks) seriously because the people of Pakistan want peace. I ask the government to initiate result-oriented peace talks with the Taliban without any delay as military operation is no solution to any problem,” Sharif had said when Taliban offered talks to the government earlier this year. Hasan Askari, a defence analyst, described the Nawaz-Kayani meeting as “exploratory”. “The army and the PML-N have divergent views on the “war against terror” and the military operation in the tribal area. The meeting provided the PML-N leadership and the army chief an opportunity to know each other’s views on these issues,” Mr Askari told Dawn. He said the army chief was likely to hold a briefing for the new government. Ijazul Haq, chief of the PML-Z, who has won a National Assembly seat from Bahawalnagar and declared support to the PML-N, told reporters the other day that Gen Musharraf “will leave the country before swearing- in of the new (PML-N) government,” giving a clear indication that ‘something is being negotiated’ in the Musharraf case. In a related development, advocate Aslam Ghumman, who had filed a petition in the judges’ detention case, withdrew his complaint against Gen Musharraf on Friday. Mr Ghumman said: “I have decided to withdraw the complaint in the larger national interest.” On its part, the PML-N has given no indication that it is interested in a trial of Gen Musharraf under Article 6 after coming to power. “There is a likelihood that Musharraf’s fate was discussed at the Nawaz-Kayani meeting,” Hasan Askari said. About the grant of extension to Gen Kayani, Nawaz Sharif had said in an interview to an Indian news channel before the general elections that he did not think that Gen Kayani would not seek extension. He had also said the new army chief should be appointed on ‘seniority’ basis. “I think we will have a new army chief after Gen Kayani’s retirement by the end of this year,” Askari said. Pervaiz Rasheed, a PML-N leader, Dawn that Nawaz Sharif and Gen Kayani discussed internal and external security issues. “Mr Sharif is the future prime minister of Pakistan and if Gen Kayani gives him briefing on security matters, there is nothing unusual in it.” He parried a question about Gen retired Pervez Musharraf and Gen Kayani’s extension.
Presidency terms Shahbaz’s charges baseless By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 18: A spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari has deplored the allegations levelled by PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif about the president’s involvement in recent postings and transfers of senior government officials.. “These allegations are not only absolutely baseless but also highly irresponsible,” said the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Khan Babar in a statement on Saturday. “He said the presidency had nothing to do with any recent posting and transfer in the federal and provincial bureaucracy made by the caretaker governments. “If the government-in-waiting has reservations over some recent postings and transfers, it may ask the caretakers to review its decisions and should not malign the president,” he said. “The presidency will be as much detached and unmoved if these postings are cancelled as it has been when these were made,” he added. Talking to reporters in Raiwind on Friday, Mr Sharif had urged the caretaker government to refrain from taking important decisions like appointment to certain key posts. He had accused caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso of making some appointments at the behest of President Zardari. He had described as ‘illegal’ posting of ‘notorious’ persons to offices like chairperson of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority and transfer of some federal secretaries. “He (Mr Khoso) is listening to President Zardari but not us,” the PML-N leader had said and urged the premier to respect people’s mandate. The prime minister was legally, morally and politically obliged to respect the mandate, he said and warned of a stern stance if the caretakers did not change their attitude.
Imran holds Muttahida responsible for murder By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 18: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan has condemned the killing of Zohra Shahid Hussain and held the Muttahida Qaumi Movement responsible for it. . MQM chief Altaf Hussain had threatened PTI workers and leaders in a speech aired by TV channels, he said in a statement. Mr Khan said the British government shared responsibility for the killing because it had failed to stop Mr Hussain from inciting violence despite being requested to do so. He said Zohra Aapa, as Ms Hussain was fondly called by her comrades, was an elderly person, a senior, committed and ideological leader and a mentor of young cadre of the PTI. “I am shocked and saddened and cannot believe anyone would kill such a gentle woman,” he said in a statement.
Army to be in, and outside, polling stations in NA-250 By Iftikhar A Khan ISLAMABAD, May 18: Army soldiers will be deployed inside and outside the 43 polling stations of Karachi’s NA-250 constituency where re-polling will be held on Sunday.. Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Director General of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), told Dawn on Saturday that under a comprehensive security plan thrashed out for the re-polling, troops would be deployed in and outside the polling stations. He had ruled out deployment of troops at polling stations across the country during the May 11 elections because of the large number of polling stations. “But this time the task is manageable as the number of polling stations is only 43.” He said troops had been mobilised and a security cover had been provided for transportation of ballot papers. On Friday the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had dismissed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s plea for re-polling in entire constituency. Subsequently, the MQM announced boycott of the re-polling. A senior official of the ECP said it was democratic right of the MQM to boycott the re-polling but it would not affect the schedule for the re-polling. He said the re-polling had been ordered because polling at the stations could not take place as the presiding officers could not reach there after receiving threats. Their substitutes also refused to perform election duty because of threats. He said this time arrangements had been made to provide security to the polling staff and voters. The commission in its Friday’s order had called for army deployment in and outside the 43 polling stations on Sunday with army support to the administration, Rangers and police for maintaining law and order in Karachi under Article 245 of the Constitution. Since the order came a day after Chief Election Commissioner retired Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim met Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, it is believed that they had agreed on the army deployment.The total number of registered voters in NA-250 is over 300,000 and 70,000 of them are supposed to cast their votes at the polling stations. Analysts believe that the boycott by the MQM would mean a definite success for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate Dr Arif Alvi Re-polling in Tharparkar: The ECP decided on Saturday to hold re-polling at 47 polling stations in NA-230 (Tharparkar) and its corresponding Sindh Assembly Constituencies, PS-62 and 63, on June 1. According to unofficial results announced by the ECP, the NA seat had been won by Shah Mehmood Qureshi of the PTI. The commission decided to hold re-polling on the basis of a report about irregularities received from the district returning officer and endorsed by the Sindh government. The commission also ordered re-polling at four polling stations in the adjacent NA-229 on June 1. The seat had been won by Arbab Fawad Razzak, according to unofficial results. It asked the chief secretary of Sindh to make adequate security arrangements to avoid repetition of irregularities during the re-polling. The ECP also ordered re-counting of votes at seven polling in PP-198 (Multan), according to an official.
Chinese man accused of desecrating Quran MUZAFFARABAD, May 18: A Chinese man working on an energy project in Azad Kashmir was being held on Saturday after hundreds of protesters attacked his office over alleged desecration of the Quran, officials said. . Lee Ping, administration manager of a Chinese consortium building the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project, was accused by co-Pakistani workers of throwing the holy book on the ground. “We have taken Ping into protective custody after protests erupted in the company when Pakistani labourers saw him throwing the belongings of a Pakistani worker, including the Quran,” said Sardar Gulfraz, a senior police official. Lee Ping was moving the belongings of a Pakistani doctor after the latter had refused to vacate his room for relocation. “Doctor Sajid had a dispute with the company management about the relocation of his room. He refused to vacate the room and Ping threw out all his belongings in anger,” said another police official Raja Anser Shahzad. “Labourers saw Ping throwing out luggage including the Quran and they started protesting. Later, people from outside the company joined the rally and around 1,000 protesters attacked his office,” Shahzad said. Police said the incident happened on Friday. “They damaged vehicles and broke windows inside the company premises. We have called in extra police to protect instalments and have also moved Ping to a secret location for protective reasons,” Gulfraz said.—AFP
Fazl non-committal on PML-N offer By Kalbe Ali ISLAMABAD, May 18: The PML-N formally invited the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl on Saturday to join the federal government. But Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the JUI-F chief, remained characteristically non-committal, saying the “coalition needs to be expanded further”. . The invitation was extended to JUI-F by a PML-N delegation, led by Senator Raja Zafarul Haq, and comprising MNA-elect Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and a leader from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khawaja Mohammad Khan Hoti. The PML-N delegation arrived at Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s residence in the ministers’ colony here at a time when his party’s executive body was meeting. The delegation stayed there for around an hour and extended a formal invitation for the JUI-F to join the government. “The decision to join the government in the centre will be taken by the party’s executive committee which is still discussing the matter,” the JUI-F chief told reporters after the meeting. “However, we believe that the bonds of the coalition need to be expanded to a vast area,” he said. The Maulana was barraged with questions if his statement meant more seats in the cabinet or extending the coalition to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, the ‘evergreen politician’ smiled to pass over the queries and said the two sides were deliberating on modalities of the likely alliance. He calmly denied that his party had demanded any portfolio or the chairmanship of the Kashmir Committee. Maulana Fazl said the JUI-F executive committee’s discussion to devise its policy and modalities of the possible alliance was likely to be finalised by Sunday. Apart from 10 seats in the coming National Assembly, the JUI-F has seven members in the Senate and 13 MPAs-elect in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and six in Balochistan. Senator Raja Zafarul Haq said the two sides had shown willingness to work in alliance, that was a welcome sign, and only the modalities remained to be decided. Without specifying the demands made by the JUI-F, he said the alliance would be in accordance with PML-N’s policies. “The country is facing multiple problems and we want all parties to join us to finding the solutions to them,” he said. The PML-N leader said he was taking a message of Maulana Fazl to his party’s seniors and their response would be conveyed to the JUI-F.
More independents join PML-N By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 18: The Shirazi brothers of Thatta announced their decision to join the PML-N on Saturday. . MPAs-elect Ijaz Shirazi, Husain Shirazi and Ali Haider Shirazi and MNA-elect Ayaz Shah Shirazi announced their decision after calling on PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif here. The Shirazis remained with the PPP until 2012 and contested the May 11 elections as independent candidates. Four independent MPAs-elect from Punjab— Amir M. Khan, Shoaib Shah, Alamdar Shah and Khurram Sial —also announced their decision to join the PML-N after calling on Shahbaz Sharif. Meanwhile, the PML-N said that Nawaz Sharif would be attending the luncheon to be hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari in honour of Chinese premier next week. British High Commissioner Adam Thomson called on Nawaz Sharif here and congratulated him on the victory of his party in the May 11 elections.
Pakistan set to adopt Chinese satellite system BEIJING, May 18: Pakistan is set to become the fifth Asian country to use China’s domestic satellite navigation system which was launched as a rival to the US global positioning system, a report said on Saturday.. The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region in December and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020. It also has military applications. Thailand, China, Laos and Brunei already use the Chinese system, which currently consists of 16 operational satellites, with 30 more due to join the system, according to English-language China Daily. Huang Lei, international business director of BDStar Navigation, which promotes Beidou, told the newspaper the company would build a network of stations in Pakistan to enhance the location accuracy of Beidou. He said building the network would cost tens of millions of dollars. American website Defensenews.com reported in early May that Pakistani military experts were in favour of using the Chinese system, even though the availability of the signal could not be guaranteed in case of conflict. But, according to one of them, Pakistan cannot place its trust in the United States. “Pakistan’s armed forces cannot rely on US GPS because of its questionable availability during a conflict that has overtones of nuclear escalation,” former Pakistan Air Force pilot Kaiser Tufail told the site. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang travels next week to Pakistan, a long time ally, after a visit to India.—AFP
Unofficial results give big lead to PTI candidate By Habib Khan Ghori KARACHI, May 19: Early unofficial results of re-polling held on Sunday in 43 stations in Karachi’s NA 250 constituency gave lead to Dr Arif Alvi of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, which was obvious even before the start of the polling as the party’s three main rivals, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamaat-i-Islami, had boycotted the exercise. . According to the unofficial results, at about 1:45am, Dr Alvi was leading with 17,519 votes in the 43 polling stations. The turnout on Sunday morning was affected mainly because of the murder of the PTI’s Sindh vice-president Zahra Hussain on Saturday night, but after noticing adequate security arrangements made at the polling stations by army and Rangers, supporters of the party overcame their sense of insecurity and started reaching the polling stations. Some polling stations recorded about 30 per cent turnout. But in localities considered to be strongholds of the MQM, the turnout hardly exceeded three per cent. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, senior vice chairman of the PTI, during his visit to a number of polling stations told reporters that the government had failed to hold transparent elections in Sindh. However, the initiative taken by voters to come out of homes even after Saturday’s incident indicated that the wave of change had overtaken Karachi and people of the city had laid the foundation of a ‘new Pakistan’, he said. He demanded re-polling in all constituencies across the country where there were complaints about fraud and stealing of mandate. Dr Alvi said he was satisfied by the security arrangements made on Sunday, adding that had the army been deployed on May 11 at all polling stations in the city, the claims of people having the ‘mandate’ of the city would have been fully exposed in fair and transparent elections. On the day of May 11 polling, the PTI candidate appeared to be favourite at least in the posh localities of the constituency and voters turned out in droves for the first time, making long queues. But they were disappointed to find neither presiding officers nor election material at the polling stations due to mismanagement of the election authorities. However, when they were informed about the situation, necessary measures were taken and polling began in 137 polling stations with a delay of up to three hours in some cases. But in the remaining 43 stations where re-polling was held on Sunday, no votes had been cast because the arrangements could not be made by the closing time of 5pm.
Nawaz to select chief minister of Balochistan By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, May 19: The PML-N, the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and National Party (NP) which together have a majority of seats in the Balochistan Assembly have agreed to form a coalition government and authorised Nawaz Sharif to nominate the leader of the house.. This was announced by PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif here on Sunday after holding discussions with the MPAs-elect of his party and leaders of the PkMAP and NP. He said Nawaz Sharif would consider recommendations made by the prospective coalition partners. Shahbaz Sharif, who was accompanied by PML-N leaders Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Senator Pervez Rasheed, held separate meetings with delegations of his party and the NP and PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai. Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, Sardar Saleh Bhootani, Nawabzada Jangez Khan Marri and retired General Abdul Qadir Baloch of the PML-N and NP leaders Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Mir Hasil Bizenjo and Mir Tahir Bizenjo took part in discussions about the formation of the government. Mr Sharif said that the three parties had simple majority in the assembly. About the inclusion the Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam (Fazl) in the coalition, he said that the PML-N and allies would jointly take a decision in this regard. Balochistan, he said, would have a small cabinet and a corruption-free government this time. “It will try to provide basic amenities and jobs to people and develop education, health, agriculture, irrigation, public health engineering and other sectors.” He said that the people of the province had suffered because of massive corruption, bad governance and deteriorating law and order over the past five years. “We have learned a lesson from our past mistakes and will not repeat them,” Mr Sharif said. He said that performance of the PML-N in Balochistan was satisfactory and it had emerged as the leading political party in the province. He said that the PML-N would promote harmony among all political parties to strengthen democracy. Earlier, on his arrival in Quetta airport he said that Nawaz Sharif wanted to take serious steps to remove the sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan. He said that the issue of Balochistan would be amicably resolved with joint efforts of all political stakeholders. The PML-N would introduce a model government to put the country on the path of progress and prosperity, accelerate the pace of development and boost national economy. He said that people would feel a difference between the new government and the previous ones. Talking to reporters after meeting Shahbaz Sharif, senior vice-president of the NP Mir Hasil Bizenjo confirmed that his party, the PML-N and PkMAP had agreed to form a coalition government whose chief minister would be selected by Nawaz Sharif. He said that the coalition government would discard the policy of granting massive development funds directly to MPAs because it had led to unprecedented corruption. The coalition government would try to meet the expectations of the people and ensure that the benefit of development trickled down to the grassroots level, he said. He expressed the hope that the coalition government would set an example of good governance without which the goal of a developed and prosperous Balochistan could not be achieved.
Minister objects to postings and transfers By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, May 19: After the PML-N, caretaker Law Minister Ahmar Bilal Soofi has also criticised the postings and transfers being made by the government of Prime Minister retired Justice Mir Hazar Khan Khoso. . He warned the caretaker set-up against transgressing its mandate by making undue transfers and postings in important government departments. In a letter to his cabinet colleagues a copy of which he also sent to the Prime Minister Secretariat and the establishment secretary, Mr Soofi said: “Cabinet members should abide by the legal limitation they enjoy under the constitution. They should not trespass the mandate of the interim government. “I would again reiterate that we may continue the prevalent transparency and may not take action which may be counter-productive to the important role performed by the caretaker government.” Talking to Dawn on Sunday, the law minister confirmed that he had highlighted in the letter the issue of unnecessary postings and transfers being carried out by some of his colleagues in the cabinet. But he did not mention any specific posting or transfer. He said the letter had been dispatched on Saturday. In his letter Mr Soofi has also mentioned the cancellation of contract of two officials of the information ministry and the recent replacement of the National Highway Authority’s chairman. The letter also referred to a statement he had earlier made in cabinet that it was advisable to avoid making controversial appointments in major departments and leave them to the elected government. In his press talk in Lahore on Friday, PML-N leader and former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif accused President Asif Ali Zardari of influencing the caretaker prime minister to make postings and transfers in various federal departments. Mr Sharif, a known critic of the president, warned of action against those found involved in carrying out what he alleged orders from the Presidency. President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar has denied the allegations. RIGGING CHARGES: Mr Soofi said it was up to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to act on allegations of rigging. “It’s not our mandate to interfere in the commission’s matters,” he said, adding that if a candidate had solid proof of rigging he should approach the ECP. COURT ASSET MANAGEMENT: The law ministry under Mr Soofi has worked on a proposal to set up a court asset management team to properly manage and upgrade at least 130 premises of the lower courts across the country. If the proposal is accepted by the next government, some six to 10 MBAs will have to be hired to prepare an inventory of all court assets and their existing resources. The proposed team will develop a long-term strategy for regular maintenance of the court premises. The main objective is to provide proper facilities to hundreds of thousands of litigants. Litigants pay court fees but they do not get corresponding amenities such as sitting places and toilets. The law ministry intends to upgrade the court premises so that ordinary litigants develop confidence in state institutions. After finalisation of the proposal it will be submitted to the Supreme Court for its approval in principle. If approved and properly executed the project will transform the outlook of lower courts and of judiciary throughout the country.
Protests against Imran planned: MQM workers manhandle their leaders, journalists By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, May 19: Charged workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) roughed up members of the coordination committee, some lawmakers-elect as well as some journalists during a telephonic address by party chief Altaf Hussain from London in the small hours of Sunday. . With the media barred from covering the hooliganism, witnesses said certain MQM leaders had been beaten up and they had to lock themselves up inside the party headquarters to escape the wrath of angry workers. It all started soon after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had held Mr Hussain responsible for the killing of party leader Zahra Shahid Hussain. The MQM had called an emergency press conference and a large number of party workers also reached Nine Zero. After 2am, MQM leaders, led by Dr Farooq Sattar, came outside the party headquarters to address the press conference. Dr Sattar told journalists that the allegation levelled by Mr Khan at the MQM chief soon after the killing of Zahra Shahid was a proof of his “political immaturity”. He condemned the killing and demanded a judicial inquiry into it, but said that blaming Mr Hussain without any evidence and in the absence of proper investigation was wrong. He said the MQM would adopt a legal and constitutional course to deal with the PTI chief’s outrageous accusations. After the press conference, Mr Hussain started his speech and strongly criticised the PTI chief, without mentioning his name, and said he (Imran) was abusing him and the coordination committee did nothing. He criticised the committee members and said they considered him a ‘machine’. He said he had come to know through TV channels that he was due to address the MQM workers gathered at the party headquarters. His emotions overpowered him to the extent that he started weeping. This made the workers angry and the situation went out of control. The witnesses said a large number of workers had surrounded the MQM leaders and roughed them up. They were so charged that they even tried to storm the Nine Zero where the leaders took shelter. But the gate was locked and they could not enter it. Some MQM workers also roughed up reporters and cameramen and forced them to stop the coverage. The hooliganism continued for some time and till Mr Hussain resumed his speech and asked the charged workers not to misbehave with the elected representatives and members of the coordination committee. Later, a press release issued by the MQM said Mr Hussain had strongly taken notice of what it called ‘violation of discipline’ by some elements among the party workers. He condemned the act of certain individuals against members of the coordination committee and other office-bearers and asked them to submit a written apology at the Nine Zero within 24 hours. Otherwise, he said, they would not be considered as MQM workers. Mr Hussain also expressed his sorrow over the treatment meted out to some reporters and cameramen and assured them that action would be taken against those who had misbehaved with them. PROTEST RALLIES: Dr Sattar told a press conference on Sunday evening that the MQM would hold protest demonstrations across the country and abroad against Mr Khan from Monday for holding Mr Hussain responsible for the murder of Zahra Shahid. He said Mr Khan had hurt the sentiments of millions of followers of Mr Hussain by hurling baseless allegations and, therefore, the coordination committee had decided to hold demonstrations against him. “The hatred of Imran Khan against the MQM will be dealt with but in a democratic, legal and constitutional manner,” he added. Dr Sattar alleged that the slain PTI leader had been inactive for three months and she had developed serious differences with the PTI leadership over distribution of party tickets. He said internal disputes should also be considered while investigating the case. He said relations between Mr Khan and extremist elements were not hidden and he had been the biggest supporter of the elements which had cut throats of personnel of the armed forces. About the re-polling in NA-250 constituency, he said a large number of voters had been deprived of their right by holding re-polling in only 43 of its polling stations. He said the low turnout had exposed the tall claims of massive public support. “People of Defence and Clifton expressed their confidence in the MQM by staying away from the re-polling process.” Dr Sattar said voters of 140 polling stations of NA-250 had been deprived of their right and complete partiality was shown. “The MQM rejects this farcical exercise and demands re-election in the entire NA-250,” he added.
PML-N striving to woo JUI-F By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, May 19: With an eye on gaining support in Senate, the PML-N is working overtime to rope in the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) as an ally in the federal government. . Background discussions with a number of leaders from the two parties on modalities and conditions for forming a coalition government at the centre reveal that both the parties have their own reasons to seek a partnership. A senior PML-N office-bearer privy to the ongoing talks between the two parties said his party wanted the JUI-F to join its government at the centre because it needed the religious party’s support in the Senate to carry out the legislative business smoothly. At present, the PML-N has 15 senators and the JUI-F has seven members while the PPP is the largest party with 39 senators in the 104-member upper house of parliament. Another reason for the PML-N’s desire to take along the JUI-F despite having a majority in the lower house was that the religious party could exploit its ability to mobilise seminary students for street agitation on any issue, the PML-N leader said. “These religious parties may not have a [large] vote bank, but one cannot deny their power to use Madressah students and bring them on roads for protests,” he said, adding that such a situation would divert the focus of the government and the media to less important issues. Another PML-N leader said there was no doubt that Maulana Fazlur Rehman had connections in the country’s troubled tribal areas and Afghanistan and the government could take advantage of this in bringing peace in the country badly hit by terrorism. Sources in the PML-N claimed that though the JUI-F had not formally presented its demands, the party seemed to be interested in getting the office of the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the office of the speaker or deputy speaker in Balochistan Assembly, at least two to three ministries in the federal cabinet and the chairmanship of the parliamentary committee on Kashmir. On the other hand, JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai categorically denied that the party had demanded any ministry in its talks with the PML-N and said all such reports were baseless and speculative. He, however, said the party would definitely ask for some offices when it would finally decide to join the government. When asked as to which issues were being discussed between the two parties if not the ministries, Mr Achakzai said the JUI-F wanted to understand clearly the stance of the future PML-N government on key issues like terrorism in Fata and legislative business on various controversial issues. Answering a question, Mr Achakzai explained that the JUI-F wanted the PML-N to promise that it would not bulldoze the legislative business in parliament, particularly on sensitive issues like women’s rights. Citing an example, he said the JUI-F had taken a clear position when the previous PPP-led coalition government had tried to bulldoze the controversial domestic violence bill on the pressure of civil society organisations. When asked as to why the PML-N needed the JUI-F’s support when it was in a position to form the government on its own, he replied that the PML-N was conscious of the future challenges and knew that the JUI-F was an important party having links in Fata, Kashmir and Afghanistan. “In fact, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is playing the role of a buffer between extremist forces and moderate parties. He has expertise and has links in Fata and Afghanistan. They (the PML-N) can utilise his expertise,” he said. Mr Achakzai said the JUI-F had so far not expressed its desire to join the government and would make a final decision in the light of the report of a four-member committee which had been constituted on Sunday to hold further talks with the second tier of the PML-N leadership. The committee members are Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, Akram Khan Durrani and Malik Sikandar Khan.
Gas price increase likely LAHORE, May 19: The caretaker government would increase gas rates for all five categories of consumers, Petroleum Minister Suhail Wajahat said on Sunday. . Addressing a press conference with federal minister for water and power, Mr Wajahat said that all five categories of consumers (CNG, domestic/ commercial, power, fertiliser and cement sectors) would face increase in tariff. He said that without tariff increase, the sector would suffer “irreparable economic and efficiency loss”. “But an attempt will be made to create a balance between sectoral fiscal needs and people’s capacity to pay,” the minister said. About supply of oil and gas to the power sector, he said that during the election week the sector had arranged gas and oil without getting payments. “It cannot afford any more. The supply cannot be free of cost,” he insisted. “We asked the Finance Division to release Rs150 billion for keeping the supply chain intact but have not got it yet. How could a sector survive without any money? The Karachi Electric Supply Company owes Rs60 billion (Rs47bn to SSGPL and Rs13bn to PSO) to the ministry. How can the ministry afford this kind of credit to each of its consumer?” The ministry has conveyed to both gas companies that it would have zero tolerance for gas theft and recoveries. “The gas theft and line losses are costing the country around Rs300bn a year. Such inefficiency cannot and should not be tolerated,” he said. —Ahmad Fraz Khan
Zahra’s slaying: Imran calls for protests in Karachi today By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 19: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has again alleged that his party’s senior leader Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed at the behest of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and has urged his workers in Karachi to stand up against ‘oppression’ in the city. . Responding to the allegation, the MQM said that Mr Khan had hurled the accusation against it before investigation into the incident and announced that it would hold demonstrations across the world against the PTI. In a video message released on Sunday from the Shaukat Khanum Hospital where he is recovering from injuries suffered in an accident during an election rally, the PTI chief said Zahra Shahid had been murdered at the behest of the MQM. He termed the incident part of its policy to control the city by spreading fear. The elderly PTI leader, who was vice-president of the party’s Sindh chapter, was shot dead outside her home in Karachi on Saturday night. Appealing to his party’s workers to take a stand against ‘brutalities’ and protest against the murder on Monday, Mr Khan also urged other parties and those who wanted an end to the era of oppression to join the demonstration and not to lose this opportunity. He said had he been discharged from the hospital he himself would have led the protest in Karachi. He said Zahra Shahid had not laid down her life without a cause and her sacrifice would not go in vain. The PTI chairman also urged his party’s workers to join a sit-in being held outside the Election Commission offices in Islamabad in protest against alleged rigging in the May 11 elections. Backtracking on his demand for re-polling, Mr Khan said he was not insisting on it for the sake of continuity of the democratic system. He urged the chief justice of Pakistan and chief election commissioner to take notice of the killings and rigging and said the nation had pinned high hopes on the judiciary and the ECP for justice.
Zardari in Lahore; to meet Punjab PPP leaders today LAHORE, May 19: President Asif Ali Zardari, who arrived here from Islamabad on Sunday afternoon on a two-day visit, would preside over a meeting of the Punjab PPP leaders on Monday.. President Zardari attended a dinner hosted by the South Asia Free Media Association. A rumour was doing the rounds in the city that Mr Zardari would visit PTI Chairman Imran Khan who is being treated in the Shaukat Khanum Hospital for injuries he suffered from a fall during an election rally. But Imran Khan has reportedly shown little interest in receiving the president. Presidential spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar said Mr Zardari was not scheduled to visit the hospital.—Staff Reporter
Musharraf gets bail in Benazir case By Malik Asad RAWALPINDI, May 20: A perceivably friendly prosecution led to grant of bail to former president retired General Pervez Musharraf in the Benazir Bhutto murder case by the Anti-Terrorism Court here on Monday.. ATC Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman ordered release of the former army chief on bail on submission of Rs2 million surety bonds. But he will remain in his farmhouse till obtaining bail in cases pertaining to judges’ detention and Nawab Akbar Bugti’s murder. During the course of arguments, the special prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) raised no objection to the bail application of Mr Musharraf. Instead, he suggested a heavy surety amount. He said: “Gen Musharraf would escape from the country if the court releases him on bail but depositing a heavy amount as surety might prevent him from going abroad.” If he went abroad, he said, the surety amount might be of some use to the national exchequer. After the murder of Ms Bhutto on Dec 27, 2007 the Punjab government constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) which submitted a charge-sheet without nominating Gen Musharraf. On Aug 6, 2009 the investigation was transferred to the FIA and the following year its JIT implicated Gen Musharraf in the case. According to the JIT report, Gen Musharraf was upset by the speeches of Ms Bhutto against the imposition of emergency in November 2007. It said that the Musharraf government did not provide adequate security to the former prime minister despite her repeated requests. After the assassination of Ms Bhutto, Gen Musharraf ordered then director general of the National Crisis Management Cell to hold a press conference “with the motive to influence subsequent police investigation”, it said. The report mentioned an email sent by Ms Bhutto to US lobbyist Mark Siegel on October 26, 2007 in which she said that Gen Musharraf should be held responsible if she was killed. Before this, she had written a letter to Mr Musharraf, forewarning that then chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, former director general of Inter Services Intelligence Hameed Gul and former chief of Intelligence Bureau Ejaz Shah had hatched a conspiracy to get her assassinated. Mr Musharraf’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said his client had gone abroad after resigning as the president and the FIA had implicated him in the case during his stay abroad. He returned to the country on his own to prove his innocence. He said Mr Musharraf had been implicated in the case merely on grounds of suspicion. Though Ms Bhutto had suspected that some people might get her killed, those people were never interrogated or made to face a trial. He said the case had been lingering on for over five years which proved that the prosecution was not interested in bringing it to an end. Transfer of investigation from one to another agency and submission of two charge-sheets indicated that the case was being used for political purpose and not for reaching the ends of justice, he argued. The court dismissed a post-arrest bail application of Abdul Rasheed, another accused in the Bhutto murder case, after hearing arguments of his counsel Rao Abdul Rahim and the FIA special prosecutor. Talking to Dawn, Mr Rahim alleged that prosecution had not been “friendly” to his client unlike its attitude to Mr Musharraf. Legal expert Faisal Hussain Chaudhry said even if Mr Musharraf obtained bail in the cases of judges’ detention and Akbar Bugti’s murder, he could not go abroad because his name had been placed on the Exit Control List. During the hearing of ‘high treason’ case, the Supreme Court ordered the interior ministry last month to place the name of Gen Musharraf on the ECL. The counsel of Mr Musharraf has already moved the apex court for removing his name from the list. Mr Musharraf’s lawyer in the high treason case, Ahmed Raza Kasuri, told AFP: “He will get free from all cases one by one…He will stay in the country and won’t go abroad…Rumours that he will go abroad before Nawaz Sharif takes charge of the prime minister office are false.”
Dialogue with Taliban best option, says Nawaz By Amjad Mahmood LAHORE, May 20: Contrary to the military’s stand on the war against terrorism, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif considers dialogue with militants as the best option to restore peace in the country. . “Forty thousands precious lives have so far been lost and the national economy is suffering a loss of billions of dollars (in the war against terrorism). Why should not (we) sit for a dialogue to restore peace,” the chief executive of the incoming government told his party’s legislators-elect at a ceremony here on Monday. “Is it a bad option?” he asked and then answered himself: “It is the best available option.” He said gun was not a solution to any problem, adding that the Taliban’s offer for dialogue should be taken seriously. Every option should be explored to bring an end to the ongoing carnage in Karachi and tribal areas, he suggested. The PML-N chief has been supporting the peace-through-dialogue option since the Taliban wanted him tom be one of the three guarantors for their negotiations with the government “in the best national interest” in February this year. The Taliban avoided attacking the N-League during its election campaign. Amid applause from the audience, Mr Sharif reiterated his position of wholeheartedly accepting the mandate of other parties. “Sindh has given its mandate to the PPP and MQM. They are welcome. They should form the (provincial) government and then there should be no more killings in Karachi,” he said and assured the two parties that they would get the support of the federal government in meeting that objective. The PML-N chief said his party could have formed its government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but it was giving the first right to the single largest party (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf) there. Being a majority party in Balochistan, he said, the N-League would form a coalition government there. There should be no politicking at the cost of national interest. Mr Sharif said the era of taking to streets for overthrowing an elected government must end and every government should be given the right to complete its constitutional term. He said May 11 proved to be a day of accountability. In civilised nations, accountability should be held in this manner. He suggested a code of ethics for politicians and said he had neither carried out his party’s election campaign in a negative manner nor called anyone names, a reference to anti-PML-N ads carried out in the media by the PPP and PML-Q and ‘abusive’ language used by PTI leaders. He was happy over smooth and peaceful transfer of power going to take place in the country and said that had such maturity been shown 65 years ago the country would have been in a better shape today. The PML-N chief talked of every possible and earliest relief in loadshedding but stopped short of giving any deadline, saying the issue was quite complicated. The nation, he said, would soon see that the government was heading in the right direction. “Forty thousands precious lives have so far been lost and the national economy is suffering a loss of billions of dollars (in the war against terrorism). Why should not (we) sit for a dialogue to restore peace,” the chief executive of the incoming government told his party’s legislators-elect at a ceremony here on Monday. “Is it a bad option?” he asked and then answered himself: “It is the best available option.” He said gun was not a solution to any problem, adding that the Taliban’s offer for dialogue should be taken seriously. Every option should be explored to bring an end to the ongoing carnage in Karachi and tribal areas, he suggested. The PML-N chief has been supporting the peace-through-dialogue option since the Taliban wanted him tom be one of the three guarantors for their negotiations with the government “in the best national interest” in February this year. The Taliban avoided attacking the N-League during its election campaign. Amid applause from the audience, Mr Sharif reiterated his position of wholeheartedly accepting the mandate of other parties. “Sindh has given its mandate to the PPP and MQM. They are welcome. They should form the (provincial) government and then there should be no more killings in Karachi,” he said and assured the two parties that they would get the support of the federal government in meeting that objective. The PML-N chief said his party could have formed its government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but it was giving the first right to the single largest party (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf) there. Being a majority party in Balochistan, he said, the N-League would form a coalition government there. There should be no politicking at the cost of national interest. Mr Sharif said the era of taking to streets for overthrowing an elected government must end and every government should be given the right to complete its constitutional term. He said May 11 proved to be a day of accountability. In civilised nations, accountability should be held in this manner. He suggested a code of ethics for politicians and said he had neither carried out his party’s election campaign in a negative manner nor called anyone names, a reference to anti-PML-N ads carried out in the media by the PPP and PML-Q and ‘abusive’ language used by PTI leaders. He was happy over smooth and peaceful transfer of power going to take place in the country and said that had such maturity been shown 65 years ago the country would have been in a better shape today. The PML-N chief talked of every possible and earliest relief in loadshedding but stopped short of giving any deadline, saying the issue was quite complicated. The nation, he said, would soon see that the government was heading in the right direction. “Forty thousands precious lives have so far been lost and the national economy is suffering a loss of billions of dollars (in the war against terrorism). Why should not (we) sit for a dialogue to restore peace,” the chief executive of the incoming government told his party’s legislators-elect at a ceremony here on Monday. “Is it a bad option?” he asked and then answered himself: “It is the best available option.” He said gun was not a solution to any problem, adding that the Taliban’s offer for dialogue should be taken seriously. Every option should be explored to bring an end to the ongoing carnage in Karachi and tribal areas, he suggested. The PML-N chief has been supporting the peace-through-dialogue option since the Taliban wanted him tom be one of the three guarantors for their negotiations with the government “in the best national interest” in February this year. The Taliban avoided attacking the N-League during its election campaign. Amid applause from the audience, Mr Sharif reiterated his position of wholeheartedly accepting the mandate of other parties. “Sindh has given its mandate to the PPP and MQM. They are welcome. They should form the (provincial) government and then there should be no more killings in Karachi,” he said and assured the two parties that they would get the support of the federal government in meeting that objective. The PML-N chief said his party could have formed its government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but it was giving the first right to the single largest party (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf) there. Being a majority party in Balochistan, he said, the N-League would form a coalition government there. There should be no politicking at the cost of national interest. Mr Sharif said the era of taking to streets for overthrowing an elected government must end and every government should be given the right to complete its constitutional term. He said May 11 proved to be a day of accountability. In civilised nations, accountability should be held in this manner. He suggested a code of ethics for politicians and said he had neither carried out his party’s election campaign in a negative manner nor called anyone names, a reference to anti-PML-N ads carried out in the media by the PPP and PML-Q and ‘abusive’ language used by PTI leaders. He was happy over smooth and peaceful transfer of power going to take place in the country and said that had such maturity been shown 65 years ago the country would have been in a better shape today. The PML-N chief talked of every possible and earliest relief in loadshedding but stopped short of giving any deadline, saying the issue was quite complicated. The nation, he said, would soon see that the government was heading in the right direction.
Poll outcome discussed with candidates: ‘Some forces’ plotted against PPP: Zardari By Zulqernain Tahir LAHORE, May 20: President Asif Ali Zardari thinks that some “local and international forces” ensured that the PPP did not come to power again and accused them of stealing the “party’s mandate” in the general elections. . “The PPP has been kept out of power by force as some local and international forces were against its coming to power again,” President Zardari said while addressing the party’s election candidates at the Bilawal House here on Monday. He said some forces did not like the PPP government’s steps for lasting peace and stability in the region and the fight against poverty. He also talked about the PPP government’s agreements with some countries in the region that had annoyed the international forces, an apparent reference to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline and an agreement on Gwadar with China. “In the elections, the PPP did not lose but the party having a ‘specific ideology’ won,” he said. President Zardari asked the party’s workers not to be disheartened by the defeat, saying those who had ‘stolen its mandate’ would soon be exposed before the nation. “We will thoroughly analyse the factors behind the party’s defeat and strengthen it in the days to come,” he said, adding that even the dictators could not harm the PPP in the past. The president also talked about giving tough time to the (PML-N) government from opposition benches. “Do not forget when the BB Shaheed (late Benazir Bhutto) was the opposition leader (in 1997) the PPP had 17 seats (in the National Assembly). Today we have more seat. We will do effective politics in the opposition in a democratic way.” Asking the workers again not to lose heart, the president said he would be among them after completing his tenure and actively participate in politics. “I will spend most of my time here in Bilawal House meeting with the party workers,” he said. During the two-hour meeting, the ticket-holders were given an opportunity to vent their feelings. A candidate from Lahore told Dawn that the president asked him and others to give reasons behind the party’s defeat. Those who got the opportunity to speak talked about ‘systematic’ rigging. They also blamed former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf for the setback. “I told the president about rigging by the PML-N candidate in my constituency and also the leaders’ lack of support and no campaign by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” he said. The workers called upon Mr Zardari not to give key positions to those responsible for the party’s poor performance and inject fresh blood instead. The president listened to the suggestions and promised to remain in touch with them. Some workers criticised the PPP’s policy of reconciliation. “I know some jialas (diehard workers) are against my policy of reconciliation but I will continue it,” President Zardari said. On Sunday, President Zardari had told a journalists’ group that “the PPP could not run its campaign due to threats to its leadership by the Taliban”. The president said he would complete his tenure and it was pointless to resign at this stage. He said the PPP could have won 40 to 45 seats in Punjab.
Nawaz felicitated ISLAMABAD: Nine days after the elections in which the PML-N emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly, President Asif Ali Zardari extended an olive branch to the party on Monday by felicitating the prime minister in waiting, Nawaz Sharif.. The president also talked to ANP chairman Asfandyar Wali and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in connection with the May 11 polls. “President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned Mian Nawaz Sharif and felicitated him on victory in elections,” his spokesman Farhatullah Babar said. The president felicitated the people and all parties on participation in the elections paving way for the first democratic transition in the country. “The elections, followed by a smooth transfer of power in the coming days, will be remembered as a watershed in our political evolution and a triumph of the democratic ethos of the people and political parties.” President Zardari and Mr Sharif are likely to meet informally, for the first time since the elections, on Wednesday, as the PML-N leader has been invited by the presidency to a lunch being hosted in honour of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang.—Syed Irfan Raza
Kayani praises nation for defying extremists By Baqar Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, May 20: Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has praised the nation for defying the dictates of extremists and reaffirming its commitment to moderation by participating in the May 11 elections. . “In these elections, people of Pakistan not only courageously withstood the threat of terrorism, they also defied unfounded dictates of an insignificant and misguided minority,” he said at an international symposium on countering improvised explosives devises (IEDs) held at the military’s general headquarters in Rawalpindi on Monday. The symposium was attended by delegates from 28 countries and a number of Islamabad-based diplomats. Third in a series, the symposium has become an annual event; the first was on de-radicalisation held in Swat in 2011. Some of the speakers also congratulated the country for successfully holding the elections despite a strong terrorist threat. The Chief of Army Staff said: “As a nation we are peace loving people. Overwhelming majority of our people is moderate, resilient and extraordinarily hardworking… Our commitment to moderation, prosperity and rule of law is total and unwavering. We have the resolve and a firm belief to overcome the challenges towards attainment of these goals.” He said Pakistan had benefited from the experiences of other countries in the fight against terrorism. “In pursuit of global peace, we have to respond to this enemy equally innovatively while always staying a step ahead,” Gen Kayani said. He described IEDs as a new dimension of threat to people and law- enforcement agencies but pointed out that it was not a Pakistan-specific issue. Even the most developed countries are vulnerable to the threat as showed by the Boston bombing in which home-made explosive was used. He said thousands of Pakistanis had been killed in IED attacks, but the issue was often discussed in the context of Afghanistan and the smuggling of precursor material — calcium ammonium nitrate — into that country where IEDs had become most potent weapon of Taliban militants. About the counter-IED strategy being developed by the army as the lead agency, he said it aimed at creating awareness, assisting legislation, adopting best practices from across the world, suitably equipping security forces and effectively training them. He called for a comprehensive global approach to deal with the problem and proposed a regional organisation on countering IEDs. “I am hopeful that with the support and collaboration of international community, Pakistan and the region will overcome the menace of IEDs. Our success will hinge upon adopting a focused and multilayered approach, improving upon the ability to work with partners around the globe and at all levels of government and the private sector; to monitor, protect against and ultimately reduce the threat of an IED being used successfully. “We must continue to coordinate our efforts, commit the required resources and maintain the hard-earned counter-IED experiences,” he said.
Rs22bn more for ‘corrupt’ power sector: minister By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, May 20: As loadshedding surged across the country amid rising temperatures and declining generation, the caretaker government decided on Monday to inject another Rs22.5 billion into the power system to revive a broken down supply chain and provide some relief to the consumers.. Power Minister Dr Musadik Malik announced the decision taken by the prime minister, but said injection of public money into a highly corrupt, inefficient and bottomless power sector was not the best of economic decisions. The decision had nevertheless been taken to provide relief to the people suffering from widespread outages under extreme weather conditions, he said. “The power sector has plunged into a grave crisis soon after the elections, resulting in serious loadshedding for which we apologise to the nation. But causes of the problem are outside the control of the power ministry,” Dr Malik said at a news conference. He attributed the problem to disruption in fuel supplies, saying the power sector was getting 19,000 tonnes of furnace oil from the petroleum ministry during the election time that plunged to an average of 11,000 tonnes per day because of non-payments. On top of that, the ministry cut additional gas supply to power houses by half – from 50 million cubic feet daily to 75MMcfd. As a result of these factors, the generation tumbled to about 9,500 megawatts from 12,800MW a week ago. He said the demand had increased to about 15,500MW, leaving a shortfall of over 6,000MW. The minister said after he raised the alarm before the prime minister, the latter immediately called a meeting of the ministries of petroleum, power and finance and ordered disbursement of Rs22.5bn within a day. About Rs15bn of the amount will be utilised to retire letters of credit of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to revive the oil supply chain, while Rs3-4bn has been earmarked to purchase diesel for four efficient power plants in the private sector that were facing closure due to gas cuts. The diesel-based electricity would be expensive, but not much when compared with the suffering of the people, the minister said. He said a couple of shipments of furnace oil ordered by PSO had to be cancelled or delayed in recent weeks, but one of them had been revived following the decision for fresh disbursements. As a result, the power generation has again increased to 10,800MW and will improve to about 12,500MW in two days. Dr Malik said the prime minister had asked the finance ministry to sanction another Rs42bn for disbursement to the power sector next month because Rs22.5bn would cater for only 10 days to maintain the supply at 12,000MW during the current month. “We do not want to leave the power sector to the elected government in a shape we inherited from our predecessors,” he said in an attempt to justify the allocation for next month when the new government would be in its early days. He said he had inherited a power generation of 7,800MW and had been able to increase it to 12,800MW in a short period, which meant that the coming government with substantial time and understanding could add another 3,000MW in three months. Dr Malik said his ministry and the power sector were full of corrupt officials and he had been able to dislodge the linchpin of the mafia by removing some of the key officials, including the managing director of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), head of the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) and a few others at the Jamshoro Generation Company. “But it would be the job of the next government to take the process forward to get rid of the corrupt rot deep set in the entire system if it wants to bring under control the power crisis, because corruption worth Rs75bn is taking place in a single deal,” he said. He said the new government, with a broader mandate and resources at its disposal, could substantially bring the system under control only by bringing offline power houses into use, ensuring expected improvement in hydroelectricity generation and controlling theft. Dr Malik said a random audit over the past few days had revealed that 22 out of 32 grid stations had been closed down in Gujranwala region, the entire Sialkot was out of system for the coming few days and Faisalabad was off grid, while Mansehra region did not get electricity for 18 straight hours. The minister said power production at the Jamshoro plant could have been made possible at five cents per unit through its dedicated gas supply, but the electricity was being produced at Rs16-18 per unit on furnace oil. “This is criminal and unacceptable. You cannot run a business by selling a product at Rs8 against its production cost of Rs14,” he said. He criticised the contracts signed with the Karachi Electric Supply Company and revisions in them introduced by the previous government, but said the caretaker government did not have the mandate to open legal documents during a short period. The contracts could be revised by making use of violations being committed by the KESC, which the next government would be better placed to look into, he said. “The new government would have to move quickly for conversion of power plants to coal and co-generation to resolve the crisis,” the caretaker minister concluded.
Steps against IED precursors praised By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 20: A senior military official of the United States said on Monday that Pakistan was doing better in curbing smuggling of improvised explosive device (IED) precursors to Afghanistan as Islamabad announced a host of legal measures to deal with the threat posed by explosives.. “Situation has changed since December. Government of Pakistan has done several things,” Brig Gen Robert P. Walters Jr., deputy director of the US military’s Joint IED Defeat Organisation (Jieddo), said at a symposium held at the General Headquarters. He was asked to give his evaluation of Pakistan’s efforts to prevent smuggling of IED precursors into Afghanistan. Jieddo is Pentagon’s lead body on the IED threat. Gen Walters listed Frontier Constabulary’s activities in border areas for preventing precursors’ flow into Afghanistan as the basis for his organisation’s change in assessment of Pakistan’s performance on IEDs — an issue that since 2010 has remained a sore point in bilateral relations. He said Fatima Fertiliser Company, the main producer of fertiliser containing ammonium nitrate, had improved its distribution and tracking arrangements to ensure that its product did not fall into wrong hands. In December, Jieddo chief Lt Gen Michael Barbero criticised Pakistan’s performance during his testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) — an agriculture fertiliser — is the most commonly used ingredient in home-made bombs. Last year, according to US estimates, about 200 tonnes of CAN were smuggled into Afghanistan from Pakistan. On mixing with petroleum, CAN fertiliser becomes a powerful home-made explosive. Gen Walters said while CAN was still the most commonly used precursor, militants were increasingly turning to Potassium Chlorate. The US has so far provided $50 million to Pakistan in five projects to build its capacity for dealing with IEDs and precursor material. Gen Walters, however, noted that IEDs were difficult to fight and there were no easy solutions. IEDs, he feared, would remain an enduring threat in foreseeable future. Caretaker Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi, in his presentation, said the government was planning to enact an IED-specific legislation. Other measures being considered included amendment to Explosives Act 1882 to include IEDs and framing IED rules. He said extension of Private Armies Prohibition Act, FIA Act and ATA were being extended to Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and Pata (Provincially Administered Tribal Areas), while section 121 of PPC (waging war against state) was being inserted into the Schedule of FCR.
Levies man dies in attack on polio team By Anwarullah Khan KHAAR, May 20: A member of the Levies force was killed in an armed attack on a polio vaccination team in the Bajaur tribal region on Monday. . According to a local official, the team was administrating anti-polio drops in Kalan village of Mamood area along the border with Afghanistan when militants opened fire on them from a nearby field. This was the first such attack in the area. “A Bajaur Levy soldier escorting the polio team was killed on the spot,” the official said, adding that eight suspected tribesmen had been taken into custody. An official at the tribal secretariat in Peshawar said the anti-polio campaign in the region would continue. “We are taking stock of the situation and will take further security measures to protect the polio teams,” he said. A total of 682 teams – mobile, transit and fixed – were involved in administering anti-polio drops among over 223,500 children in Bajaur, the official said. No woman is participating in the campaign because of security threats.
Chinese premier’s visit to boost strategic ties By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 21: The Foreign Office has expressed the hope that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s two-day visit to Pakistan starting on Wednesday will help cement strategic ties between the two countries. . Foreign policy experts are attaching great significance to the visit during which agreements on several energy and infrastructure projects will be signed. On the eve of the visit, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Song Tao has described Pakistan as an “all-weather strategic partner”. Pakistan is China’s major ally in the region. The two countries have strong political and defence cooperation and want to intensify collaboration on the economic front. “Pak-China traditional and friendly ties are based on shared principles and mutual interests entailing cooperation in diverse fields. Both countries hold identical views on important world issues and cooperate at international forums,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said on Tuesday. China intends to explore the untapped market in Pakistan. A senior Chinese trade mission has arrived here a few days ago to identify the items that China may import. The volume of bilateral trade stands at about $12 billion and the two countries are trying to increase it to $15bn over a few years. More than 100 Chinese companies are working on different projects in Pakistan with an investment of about $2bn. Important among the agreements the two sides plan to sign during the visit are accords on Gwadar port and development of related infrastructure. Other agreements relate to the fields of economy, science and technology, space and upper atmosphere communication and energy. This will be the Chinese premier’s first visit to Pakistan since assuming office in March. He will be in Islamabad days ahead of installation of a new government. He will meet Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N leader who will be heading the incoming government. A senior Pakistani diplomat said the visit would convey a message of goodwill from China to the new government in Islamabad. Prime Minister Li, who will be leading a high-powered delegation, will have extensive political engagements in Islamabad. Besides meeting President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, he will meet Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari, Speaker of National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza and leaders of major political parties. He will also address a special session of the Senate. The Chinese premier will be conferred upon Nishan-i-Pakistan, the country’s highest award. Issues related to regional security, particularly Afghanistan and withdrawal of coalition troops from that county, will feature in Prime Minister Li’s talks with Pakistani leaders. “It is important to note that China relies on Pakistan’s input and perspective on regional issues,” a Pakistani diplomat said.
Imran starts walking unaided By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 21: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan was fitted with a specially designed spinal brace on Tuesday which enabled him to stand upright unsupported for the first time since his fall from a forklift and resultant injuries during an election campaign on May 7. . According to doctors, the former cricket star walked unaided for over 300 metres and did not complain of any pain. They said the PTI chief was likely to be discharged from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. “He will gradually increase physical activity over the next few weeks and is expected to regain his full functional capacity in six to eight weeks,” they said. Imran Khan had a series of spine X-rays which, according to the doctors, confirmed continued healing and excellent alignment of his backbone. The X-rays were reviewed by a team of radiologists and surgeons who expressed satisfaction about his recovery. Mr Khan’s consultants said that after being discharged from the hospital he would have to receive regular physiotherapy and need to wear the spinal support for some more weeks. Like he had been doing in the past, Imran Khan would pay the entire cost of his hospitalisation at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre from his own pocket. Hospital officials said a number of Mr Khan’s friends and well-wishers had offered to pay his medical bill, but he asked them to donate that money to the hospital for the care of poor cancer patients. AFP adds: Shireen Mazari, spokesperson for the PTI, said Imran Khan was feeling better and had managed to walk in hospital. “Imran Khan will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday,” she said, adding: “I have just talked to Imran Khan, who told me that he would be going home tomorrow.” Khwaja Nazir, spokesman for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, confirmed that the PTI chief would be moving home on Wednesday. “He has already worn a brace around his back, which he will have to use for four to six weeks,” he said.
One-week suspension for transport in Punjab: CNG use in large vehicles banned By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, May 21: In a major decision taken a few weeks before the end of its tenure, the caretaker government imposed on Tuesday a ban on the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) in vehicles with engine capacity of over 1000cc.. In a separate decision, the petroleum ministry also decided to stop gas supply to transport sector in Punjab for a week. A senior official told Dawn that the decision to ban use of CNG in large vehicles was taken by the prime minister to reduce gas consumed by the transport sector. Public transport and vehicles maintained by the government would be exempted from the ban. He said owners of CNG stations would be penalised for selling gas to vehicles with engine capacity of over 1000cc. A fine of Rs50,000 would be imposed for first violation and the fine would increase to Rs100,000 for second violation and Rs600,000 for the third violation. In case of fourth violation, the CNG station would be shut for one year, he added. When contacted, a senior official of petroleum ministry confirmed that the ministry had received directives from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in this regard, but he said the directives had been forwarded to the Law Division for vetting because their implementation could create some legal complications. “We are really confused,” he said, adding that the secretary petroleum who was required to sign every summary on behalf of the ministry had not even seen the directives. The directives have also been sent to two gas utilities and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for implementation. An Ogra official, however, said the regulator was required to follow government’s policy guidelines duly approved by the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECCC) or the federal cabinet. These directives were neither approved by the ECCC nor the cabinet, he added. The gas supply to transport sector in Punjab will remain suspended till May 27 owing to closure of Qadirpur gas field for annual maintenance that would reduce gas supply by about 400MMCFD (million cubic feet per day). “The CNG sector has been notified about suspension of gas supply throughout Punjab from midnight on Tuesday and till morning of May 27,” an official of the petroleum ministry told Dawn. Four independent power producers (IPPs) in Punjab — Orient, Saif, Sapphire and Halmore — producing over 800mw would also face gas disconnection during the week but alternate arrangements had been made to run them on oil, he said. He said the Qadirpur’s annual turnaround (ATA) could not be postponed because it had started showing signs that could have led to serious problems in the long run. Hence it was decided to carry out maintenance to complete the work in less than a week instead of the usually required 10 days. Both the decisions were immediately rejected by the All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA). Talking to Dawn, chairman of the supreme council of the association Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha accused the caretakers of creating a crisis and trying to divert the attention of the PML-N, which is going to form government at the centre, from the issue of gas shortage. He said taking such important decisions was beyond the mandate of the caretaker government and it should have left such matters for the incoming government. Mr Paracha criticised the petroleum ministry’s plan to suspend gas supply to CNG outlets for a week in the name of maintenance of plants and said that this would seriously affect the masses and businesses. He accused the ministry of assuming the authority of Ogra. Licences issued to CNG operators clearly indicated that any decision regarding gas supply would be taken with consensus but the ministry was taking unilateral decisions, he added.
Kidnappers free ex-law official By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, May 21: A former advocate general of Balochistan, Salahuddin Mengal, returned home late on Tuesday night after remaining in the captivity of kidnappers for over two months, family sources said. . They said the kidnappers left Mr Mengal at Kachi Baig area of Sariab road. The sources said the family had denied paying ransom for the release. The kidnappers had earlier demanded Rs50 million for the release and the figure had later been reduced to Rs30m, they added. Mr Mengal, who had served as advocate general of Balochistan for about 10 years, was kidnapped on April 3 from Sariab road when he was going home with his brother. At a press conference on Monday, DIG operations Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal had indicated that some people involved in the kidnapping of the former advocate general had been arrested and that he would be released soon.
New district in Balochistan By Our Staff Correspondent QUETTA, May 21: The government of Balochistan has created a new district — Lehri in Nasirabad division. . Bakhtiarabad will be the headquarters of the new district carved out under section 6 of the Balochistan Land Revenue Act 1967, according to a notification issued by the revenue department on Tuesday. It said the district would comprise the tehsils of Lehri and Bhag, except the Sorani revenue area. The tehsils have been separated from the districts of Sibi and Kachhi. Separating Lehri from Sibi was a longstanding demand of political parties and people of the area. The number of districts in Balochistan has now reached 31.
PML-N bagged 119pc more votes than in 2008 By Iftikhar A. Khan & Kalbe Ali ISLAMABAD, May 21: Against a general perception that the emergence of a third force would adversely affect the PML-N vote bank in the May 11 elections, figures released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday revealed that the party polled 119 per cent more votes than in the 2008 elections. . The PML-N is on top with its candidates for the National Assembly securing 14.86 million votes as against 6.78m in 2008. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which had boycotted the 2008 elections has succeeded in making inroads into the strongholds of other parties across the country. It has become the second largest party with 7.67m votes. The PPP, which had led the last coalition government, has lost over one-third of its vote bank. The party’s candidates, who had clinched 10.6m votes in the 2008 elections, have managed to secure only 6.85m. The vote bank of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has declined by two per cent to 2.45m. It had secured 2.5m votes in 2008. The PPP has emerged as the single largest party in Sindh with its candidates for the provincial assembly securing 3.2m votes, followed by the MQM with 2.5m. The PTI candidates for the Sindh Assembly have secured a little over 0.6m votes, with the PML-N standing behind by a few thousand votes. The PML-N candidates for the Punjab Assembly secured 11.23m votes, enabling the party to retain the reigns of the provincial government on its own. The PTI has secured 4.9m votes in the province, followed by the PPP with 2.4m. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI has swept the polls becoming the only party to secure over 10m votes. The PML-N clinched 8.5m and the PPP 4.6m votes. In Balochistan, the PML-N got 134,758 votes, followed by the PPP (51,976) and the PTI (24,030). TURNOUT: The overall voter turnout for the National Assembly elections was 55.02 per cent, an all-time high despite threats of terror attacks. The highest turnout of 61.96pc was recorded in the Federal Capital where 389,976 votes were polled. The number of registered voters in the capital was 626,383. In Punjab, the turnout was 59.62pc. The number of registered voters in the province was 48.8m and 28.76m votes were cast. In Sindh, the turnout was 53.82pc. The number of registered voters in the province was 17.86m and 9.78m of them cast their votes. The turnout in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was 44.83pc, with 5.4m casting their vote from among 12.26m registered voters. In Balochistan, out of 3.1m registered voters, 1.3m (42.5pc) cast their votes. The turnout in Fata was the lowest but encouraging given the security situation. Out of 1.36m registered voters, over half million cast their votes. In the provincial assembly elections, the turnout in Punjab was 58.52pc, followed by 54.62pc in Sindh, 44.74pc in KP and 40.86pc in Balochistan. HIGH TURNOUT: The highest turnout was recorded in NA-191 (Bahawalnagar) in Punjab where 211,774 votes were cast out of a total of 326,972 registered voters. Former military ruler Gen Ziaul Haq’s son Mohammad Ejazul Haq of the PML-Z won the seat by securing 79,306 votes. Other 10 constituencies with high turnout are: NA-58 Attock (83.09pc) where Malik Ihtebar Khan of the PML-N won by securing 85,244 votes; NA-228 Umerkot (68.84pc) where Nawab Yousif Talpur of the PPPP emerged victorious with 99,700 votes; NA-73 Bhakkar-I (68.31pc) where Abdul Majeed Khan of the PML-N secured 97,688 votes; NA-74 Bhakkar-II (68.16pc) where independent candidate Dr Mohammad Afzal Khan Dhandla won the seat by bagging 118,196 votes; NA-181 Layyah (68.11pc) where Sahibzada Faizul Hassan of the PML-N was the winner with 119,403 votes; NA-188 Bahawalnagar-I (67.99pc) where Syed Muhammad Asghar, an independent candidate, won with 90,537 votes; NA-91 Jhang-VI (67.82pc) where independent candidate Najaf Abbas Sial with 91,301 votes was the winner; NA-182 Layyah-II (67.82pc) where Syed Mohammad Saqlain Bukhari of the PML-N was the winner with 85,292 votes; and NA-233 Dadu-II (67.50pc) was won by Imran Zafar Leghari of the PPPP. LOW TURNOUT: The lowest turnout of 11.57pc was recorded in NA-42 Tribal Area-VII where only 12,649 voters exercised their right out of a total of 108,056 registered votes. The seat was won by Muhammad Jamaluddin of the JUI-F with 3,468 votes. Other 10 constituencies with low turnout are: NA-271 Kharan-Washuk-Panjgur (19.06pc) where retired Lt Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch of the PML-N was the winner with 7,388 votes; NA-43 Tribal Area-VIII (26.14pc) where independent candidate Bismillah Khan won with 13,929 votes; NA-272 Kech-Gwadar (29.92pc) where Sayed Essa Nori of the Balochistan National Party was the winner with 15,835 votes; NA-36 Tribal Area-I (29.92pc) where independent candidate Bilal Rehman became victorious with 9,005 votes; NA-34 Lower Dir (30.15pc) where Shahibzada Mohammad Yaqub of Jamaat-i-Islami won with 49,475 votes; NA-16 Hangu (30.81pc) where Khial Zaman Aurakzai of the PTI became the winner with 24,067 votes; NA-31 Shangla (31.67pc) where Dr Ibadullah of the PML-N won by securing 30,916 votes; NA-33 Upper Dir (32.14pc) where Sahibzada Tariqullah of Jamaat-i-Islami was the winner with 42,582 votes; and NA-44 Tribal Area-IX (32.43pc) where Shahabuddin Khan of the PML-N won by bagging 15,114 votes.
Unyielding Zehri tests PML-N’s skills in Balochistan By Amjad Mahmood LAHORE, May 21: The PML-N is in a fix over government formation in Balochistan as its provincial chief, Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, has refused to quit the race for the office of chief minister. . Mr Zehri enjoys the confidence of the party’s parliamentary group, which has already nominated him as its leader in the Balochistan Assembly. But the PML-N’s likely allies in the province have refused to accept him as chief minister because he had been part of the cabinet led by Aslam Raisani that, according to them, set new records of misappropriation of state funds. The PML-N is the largest party in the house with 13 seats — it won nine seats and four independents have so far joined it. It is seeking cooperation from the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (10 seats) and National Party (seven) to form a coalition government. According to PML-N leaders, the party’s chief Nawaz Sharif is in favour of nominating Jangez Khan Marri as chief minister and has not yet given audience to Mr Zehri. But the latter is determined to bag the slot on the basis of his support within the parliamentary party. Mr Zehri could only hold one-to-one meeting with Shahbaz Sharif. To make matters worse for Mr Sharif, the PKMAP and the NP have been reluctant to sit with the JUI-F. Sources quoted PKMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai as saying his party’s legislators could not sit with the JUI-F as they had defeated them in the elections. “Forming a coalition with the JUI-F would mean supporting our rivals who had been in power since 2002,” he is reported to have told the mediators. The sources said that even if Mr Marri was made to withdraw in favour of Mr Zehri, the coalition was not likely to last long because of the latter’s differences with the leaders of the PKMAP and NP. FEDERAL CABINET: Mr Sharif is also under pressure on the composition of the federal cabinet he is going to form after taking charge as prime minister for the third time. Members of the Shirazi and Jatoi families of Sindh who have joined the PML-N after winning the polls are reported to have been taken aback by an offer made by Mr Sharif to the PPP and the MQM to form their government in Sindh. They fear that it would put them at the mercy of the provincial government and the only way for them to escape likely victimisation at the hands of the PPP-led administration would be to get a federal security cover through representation in the cabinet at the centre.
Karachi committee of MQM dissolved By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, May 21: Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on Tuesday dissolved a key party wing, the ‘Karachi Tanzeemi (organising) Committee’, in view of numerous complaints against it. . The announcement was made at a workers’ convention held at the Lal Qila Ground in Azizabad. Unlike the past, the MQM did not invite the media to cover the event. According to a press release, Mr Hussain addressed a meeting of workers of units and sectors of the MQM in Karachi and all organisational wings and office-bearers of various committees from London by phone and discussed a number of issues. “On the complaints of workers, Mr Hussain immediately dissolved the Karachi Tanzeemi Committee of the MQM,” it said. Other organisational issues highlighted by workers were also being considered and another general workers’ meeting had been scheduled for Saturday, the statement said, adding that more decisions would be taken then. It said that Mr Hussain had appealed to all dejected senior and sincere workers to return to the party fold for the better future of the movement and the nation. He said that all workers who had become inactive for any reason but “whose conscience was satisfied that they never indulged in acts of dishonesty, nor betrayed, nor had any vested interests while remaining in the party” should return to it.
Water shares of provinces raised By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 21: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) increased provincial water shares on Tuesday to help the provinces speed up crop sowing. . An Irsa official said the share of Sindh had been increased by 25,000 cusecs — from 70,000 to 95,000 — and Punjab’s by 15,000 cusecs — from 109,000 to 124,000. Punjab’s share from Indus Zone has been raised from 32,000 to 43,000 cusecs. Likewise, Balochistan’s share has been enhanced by 4,000 cusecs — from 7000 to 11,000. But Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share has not been changed and remains at 3,000 cusecs. To supply more water to the provinces, Irsa has increased discharges from Chashma Barrage from 98,000 to 136,000 cusecs and from Tarbela Dam from 50,000 to 70,000 cusecs. But, discharges from Mangla dam have been reduced from 42,000 to 38,000 cusecs. Irsa has also decided to review provincial water requirements on a daily basis and make adjustments in their share accordingly. The official said on Tuesday that water level at Tarbela dam was recorded at 1,390 feet against its dead level of 1,378 feet as its inflows increased to 73,700 cusecs and outflows stood at 70,000 cusecs. Water level at Mangla was recorded at 1,109 feet against its dead level of 1,040 feet. Total inflows at rim stations were recorded at about 255,000 cusecs against 175,000 cusecs of last week as rising temperatures have led to snow melting on mountains and subsequently enhanced flows into rivers.
KSE crosses 21,000 points KARACHI, May 21: Foreign investors went wild on Pakistani equities on Tuesday, picking up a staggering $26 million worth of stocks mainly from the heavyweight ‘oil and gas’ sector. . As a result, the KSE-100 index surged by 354 points to cross the barrier of 21,000 points and settle at 21,168 points. The trading frenzy was evident by the volume, which stood at 444 million shares on Tuesday, representing one-year high. The traded value was Rs17 billion, which was a high for 43 months. The foreign bulls have been on the rampage making aggregate net inflow of a record $181m in stocks in only about 15 trading sessions so far in May. The stock rally intensified even before the elections when the first reliable forecasts placed PML-N ahead of the rest in the race. “Investors have taken heart and are pinning hopes on the government led by industrialist prime minister to resolve the myriad problems faced by the economy,” said a stock broker. However, some analysts expressed fears that the market was ‘over-heated’ and advocated caution.
Lack of plant repairs added to loadshedding, SC told By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, May 21: With the government in waiting having started work on finding a lasting solution to the problem of increasing power shortage, the Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that in addition to the erratic supply of natural gas and furnace oil, lack of timely replacement of essential machine parts was to blame for reduced electricity generation. . “Pepco (Pakistan Electric Power Company) and the NTDC (National Transmission and Dispatch Company) are capable of improving the system from the existing electricity generation units provided timely attention is paid to the spare parts and necessary repair jobs,” Wapda engineer Mohammad Raziuddin suggested before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. The court, which had taken suo motu notice of increase in loadshedding asked the NTDC to take measures to reduce it and submit a comprehensive report after two weeks to enable Pepco to improve generation. The court expressed the hope that the electricity produced would be distributed equitably among domestic and industrial consumers without creating consternation. The chief justice observed that it appeared because of the height of negligence that the loadshedding was artificial. The electricity shortfall is about 6,000 megawastts, the demand being 15,500MW and all generating units producing 9,500MW. Mr Raziuddin said the Guddu Thermal Power Plant which had the capacity to generate 1,659MW was producing 775MW because of lack of repairs and replacement of spares of its four units. Once the repairs are done and parts substituted, the plant can produce 1,100MW. Units 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the plant are producing 303MW, while the capacity can be enhanced to 1,000MW. Pepco Managing Director Zarghoon Ishaq Khan said a new 747MW combined cycle plant was being installed at Guddu but the efficiency of the units there could only be enhanced after rehabilitation to 30.8 per cent from 27pc because of ageing machines. Similar is the situation at Jamshoro, having a capacity of 1,100MW, which is producing 265MW because of non-availability of oil. The 1,100MW Muzaffargarh plant is producing 475MW. The Pepco official said non-availability of furnace oil and gas was the main reason behind the current loadshedding and acknowledged that the generation had dropped drastically the previous day, inviting a lot of public criticism. He assured the court that arrangements had been made for ensuring supplies of gas and oil and the system had started generating more electricity. Adequate steps would be taken to increase the generation, he said, adding that regular gas supply to plants would also enhance production. He said a technical audit of some thermal projects had been carried out. The court was informed that the hydro-electric power generation capacity had been improved by 60 to 70 per cent but the current generation was 3,900MW. The capacity can be increased on the basis of water discharges from dams as a result of melting of glaciers in Skardu.
Raja tenders apology for writing letter to CJ By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 21: Former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has tendered an unconditional apology for writing a letter to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. . On March 28, the Supreme Court had issued a contempt notice to Mr Ashraf under article 204 of the constitution, read with section 3 and 17 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, for writing the letter in which he had requested the chief justice to transfer investigation into the Rs22 billion rental power projects (RPP) scam from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to a commission headed by Federal Tax Ombudsman Dr Shoaib Suddle. The court had held that the former premier had attempted to “interfere and influence” the Supreme Court seized with the RPP implementation case involving elements of corruption and corrupt practices. “Raja Ashraf has tendered unconditional apology and thrown himself at the mercy of the Supreme Court,” Advocate Wasim Sajjad, representing the former prime minister, said while talking to Dawn on Tuesday. “My client has also sought the court’s permission to withdraw the letter he had written in the first week of March.” Stating the reason for writing the letter, Mr Ashraf recalled that both the press and the public had expressed mistrust in NAB investigations and expressed apprehensions that the prime minister would influence the probe — an allegation that could adversely affect him during the coming elections. Therefore, it was necessary to transfer the investigation from NAB to a one-man commission under Dr Suddle, the letter said. AUDIT OF PWP PROJECTS: In another case concerning the former prime minister, a three-judge SC bench headed by the chief justice ordered the Auditor General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) to conduct a special audit of all development schemes initiated by former premier Raja Ashraf in 2012-13 under the People’s Welfare Programme (PWP-II). The bench had taken notice of doling out of billions of rupees by Raja Ashraf for development schemes in different constituencies under the PWP-II. A total of Rs42.486 billion was released for the purpose on the instructions of the former prime minister — Rs25bn more than his annual discretionary fund. On Tuesday, the court issued a notice to former finance secretary Abdul Khaliq after Deputy Accountant General Tahir Mehmood alleged that the finance secretary and a deputy secretary finance had pressurised AGPR officials in March for the release of the funds when the five-year tenure of the PPP government was about to expire and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had imposed a ban on transfer of development funds. “We clearly wrote to the finance ministry that it is a pre-poll rigging and clear violation of relevant rules after the ECP ban and my predecessor went on a 40-day leave after he received the PM’s special directives to release the funds,” Mr Mehmood said, adding that he had also been pressurised to release funds for the PWP-II. He requested the court to order a special audit to gauge transparency in utilisation of development funds. The chief justice observed that there had been a credibility issue in the country because it was difficult to find out any agency which could be assigned the task of investigating the procedure adopted to release development funds and to determine how the money was spent. Mr Mehmood said his office had requested Pak PWD, SNGPL, SSGC, Pepco, Mepco and Wapda to provide details of the money released to them and to what extent it had been spent, but so far there had been no response from them.
Global changes not to affect ties: Li By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, May 22: In a reaffirmation of the customary description of Sino-Pakistan relationship being an “all weather friendship”, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang started his two-day visit to Pakistan on Wednesday with a pledge to deepen strategic ties irrespective of the international situation.. Flying into Rawalpindi from India, his first stop in a four-nation tour, Prime Minister Li was quoted by the Presidency’s press office as having said that he had chosen to visit Pakistan to show the international community that China was committed to consolidating “its traditional friendship with Pakistan and deepening the strategic cooperation… no matter how the international situation may evolve”. Putting aside the protocol for visiting foreign leaders, President Asif Ali Zardari received premier Li at Nur Khan Airbase (Rawalpindi). Li’s special Air China Boeing 747 aircraft was escorted by a formation of six Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder aircraft, co-developed by China and Pakistan, after it entered Pakistan’s airspace. The Chinese prime minister landed in Pakistan under intense security. Mobile phone services in the capital remained suspended at the time of Mr Li’s arrival. Prime Minister Li was decorated with Pakistan’s highest civil award, Nishan-i-Pakistan, by President Zardari who said at a reception held in his honour that the “visit will mark yet another important step forward in reinforcing the strategic partnership between the two countries”. While renewing Beijing’s commitment to helping Islamabad in preserving its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, Li said “China and Pakistan will always remain each other’s trustworthy partners and reliable brothers”.Li is on his first official overseas visit since assuming office in March. His travel to Pakistan assumed additional importance because he opted to visit Islamabad during transition of power to the new government. The move is being seen domestically as a strong message of goodwill and solidarity to the new leadership that would be taking over in coming days. PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, whose party won the May 11 polls, met the Chinese leader at the Presidency and is scheduled to call on him for a formal meeting on Thursday. Main challenges confronted by the incoming government include security and economy. President Zardari, speaking at the reception, said ties with China were based on national consensus and formed the cornerstone of the country’s foreign policy. He hoped that the ties would grow during the tenure of the coming government. His optimism about the future of relations with Beijing was shared by Mr Li who noted that “the tree of China-Pakistan friendship” planted six decades ago “is now exuberant with abundant fruits”. AGREEMENTS: Mr Li held one-to-one talks with President Zardari. The two sides later held delegation-level talks and the two leaders also witnessed the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding, including one related to a Pakistan-China economic corridor. In addition to the MoU on developing an economic corridor, Pakistan and China signed agreements on maritime cooperation, satellite navigation, a Boundary Management System between Xinjiang and Gilgit-Baltistan, border ports and their management system, cooperation in marine science and technology and Space and Upper Atmospheric Research. ENERGY: Mr Li outlined his government’s preferences for cooperation with Pakistan by calling for priority projects in connectivity, energy development and power generation and building of a China-Pakistan economic corridor. The two countries are already pursuing a number of energy projects, including construction of dams and nuclear energy plants. President Zardari told his guest that Pakistan needed Chinese cooperation for developing hydro, thermal, solar and wind power generation. He asked for early holding of the third round of the Pakistan-China Joint Energy Working Group meeting. The president underscored the need for improved connectivity between the two countries and the region at large. The Gwadar project, he said, was central to the programme for improving connectivity as it held great promise for the creation of a regional economic and trade corridor. China assumed the operational control of Gwadar port this year. The Chinese government will help develop the road network and related infrastructure for the full utilisation of the potential of the new port. TRADE: President Zardari and Premier Li agreed on pushing forward negotiations on a free trade agreement. One round of talks has already been held on the issue.
Zardari, Nawaz revive bonhomie By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, May 22: President Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister-in-waiting Mian Nawaz Sharif, heads of rival political parties, met after a long time in the presidency on Wednesday and vowed to promote reconciliation. . Mr Sharif was invited to the presidency, along with the heads of other political parties, to a luncheon hosted by President Zardari in honour of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Although the two leaders and their parties have political differences, President Zardari will administer the oath of prime minister’s office to Mr Sharif as his party is going to form government after securing the highest number of seats in National Assembly in the May 11 elections. The 15-minute meeting between the two leaders took place after the Chinese prime minister had left the presidency. The one-one-one meeting was later joined by PML-N leaders Senator Ishaq Dar and Senator Pervez Rasheed. Mr Sharif told President Zardari that all political parties must work together to protect the country from challenges it was facing. Mr Sharif remained composed during the grand gathering attended by top politicians, bureaucrats and military leadership, and did not mingle with other guests. Both Mr Sharif and President Zardari were looking rather tense. The PML-N chief sat beside Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Zardari Bhutto, but they did not talk to each other. Talking to reporters, President Zardari declared Mr Sharif the next prime minister and the latter said he had no intention to seek resignation of the president. “We will stick to the agenda of reconciliation that we agreed upon with Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto,” Mr Sharif said. Asked if the meeting would improve the relationship between him and the president, he said: “Pakistan’s interests are supreme (for me). If my interests are more important, this meeting would never have taken place.” “He (Mr Sharif) is the prime minister. There is no doubt about that,” the president said, adding that the presidency would support the incoming PML-N government. He expressed the hope that the new government would successfully resolve problems and issues facing the country. The president said his meeting with Mr Sharif was held in a cordial and pleasant atmosphere. He congratulated Mr Sharif on his party’s victory in the elections and wished good luck for the new government. He congratulated the nation, all political parties and civil society for the peaceful democratic transition taking place for the first time in the country. The president’s spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, said the political situation in the country and issues relating to the transition were discussed in the meeting.
$15 billion Saudi bailout likely By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, May 22: With an ‘amiable’ government in place, Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a bailout package of about $15 billion to Pakistan’s highly indebted energy sector by supplying crude and furnace oil on deferred payment to enable it to resolve the chronic circular debt issue. . A senior government official said the Saudis had been taking reasonable interest in helping out the incoming PML-N government led by Nawaz Sharif. They had extended a similar special package to Pakistan soon after it went nuclear in 1998 and faced international economic sanctions. Between 1998 and 2002, Pakistan received $3.5 billion (Rs190 billion at the exchange rate at that time) worth of oil from Saudi Arabia on deferred payment, a major part of which was converted into grant. According to the official, as soon as the PML-N emerged as the majority party after the May 11 elections, the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad sought a briefing on the country’s oil requirements from the foreign ministry before calling on prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind, Lahore. He was immediately provided a position paper, the official said. Pakistan expects about 100,000 barrels of crude oil and about 15,000 tons of furnace oil per day from Saudi Arabia on deferred payment for three years. The amount involved works out at about $12-15bn. The facility can be utilised to reduce loadshedding in the short term and provide an opportunity in the medium term to restructure the power sector by minimising subsidies, eliminating circular debt, ensuring recovery from the public sector and reducing system losses to bring it to a self-sustainable level. “During the package period, the PML-N government can resolve the electricity crisis and develop hydropower projects through a combination of public and private investments and bagasse-based power production by the sugar industry,” he said. He said the arrangement for oil supplies on deferred payments could be further discussed during Mr Sharif’s first visit to Saudi Arabia soon after assuming the office of prime minister early next month. Pakistan’s total crude oil import is about 400,000 barrels per day and 30,000 tons of furnace oil. Its total oil import bill stands at about $15bn per annum. The official said a request for 100,000 barrels of oil and 15,000 tons per day of furnace oil had already been passed on through the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Ministerial Commission. A meeting of the commission could be convened soon after the new government assumed charge, an official said. The Saudi rulers had not taken any interest in the issue earlier ostensibly because of the chill in their relationship with the PPP government. Large political delegations taken to Saudi Arabia by the PPP government were cold-shouldered, an official said, adding that warming up of diplomatic relations with Iran and the UAE and cancellation of hunting facilities for Saudi royals had also annoyed the kingdom. The official said the breathing space provided by the likely Saudi package could also be used for renegotiating gas price with Iran for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline to bring it down to a sustainable level. Under the gas sales and purchase price agreement, any party may seek revision of the rates in view of the cost of alternative import options one year ahead of the first gas flows scheduled to take place in December 2014. The official ruled out any possibility that the Saudi oil package could be used to persuade Pakistan to stay away from the Iranian gas import. He said the project had reached an advanced stage and involved international agreements and, therefore, backtracking was no option, but the development could give leverage to Pakistan to secure lower gas prices.
Caretaker govt introduces Rs152bn ‘mini-budget’ By Mubarak Zeb Khan ISLAMABAD, May 22: In its dying days, the caretaker government has decided to introduce a Rs152 billion ‘mini-budget’ through a presidential ordinance to provide a cushion to the incoming PML-N government. . The move came at a time when the new National Assembly is about to start functioning within 10 days and the PML-N government plans to present the federal budget for the fiscal year 2013-14 by mid-June. Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi confirmed that President Asif Ali Zardari had signed the ordinance to introduce new taxation measures, but presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar denied it. “The president did not sign it (the ordinance) today, but remember tomorrow is another day,” Mr Babar said. This, however, indicates that such an ordinance has at least reached the Presidency. The ordinance has reversed most of the relief in taxes announced by the PPP-led coalition government in the last year’s budget, leaving political and financial experts clueless as to why the president has agreed to such a proposal. The proposed string of taxation measures, mostly in the form of indirect taxes, will add to the burden on the masses. The new taxes are in addition to Rs60bn introduced by the previous government through SROs in March. The news in the media about imposition of new taxes came the day Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister-in-waiting, met President Zardari for the first time after the May 11 polls. The direct taxation measures will yield another Rs52bn in income tax and generate Rs120bn revenue for the national exchequer, including Rs75bn sales tax, Rs25bn federal excise duty and Rs20bn customs duties. Although a draft of the ordinance has been sent to the Presidency, the Federal Board of Revenue is reluctant to share it with the media. “We have not yet received the signed copy (of ordinance) from the Presidency,” FBR chairman Ansar Javed told Dawn on telephone. A 10pc withholding tax has been proposed on domestic consumers using more than 1000 units of electricity and increasing this tax on cash withdrawal from banks to 0.3 from 0.2pc. A new slab of 12.5pc has been introduced on income from property exceeding Rs1.5 million. One per cent withholding tax has been proposed on all items imported duty free. Income tax on export proceeds will increase to 1.50 from 1pc and the minimum tax rate on turnover for the business community to one per cent from 0.5pc. On the booking of a new car, 5pc tax of the value of the car will be charged. Instead of revising downward, the caretaker government has decided to increase general sales tax to 17 from 16pc. It will generate additional revenue of Rs40bn, but fuel inflation. The GST on sugar has been increased to 17 from eight per cent. The taxation measures propose a 2pc GST on supply to unregistered persons and withdrawal of zero-tax on domestic sales of five sectors — textile, leather, carpet, sports and surgical. The new items subject to GST include bottled water and fertilisers. The new GST measures will yield additional revenue of Rs75bn. The increase in federal excise duty on cigarettes and tax on lubricating oil supplied to Pakistan Navy for its vessels will yield another Rs25bn. On the customs duty side, zero-rating has been partially withdrawn and the rate on other items rationalised. The FBR estimates the measures will yield an additional Rs20bn, but customs officials are of the opinion that the national exchequer will get only Rs5bn.
Imran leaves hospital; advised rest By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 22: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan was discharged from hospital on Wednesday morning about two weeks after he suffered injuries in an accident at an election rally. . Wearing spinal brace and neck collar, Mr Khan walked unaided from his room on the third floor of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre to the exit on the ground floor. Doctors say the PTI leader will continue to receive regular physiotherapy and will need to wear the spinal support for some weeks to come. He will gradually increase physical activity over the next few weeks with a return to his full functional capacity expected in approximately six to eight weeks. Mr Khan thanked friends and well-wishers for expressing sympathy and offering prayers and support to him during his illness. The hospital staff wished Mr Khan a speedy recovery. AFP adds: Khwaja Nazir, a spokesman for the SKMH, said Mr Khan had returned to his Lahore residence. “He would stay in his Lahore home for three days and then would be shifted to his home in Islamabad,” Mr Nazir said. “Doctors have advised him rest, for two more weeks.”
119 of 256 elected to NA are first timers By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, May 22: Though a significant number of candidates have managed to win the elections for the first time, the new National Assembly is still expected to be dominated by old faces. . An analysis of results of 263 general NA seats (won by 256 candidates) announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan shows that a total of 119 members will be taking oath as MNAs for the first time after winning the elections on general seats. Prominent among those who have won more than one NA constituency are Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Javed Hashmi and Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The percentage of the newcomers in the NA comes to over 46 per cent. The complexion of the lower house, however, can be changed after the notification of 70 more MNAs to be made members on reserved seats for women and minorities. Besides new faces, a number of seasoned and veteran parliamentarians will be taking oath as members of the 14th National Assembly. Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has a unique record of returning to the parliament as an MNA for the ninth time since 1970 and also has the honour to be the only member in the new assembly to have voted for the original constitution of 1973. PML-N stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also has the distinction of winning the eighth consecutive NA elections since 1985. Though Mr Fahim has won nine elections, he has won seven polls consecutively since his PPP had boycotted the party-less polls of 1985. Besides them, Nawaz Sharif, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Syed Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Aftab Sherpao, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Ijazul Haq, Zahid Hamid, Ahsan Iqbal, Rai Mansab Ali and Riaz Pirzada are among those members who have returned to the NA for more than twice. Almost all the mainstream parties had awarded tickets to a number of new entrants to politics, but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), which has emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly after the May 11 elections, is leading in introducing 54 new faces to the parliament, followed by 21 members from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and 10 members from the PPP. There are 13 independent candidates who have won the election for the first time without the support of any political party. The urban Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has also introduced seven new faces to the NA.
43 newly elected legislators join PML-N By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 22: Parliamentary ranks of the PML-N further swelled on Wednesday when 43 independent legislators-elect joined it, according to the affidavits the entrants submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). . An ECP notification said 12 members-elect of the National Assembly and 31 of the Punjab Assembly had submitted the affidavits. The MNAs-elect are Sardar Awais Khan Leghari (NA-173), Mohammad Raza Hayat Hiraj (NA-156), Mohammad Afzal Khan (NA-74), Sahibzada Mohammad Nazir Sultan (NA-90), Najaf Abbas Sial (NA-91), Mohammad Ijaz Ahmed (NA-108), Mohammad Saddique Khan Baloch (NA-154), Abdur Rehman Khan Kanju (NA-155), Tahir Iqbal Chaudhry (NA-169), Ashiq Hussain Khan (NA-180), Syed Mohammad Asghar (NA-188) and Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar (NA-194). The 31 MPAs-elect are Faisal Farooq Cheema of PP-35, Sardar Bahadar Khan Maikan ((PP-38), Ameer Mohammad Khan (PP-47), Ghazanfar Abbas Chheena (PP-49), Amir Inayat Khan (PP-50), Rai Usman Khan (PP-56), Naseem Ullah Gill (PP-61), Zafar Iqbal Nagra (PP-64), Khurram Abbas Sial (PP-71), Mohammad Aun Abbas (PP-83), Ali Asghar Manda (PP-165), Tariq Mehmood Bajwa (PP-170), Mohammad Amer Iqbal Shah (PP-207), Pirzada Mohammad Jehangir Sultan ((PP-208), Malik Sajjad Hussain Joyia (PP-209), Mohammad Siddique Khan Baloch (PP-210), Mohammad Akbar Hayat Harraj (PP-212), Mohammad Yusuf Kaselya (PP-232), Naeem Akhtar Bhabha (PP-237), Javed Akhtar (PP-242), Syed Abdul Aleem (PP-244), Sardar Jamal Khan Leghari (PP-245), Mohammad Zishan Gurmani (PP-252), Ghulam Murtaza Rahi Khar (PP-253), Alamdar Abbas Quraishi (PP-255), Mohammad Sibtain Raza (PP-260), Aamir Talal Khan (PP-261), Chaudhry Ishfaq Ahmed (PP-266), Mohammad Nawaz Khan (PP-288), Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar (PP-289) and Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bukht (PP-291).
SC suspends postings, transfers made by caretaker govt By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, May 22: The Supreme Court dealt on Wednesday a telling blow to the interim government for its bulk transfers/postings and shuffling of top government officials by suspending all appointments perceived to be done outside its mandate.. At the same time a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry had a word of caution for the incoming PML-N government and asked it to ensure highest standards of transparency in appointments if it wanted to avoid court’s interference. Not only the petitioner, the order noted, but Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi had also objected to the recent transfers and postings. But it explained that except the transfers necessitated for holding free and fair elections and running the day-to-day affairs all appointments stood suspended. Any aggrieved officer will have the right to approach the proper forum for redressal of his grievance, the order said. It also ordered the caretakers not to repeat the practice till the pendency of the case. The bench had taken up a petition moved by PML-N leader Khawaja Mohammad Asif challenging en-bloc transfers/postings and shuffling of top government officials by the interim government. In addition to the present petition similar challenges against related appoints are also pending before the apex court. “You have taken a double-edged sword by challenging the appointments made by the caretaker government,” the chief justice observed while pointing towards MNA-elect Khawaja Asif also asking the government-in-waiting to follow and maintaining highest standards of transparency and merit for appointments to avoid the interference by the court. The practice of appointment of cronies, favourites and relatives should be discouraged as such this had been the cause of dispute during the past five years, the chief justice observed, adding it seemed that the interim government had not followed due process while making these transfer/postings. The court held that it would decide the mater after hearing the respondent federal government through the cabinet secretary and Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso. The next date of hearing is June 4. Attorney General Irfan Qadir said he would be needing instructions from the government about the factual position on the appointments and what process had been followed, but argued that the interim government was not barred from making appointments and postings to run day-to-day affairs of the state and to meet any eventuality till the new government took over. The petitioner, Khawaja Asif, had cited a number of recent transfers, postings or reshuffling – the Chairman of the National Highway Authority, Hamid Ali Khan, was replaced on May 16 by Sajjad Hussain Baloch; the Nepra chairman was replaced by retired Justice Ahmad Khan Lashari; SNGPL Managing Director Arif Hameed was replaced by Amin Tufail; SSGCL’s managing director was replaced by Rahat Kamal Siddiqui; Managing Director of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation Khalid Khokhar was replaced by Saifullah Khan. Similarly, National Fertiliser’s Chairman Rizwan Mumtaz Ali was removed on May 9; Oil and Gas Development Corporation’s Managing Director Masood Siddiqui was removed on May 6; the State Life Corporation’s chairman was removed on May 16; the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation’s chairman reported to have been removed; the Pakistan Software Export Board’s chairman was removed and Saleem Ahmed Ranjha, who was directly inducted by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was appointed. The FIA’s director general, who was appointed one month ago, is also reported to be in the process of being replaced, the petition said. Certain employees/officers of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority are reported to have been removed without following the procedure set in the relevant statute. Several other mid-level staff of corporations/ bodies have been shuffled/transferred/ removed, the petition alleged. When asked by the court why he was filing the petition when the incoming government could annul these appointments through an executive order, Khawaja Asif replied that the appointed persons if removed may claim their rights and a cycle of litigation would follow. In his petition, Khawaja Asif argued that the acts of the caretaker government amounted to abuse of power and against norms.
Altaf cleansing Muttahida of corrupt elements KARACHI, May 22: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain told his workers on Wednesday that he was purging the party of ‘corrupt and unwanted’ elements and that the cleansing process had already begun. . He made the announcement while talking to members of the MQM coordination committee by phone from London. According to a press release, he said there was a complete ban in the party on collection of donation and any office-bearer or worker found collecting donation from anyone would lose the party’s basic membership. He said the MQM would not tolerate ‘China cutting’, illegal occupation of public and private land, houses, flats and shops and there was no room in the party for people indulging in such activities. Mr Hussain asked the MQM office-bearers and workers to voluntarily resign from the party if they were associated, whether directly or indirectly, with businesses concerning sale and purchase of houses, flats and plots. Otherwise, their basic membership would be revoked. He also asked the leaders and workers engaged in construction works that they could remain associated with this profession only after resigning from the party. The MQM would not tolerate those who caused trouble for the people, Mr Hussain said. Meanwhile, the MQM coordination committee revoked the basic membership of the head of its former Karachi Tanzeemi Committee, Hammad Siddiqui, for violating party’s discipline. An MQM press release said that all workers were directed not to maintain any direct or indirect contact with Mr Siddiqui.—Staff Reporter
Businessman receiving ‘threats from TTP’ By Mohammad Asghar RAWALPINDI, May 22: A wealthy businessman, who is also father-in-law of a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader, has been receiving threats from suspected Taliban who have been demanding Rs100 million to help them in their ‘noble cause of Jihad’. . Police said on Wednesday that a well-built, bearded man went to the business offices of Raja Hanif in his absence and delivered a letter and a Universal Serial Bus or USB (a data storage device used in computers) for him. Mr Hanif, father-in-law of Sadaqat Abbasi who contested the May 11 elections on a PTI ticket for a Murree seat – said in his statement recorded by the police that the letter was written on the pad of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) organisation. “It was inscribed with extortion and life threats,” he said, adding that he was stunned on seeing the USB. The complainant said: “Two men suspected to be Taliban were visible in the USB. They were saying that they were doing Jihad and wanted to use my wealth for the noble cause.” He had received threats twice in the last ten days, since the delivery of the letter and the USB to his offices, Mr Hanif said. According to the police, one of the threatening calls was made from somewhere in Islamabad and the other from a phone number of Bannu. An investigating officer said police were trying to trace the locations of the callers and other details. However, they were not sure that the threats were made by the TTP.
Quetta blast leaves 12 policemen, driver dead By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, May 23: At least 12 policemen and the driver of their official van were killed and 30 people were injured when a powerful bomb exploded near the Eastern Bypass here on Thursday. The bomb placed in a rickshaw destroyed the police van.. “The police personnel were going to the Balochistan Secretariat for security duty,” Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal said. According to sources, the van of the civil secretariat was carrying over 20 personnel of the Rapid Response Force of Balochistan Constabulary from Qasim Lines. Frontier Corps and police personnel took the bodies and the injured to the Civil Hospital and the CMH. The sources said 16 injured policemen and 14 civilians had been admitted to the hospitals. Police said the bomb placed in the rickshaw parked on the roadside was detonated by remote control. The blast also damaged a number of other vehicles and adjoining houses and shops. DIG Sumbal said three of the injured policemen were in a critical condition. Bomb disposal squad personnel collected evidence from the place. They said that around 100kgs of high explosives had been used. The blast was heard all over Quetta. It was the second big attack on police in the city in 10 days. Last week, a mini-truck loaded with explosives and rockets exploded near the official residence of Balochistan police chief Mushtaq Sukhaira. His house was badly damaged and eight policemen and civilians were killed and 98 injured. Mr Sukhaira visited the site of Thursday’s attack and attended the funeral prayers of the deceased policemen. Bodies were later sent to their native towns. Reuters adds: The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility of the attack. “The target were local police. The Balochistan police recently arrested and killed some of our colleagues belonging to the Swat Taliban,” the militant group’s spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said. About the incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s call for talks with the Taliban, he said: “We are waiting for him to form his government and see what type of policies towards us he formulates.”
Nawaz seeks Li’s help to resolve energy crisis By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 23: PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said strengthening ties with China will be his government’s top foreign policy priority and sought Beijing’s help for dealing with economic challenges and energy deficit. . Mr Sharif, whose party won the May 11 elections and is headed to forming the government at the centre, said this during a meeting with visiting Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang here on Thursday. The two leaders had informally met a day earlier at a reception hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari in honour of premier Li. A number of world leaders had called to greet Mr Sharif on his party’s victory in the elections. However, this was first foreign policy engagement of Mr Sharif who will be leading the next government as prime minister. The PML-N chief described China as Pakistan’s time-tested friend and said a strong, stable and prosperous China was necessary for peace and stability in the region. He said he would encourage China to assume a greater role in the revival of Pakistan’s economy and dealing with energy shortages. Pakistani and Chinese leaders had during their formal talks on Wednesday agreed to reconvene the Pak-China Joint Working Group on Energy which would discuss various options for helping Pakistan cope with energy shortages, including nuclear energy. The Chinese prime minister had also identified energy as a priority area for cooperation. Mr Li recalled Mr Sharif’s role in expanding Pak-China ties during his previous tenures and said China viewed him as a sincere and committed friend. He expressed good wishes for the incoming government. The two leaders exchanged views on several other regional and international issues, including India and Afghanistan. Premier Li invited Mr Sharif to visit China for carrying forward discussions on the areas of cooperation identified by him. The PML-N chief accepted the invitation and said he looked forward to an early opportunity for traveling to Beijing. China has traditionally been one of the first overseas stop for Pakistani leaders after their election to the office of prime minister.
Coordination on Afghanistan pledged: China praises Pak strategy against terror By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, May 23: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang wrapped up on Thursday his two-day official visit to Pakistan after promising a deeper and more comprehensive strategic engagement and a closer coordination for security and stability in Afghanistan.. Cementing the “strategic partnership is the shared objective of both countries”, a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the visit said. Both sides noted that their bilateral relationship had acquired strategic importance in the context of the changing regional and international scenario. The roadmap agreed by the two sides for taking the strategic ties to next level included strengthening strategic communication, moving ahead with negotiations on free trade agreement, convening the next round of meetings of Pak-China Joint Working Energy Group for cooperation on conventional, renewable and civil nuclear energy, enhancing connectivity through upgrading Karakoram Highway and other such transport infrastructure, working on proposed economic corridor, jointly combating non-traditional threats to maritime security and guarding international sea-lanes, expanding air routes, counter-terrorism cooperation and working together at regional and international fora. It was particularly important for Islamabad that Beijing expressed confidence in its counter-terrorism strategy. China “reiterates that it respects the anti-terrorism strategy developed and implemented by the Pakistani side in light of its own conditions. …China expresses its appreciation and continued willingness to help Pakistan build up counter-terrorism capacity”, the joint statement read. China had in the past reservations over the presence of East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM — a rebel Chinese group) in Pakistan. During Premier Li’s visit the Pakistani leadership recommitted to “continuous, active collaboration with and assistance to China in combating terrorist forces including the ETIM”. ETIM was declared a common threat for Pakistan and China. Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy has quite often been criticised by the West for being flawed. The criticism largely stems from the continued presence of militants in ungoverned spaces in tribal areas. With Beijing’s endorsement for its counter-terror strategy in hand, some in Islamabad think that they would be able to better counter the “Western propaganda”. Beijing and Islamabad broadly identified eight sectors for enhanced cooperation — political relations; economy and trade; connectivity; maritime security; aviation and aerospace; people to people exchanges; defense and security collaboration; and cooperation on international and regional issues. “Pak-China friendship has stood the test of time and is more precious than gold,” Li told Senators at a special session of the upper house of parliament that had been convened for his speech. Address to the parliament is a special honour given to some of the visiting foreign leaders. Prime Minister Li had at the start of his visit said that China would consolidate its friendship with Pakistan no matter how the international situation developed. He had also effusively praised Pakistan for significantly contributing to regional and world pace and stability. Mr Li hoped that Pak-China cooperation in the fields of economy, maritime security, aerospace, energy, agriculture, transportation and cultural fields would grow. Prime Minister Li and his delegation were given a warm send-off. The special Air China Boeing 747 aircraft carrying Mr Li was escorted by a formation of six JF-17 Thunder aircraft in Pakistani airspace as the Chinese leader embarked on the European leg of his four-nation tour. During his stay in Islamabad, Mr Li met President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari, former speaker of the National Assembly Fehmida Mirza, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Khalid Shameem Wynne, services chiefs and leaders of major political parties. He, along with President Zardari, also witnessed signing of 11 agreements and was decorated with highest Pakistani civil award of Nishan-i-Pakistan.
19-hour outages as funds delayed By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, May 23: The Ministry of Water and Power conceded on Thursday that up to 19 hours of loadshedding was being carried out even in industrial cities like Faisalabad and blamed the finance ministry for the miseries of the people, saying it had not disbursed Rs22.5 billion approved by the caretaker prime minister to improve electricity generation. . “We can substantially minimise the sufferings of the people by bringing down loadshedding to eight hours if we are provided Rs22.5bn committed by the finance ministry on the directives of the prime minister,” Water and Power Minister Dr Musadik Malik said at a news conference. He said the finance ministry had so far disbursed only Rs5bn that had gone to the Pakistan State Oil to retire its letters of credit, while it was finding excuses to delay more disbursements. He said the decision for disbursement of Rs22.5bn had been approved on May 20 by Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso at a meeting attended by the ministers and secretaries for finance, petroleum and power. Dr Malik said he had repeatedly talked to the prime minister’s adviser on finance, finance secretary and principal secretary to the prime minister over the past two days. The water and power secretary also wrote letters to his counterpart in the finance ministry, but the amount was not released. Water and Power Secretary Anwar Ahmad Khan said the prime minister had approved the additional amount to maintain power generation at about 12,000MW and contain loadshedding. He said the power ministry had provided complete details about oil requirements at different power plants as sought by the finance adviser but the only feedback from the finance ministry was that they were working on the issue while keeping in view the overall fiscal space available, according to their interpretation. Sources said the arguments between the two ministries had reached such a stage that both the minister and secretary for water and power had offered the finance ministry to take charge of the power sector. They said they would step aside if the finance ministry were to micromanage the power plants. The power ministry was asked by the finance ministry to submit efficiency-wise merit order of power plants for which it could arrange fuel. When asked about the possibility of his resignation, Dr Malik said he had talked about this and he would have resigned much earlier had he known that he would be made so helpless in mitigating the sufferings of the people in scorching heat, but it would be creating a scene if he took such an extreme decision when he had only a few days to go anyway. He said he had no doubt that the new leadership would be able to overcome the power crisis within 24-30 months with the right policies. He said he had been invited to brief PML-N leaders and he was impressed with the refreshing ideas, commitment and drive they had to overcome the crisis. Dr Malik said about 25 per cent of generation capacity was lying idle because of shortage of funds and fuel and another 25pc for technical reasons. For example, a major public sector plant could not be put to use because a minor fan of its cooling plant had been out of order for over two years and nobody had attempted to repair or replace it. This capacity could be brought into use very shortly without any major investment, he said. He said the government would have to change the regulatory framework to encourage efficiency of the power plants instead of penalising good operators. He was of the opinion that the government could increase the generation capacity and reduce the cost of power production from Rs14 to Rs9 per unit in five years by converting the diesel-based plants to coal, increasing efficiency of the plants and using bagasse plants. Dr Malik reports from distribution companies showed that the period of loadshedding in urban Islamabad was eight hours and in its rural areas 10-12 hours. The 4-6 hours loadshedding in Quetta was the least, but its rural areas faced 18 hours of outages. In Peshawar, loadshedding in urban and rural areas has increased to 12 and 18 hours, while the tribal areas were without power for 17 hours. In urban Lahore, the period was 10 hours and in adjoining rural areas 16 hours. Faisalabad city remained without electric supply for 16-17 hours and its rural areas 18-19 hours. Gujranwala suffered 14 hours of loadshedding. The period in urban and rural Hyderabad was eight and 10 hours and Multan 14-15 hours.
SC says it cannot order Musharraf’s trial for treason By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, May 23: The Supreme Court dampened the excitement of many when it said on Thursday that it was not the court of competent jurisdiction to order prosecution of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf under treason charges for sacking superior court judges and proclaiming emergency on Nov 3, 2007. . “The High Treason (Punishment Act) 1973 constitutes a special court for holding a trial under treason where all kind of defence will be available to Gen Musharraf and that the Supreme Court is not a court of competent jurisdiction,” observed Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, a member of the three-judge bench hearing a set of petitions seeking initiation of a high treason trial against Mr Musharraf. The bench is headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja. Justice Khan said the innocence or guilt of the former military ruler could not be decided on the basis of observations made in the July 31, 2009 judgment of the apex court which had held the Nov 3 emergency unconstitutional. The observations had only held Mr Musharraf liable to be prosecuted and punished and were not meant for the purpose of trial, he said, adding that unless the former president was proceeded against and tried under due process he could not be held guilty for treason. Under the procedure, the federal law ministry constitutes a special court comprising three high court judges to prosecute a person accused of committing treason under the Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act 1976 after the interior secretary, who was authorised under an SRO of 1994 as focal person, files a complaint on treason charges. The court made the observations in response to arguments by Advocate A.K. Dogar, one of the petitioners, who cited the 2012 Azhar Siddiq case in which former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had been disqualified by the apex court from holding a seat in the National Assembly and emphasised that the 14-judge bench which had delivered the July 31, 2009, verdict was a court of competent jurisdiction. He then asked whether or not the apex court would be a competent court to decide about Mr Musharraf’s prosecution in the light of the findings that he had subverted the constitution by proclaiming the emergency. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said the case of Mr Gilani was distinguishable from that of Mr Musharraf. Mr Gilani was disqualified on the grounds that after his conviction by a seven-judge bench of committing contempt of court, the National Assembly speaker should have sent the matter instantly to the Election Commission to de-notify his membership instead of giving a ruling to protect him from losing his seat. But Mr Musharraf’s was a case of first impression because the former military ruler had not been prosecuted in any court of law, he said. “It is for that court (special court) to take cognizance and I do not know whether that court would ignore or take into account the apex court’s July 31 verdict,” Justice Khilji observed. “These observations have put me on thinking whether my submissions are correct or incorrect and whether I am right or wrong,” Advocate Dogar retorted. Justice Afzal Khan said the observations were only tentative in nature and not final and that the court was sitting with open minds to hear arguments about Mr Musharraf’s conviction under treason charges. The court also put to rest speculations doing the round these days that Mr Musharraf would leave Pakistan even before the incoming government assumes power. Advocate Ahmed Raza Kasuri, representing Mr Musharraf, said he had met the general on Wednesday and could categorically state that he had no intention to leave the country, adding that it was now up to the new government whether it wanted to prosecute him or not. Justice Khan pointed out that there was no prayer in the petition being pleaded by Advocate Dogar for the establishment of a trial court to try Mr Musharraf under treason charges. “Does the court want prayers from me,” Mr Dogar asked. Justice Khawaja asked that when Mr Musharraf had proclaimed the Provisional Constitution Order in the capacity of the army chief did he report it to the defence secretary since under the constitution the army chief was a subservient officer. “You are seeking an order from the apex court to direct the interior secretary to lodge a complaint and the law ministry to set up the special court,” Justice Khilji asked Advocate Dogar. The court will take up the case on June 3.
PTI plea for Altaf’s treason trial By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 23: The Lahore High Court issued on Thursday notices to the federal government, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority and others on a petition seeking prosecution of Mr Hussain under treason charges for, according to the petitioner, demanding secession of Karachi from the country. . In his petition, Advocate Fayaz Ahmad Mehar of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf also sought a court order for Pemra to stop all TV channels from airing addresses of Mr Hussain. The court advised the petitioner to also implead the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in the case because it had a role in providing satellite link to TV channels for live coverages from outside the country. Advocate Mehar said he would file a civil miscellaneous application at the next hearing. He alleged that in his May 11 address over phone from London to leaders and workers of his party, Mr Hussain had threatened the Election Commission, establishment, media and politicians and also called for separating Karachi from the country. He said the demand was not only against the constitution but also the ideology of Pakistan. Advocate Mehar said the Political Party Order 2002 allowed only the citizens of Pakistan to form an association or a political party and, therefore, Mr Hussain, being a British national, could not claim to be the chief of a political party registered in Pakistan. He said that according to Article 5 of the constitution, the loyalty to the state was the basic duty of every citizen. The language and words used by the MQM chief in his May 11 speech were against the ideology of Pakistan, he added.
MQM chief disbands coordination committee By Azfar-ul-Ashfaque KARACHI, May 23: As far as parliamentary politics is concerned, it’s business as usual for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). But at the organisational level, the party is facing a serious crisis that has compelled its chief Altaf Hussain to take drastic measures, including the disbanding of a supreme decision-making forum, the coordination committee. . No one in the MQM was willing to speak on the issue openly on Thursday. However, background interviews with some key leaders suggested that the crisis, which they said was not the first one to hit the party, had begun the day when some MQM workers manhandled party leaders and office-bearers. They were, however, convinced that there was no challenge to Mr Hussain’s leadership and there was no chance of any defection. They said the MQM chief was unhappy over the party’s performance in the elections and with the large number of votes the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) bagged in the polls. “We were in the process of reviewing our mistakes and preparing our strategy when PTI leader Zahra Shahid Hussain was killed and Imran Khan blamed Altaf bhai for the murder,” an MQM leader said. Ms Hussain was shot dead on May 18 on the eve of re-polling at 43 polling stations of NA-250 constituency. Within minutes, Mr Khan issued a statement holding the MQM chief responsible for her death. Scores of MQM workers gathered at the party’s Nine Zero headquarters and when Mr Hussain slammed the coordination committee for failing to defend him effectively, MQM workers went out of control and roughed up leaders, office-bearers and even media personnel. Mr Hussain expressed his concerns over the violation of party discipline and asked those involved in the hooliganism to submit their written apology. Sources said the Karachi Tanzeemi Committee (KTC) of the MQM managed to trace all those involved in the manhandling incident through footage of television channels and instead of accepting their written apology, punished them. “The KTC believed that those involved in the incident were acting on their own but perhaps that was not the case,” said a source. “The workers responsible for manhandling were physically punished and when Altaf bhai came to know about it he took it as a personal insult.” On May 21, at a ‘general workers meeting’, the MQM chief announced disbanding of the KTC, a move that he did not make on May 18 despite workers’ insistence to do so, and said that more changes would be announced in another meeting to be held on Saturday (May 25). The following day, the MQM coordination committee revoked the party’s basic membership and expelled the head of the KTC, Hammad Siddiqui, ‘for violating party discipline’. Later, memberships of two members of the MQM coordination committee, Saleem Tajik and Shakeel Umer, and a former member of the KTC, Farooq Saleem, were also suspended. On Thursday, Mr Hussain dissolved the coordination committee comprising more than three dozen members in Karachi and London and said in a statement that names for the new committee would be finalised on May 25 in the workers’ convention in Azizabad. He formed a 12-member ad hoc coordination committee, which would function till Saturday. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aamir Khan, Kanwar Naveed Jamil, Dr Nusrat, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Dr Farooq Sattar, Saif Yar Khan, Ashfaq Mangi, Gulfraz Khattak, Yousuf Shahwani, Iftikhar Randhawa and Ms Mumtaz Anwar are the new members of the ad hoc committee and former members of the dissolved coordination committee have been asked to assist the ad hoc committee. Anis Kaimkhani, a deputy convenor of the MQM coordination committee who oversaw all organisational affairs, was not included in the ad hoc committee. According to a separate statement, senior MQM leader Muhammad Anwar was ‘relieved of his responsibilities regarding the international affairs’ for the party in London for health reasons. “These organisational matters have nothing to do with the PTI or its getting votes in Karachi. Our parliamentary side is working as usual,” said a leader, adding: “Altaf bhai met Rehman Malik today in London who brought a message of President Asif Zardari.... Altaf Bhai had also congratulated Nawaz Sharif for his views he expressed in a policy speech recently.” This crisis, like all previous ones, would be over soon, said the leader.
American held in Pakistan was killed in drone strike PESHAWAR, May 23: An American citizen killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan in 2011 was arrested by Pakistani authorities three years earlier but escaped after being released on bail, officials said on Thursday. . The Obama administration revealed on Wednesday that Jude Kenan Mohammad died in a US drone strike in the country’s tribal region, making him the fourth American citizen killed by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan and Yemen. US officials didn’t provide details, but Pakistani security officials said Jude was killed in late 2011 in South Waziristan tribal area. Jude was part of an eight-member group based in North Carolina accused of planning terrorist attacks. He was indicted by federal authorities in 2009 as part of an alleged plot to attack the US Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. The other seven members were arrested, but authorities said Jude fled the US to join militants in Pakistan’s tribal region. Pakistani intelligence officials arrested Jude on Oct 15, 2008, after he tried to enter the Mohmand tribal area. Jude was carrying a laptop, a dagger, Islamic books and DVDs, a map of Pakistan and an American passport, the security officials said. Jude appeared in a court in Shabqadar town on Oct 17, 2008. Police said they were interrogating the American to determine why he had come to the area, but gave no indication at the time that they suspected he had links with militants. The US formally said for the first time on Wednesday that it had killed radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and three other US citizens in anti-terror strikes abroad. Washington acknowledged it targeted Awlaki in Yemen in September 2011. “The United States is further aware of three other US citizens who have been killed in anti-terror operations over that same time period: Samir Khan, Abdulrahman al Awlaki and Jude Kenan Mohammad.”—Agencies
NAB summons Gilani, Ashraf in Tauqeer Sadiq case ISLAMABAD, May 23: PPP’s two former prime ministers, Yousuf Raza Gilnai and Raja Pervez Ashraf, have been summoned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for questioning over the alleged illegal appointment of Tauqeer Sadiq as chairman of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). . “Mr Ashraf and Mr Gilani have been summoned on May 26 and May 27, respectively,” NAB’s Prosecutor General K.K. Agha informed the Supreme Court on Thursday. He told the three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja that notices had been served on both ex-premiers, adding that former adviser to petroleum ministry Dr Asim Hussain had also been summoned in the same case on May 30. Mr Ashraf is also facing charges in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) scam being pursued by NAB in the Supreme Court. He has been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in award of contracts to nine rental power companies in 2008. On May 17, he appeared before NAB’s investigators and recorded his statement in the RPP case. Mr Ashraf ran in the elections for a seat in the National Assembly but suffered defeat. Mr Gilani is also going through a bad patch since he was disqualified and removed from office of the prime minister on June 19, 2012, by the apex court in a contempt case. Because of his disqualification he could not contest the recent elections while his two sons and bother lost elections. His third son Ali Haider Gilani, who was contesting for a Punjab Assembly seat, was kidnapped outside his house in Multan on May 9 and has not returned. NAB spokesman Ramzan Sajid refused to give details of the case in which the two PPP leaders have been summoned. “As the matter is under investigation…details…cannot be shared with the media at this stage,” he said. Mr Sadiq, who has already been declared a proclaimed offender, is also the principal accused in a Rs82 billion corruption scam. He fled abroad soon after the Supreme Court declared his appointment as Ogra chief illegal on Nov 25, 2011. The apex court was informed that Mr Ashraf was chairman and federal secretaries Zafar Mehmood and Nargis Sethi were members of the interview board that approved the appointment of Mr Sadiq. Mr Gilani was prime minister at the time. On April 17, 2011, the Higher Education Commission declared the master’s degree of Mr Sadiq fake. Mr Sadiq, brother-in-law of then PPP secretary general Jehangir Badar, said in a statement that his master’s degree had nothing to do with his appointment since the qualification required for the slot of Ogra chairman, as mentioned in section 3 of the Ogra Ordinance, was an LLB degree and 20 years of experience. “I did my LLB in 1987 and have 22 years of experience, so I am eligible for the post of Ogra chairman even without this master’s degree,” he said. Earlier, the Supreme Court had set Oct 5, 2012, as deadline to arrest Mr Sadiq. On Nov 25, the court declared Mr Sadiq’s appointment illegal and ordered NAB to investigate corruption cases against him and submit its findings within 45 days. Mr Sadiq fled abroad despite the fact that his name was on the ECL. NAB arrested him in Dubai with the help of Interpol but failed to bring him back to the country. He was detained in Al Wathba Prison Abu Dhabi on Feb 14. “We are waiting for the decision of Dubai court regarding deportation of Tauqeer Sadiq to be announced on May 30,” NAB’s prosecutor general told the Supreme Court.—Syed Irfan Raza
‘N’ nominates Shahbaz for Punjab CM post By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 23: The PML-N parliamentary committee nominated on Thursday Shahbaz Sharif for the post of Punjab chief minister. . The committee’s decision is considered to be a mere a formality because party’s chief Nawaz Sharif had indicated soon after May 11 elections that Shahbaz Sharif would be the chief minister of Punjab for the fourth time. Several important PML-N leaders have been saying for sometime no-one other than Shahbaz Sharif can better manage the affairs of Punjab, the party’s stronghold. Earlier, the name of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was doing the round because he had won a provincial assembly seat and Shahbaz Sharif was interested in the Ministry for Water and Power to deal with the energy crisis. According to senior PML-N leader and MPA-elect Ata Manaka, the younger Sharif is the only person who can run the affairs of Punjab effectively. “His vision for development in the province will benefit its people,” he told Dawn. Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif told a delegation of students on Thursday that the future of the country was bright and those spreading pessimism would be frustrated. “The nation which has produced a Nobel laureate and IT prodigies such as Arfa Karim can compete with any nation. By conducting nuclear tests and building the motorway and the Metro Bus Service we have proved that we are ready to face all challenges,” he said. He said that seeing enthusiasm of the youth in his election meetings he was sure that the PML-N would emerge victorious. “There were occasions during the campaign when I was not feeling well but the fervour and zeal of the youth forced me to attend all public meetings.” DEMONSTRATION: Meanwhile, PML-N’s woman leader Ayesha Sughra and her supporters held a demonstration outside the Raiwind residence of the Sharif brothers demanding a reserved seat for her in the National Assembly. According to sources, Shahbaz Sharif promised to consider Ms Sughra’s request.
LeT man killed in Kashmir SRINAGAR, May 23: A top police officer in India-held Kashmir said on Thursday that a local militant ‘commander’ had been killed in a fierce gunbattle with Indian forces.. IGP Abdul Gani Mir said the fighting started early on Thursday after police and paramilitary troops acted on a tip and surrounded a neighbourhood in Srinagar. Mir said three policemen were wounded in the fighting that killed Hilal Moulvi of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. There was no immediate confirmation from LeT.—AP
Kabul urged to consider regional implications of arms deal By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 24: The Foreign Office has urged Afghanistan to be mindful of the regional security situation while pursuing an arms purchase deal with India. . “As a sovereign country Afghanistan can pursue its own policies, but we hope that it would mind the overall peace and security situation,” Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jillani said at a media briefing on Friday. He was responding to reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai, during a visit to India earlier this week, had asked the Indian leadership to provide arms to Afghan army. Mr Karzai’s wish list is not yet known but, according to media reports, he has sought 105mm artillery, medium-lift aircraft, bridge-laying equipment and trucks. Kabul made the request under its strategic partnership agreement with New Delhi, which provides for training of troops and supply of military hardware. The agreement was signed by the two countries in 2011. India has already been providing training and small arms to Afghan troops, but has rarely publicly acknowledged it because of regional sensitivities. It was expected that the Afghan demand would cause anxiety in Islamabad, which has always remained opposed to Indian engagement with Afghan security forces because of the history of its tense relationship with New Delhi. The demand for weapons was made during the current low in cyclic Pak-Afghan ties. Besides, Kabul has been reluctant to sign a similar agreement with Islamabad despite its keenness for such an arrangement and Mr Karzai’s offer in this regard at a meeting in New York last year. INDIA-CHINA TIES: The foreign secretary appeared unconcerned about an improvement in relations between China and India. Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang paid a three day visit to India before coming to Pakistan this week. In India Premier Li called for putting behind the Ladakh border dispute and moving ahead with bilateral ties. India and China want to increase the volume of bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015 from the current $65bn. “We feel improvement in India-China relations would contribute to peace and security in the region,” Mr Jillani said. He did not see any comparison between Pak-China relationship and the developing India-China ties. “The contours of Pak-China relations are well known and have been articulated by Chinese leadership a number of times,” he said. Landing in Islamabad from India, Premier Li had said that he had come to reaffirm his country’s commitment to strategic partnership with Pakistan and that the ties would intensify no matter how the international situation evolves. Asked if the incoming PML-N government could review Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project and the award of operational control of Gwadar port to China, Mr Jillani said he saw no major changes in foreign policy with the change in government and that international agreements signed by the previous government would remain intact. About the gas pipeline project against which Saudis are expected to put pressure on the new government, he said Pakistan had already made a policy decision that it would pursue all options to meet its energy requirements. “We have an acute energy shortage and energy is going to be a priority issue with the new government,” he said. Cooperation with China in energy sector, particularly civilian nuclear energy, was ongoing and no new projects were discussed during Prime Minister Li’s visit, he said.
Govt reiterates opposition to drone attacks By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, May 24: The Foreign Office has reiterated its condemnation of drone strikes but stayed short of demanding their cessation. . A statement issued by the Foreign Office on US President Barack Obama’s policy speech on counter-terrorism strategy on Thursday said: “The Government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that the drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives, have human rights and humanitarian implications and violate the principles of national sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law.” President Obama described drone as a crucial weapon in the war on terror in AfPak region, but said it was not the only way to deal with militancy. In this respect, he appeared to have been convinced by the Pakistani argument that use of force alone could not crush terrorism. “We appreciate that President Obama acknowledged that force alone cannot make us safe. The root cause has to be addressed,” Foreign Secretary Jillani said. “There is the humanitarian aspect, sovereignty issues and legal implications of drone strikes,” he added. Tighter oversight of the drone programme and tougher targeting rules may reduce the frequency of the strikes and provide an opportunity to the new government in Islamabad to put behind the controversy and move ahead with rebuilding relations with Washington. Drone attacks have been deeply unpopular in Pakistan because of the perceived violation of sovereignty and the collateral damage they cause. There have been some 338 strikes in tribal areas since 2004 in which over 2,600 people, mostly militants, have been killed. Drone war started by former US president George Bush saw intensification under Obama. (According to an agency report, 366 drone strikes took place between 2004 and 2013 and 2,537 to 3,533 people were killed.) President Obama also resolved to continue efforts for rebuilding relations with Pakistan. This too went well with Pakistan government, which welcomed the statement and called for the rapprochement to be based on mutual respect and benefit. “As a frontline state in the fight against terrorism, Pakistani troops have borne the brunt and given the ultimate sacrifice. We appreciate President Obama’s acknowledgement and recognition of the sacrifices made by Pakistan, particularly by our law-enforcement agencies,” the statement said.
New guidelines UNDER a new presidential guidance signed by President Barack Obama last week, the Defence Department will take over some lethal drone operations from the CIA. . That would subject drone attacks to more scrutiny from Congress and might lead to the Pentagon taking over drone operations in Yemen, but not in Pakistan, where the CIA is likely to continue to run the programme.—Reuters
UK fighters divert PIA’s Manchester flight to London LONDON, May 24: British authorities scrambled fighter jets on Friday to intercept a PIA airliner carrying 308 people from Pakistan to Manchester and diverted it to an isolated runway at an airport on the outskirts of London. Two British passengers of Pakistani origin who had allegedly threatened to destroy the plane were arrested.. A British security official said the situation involving the Pakistan International Airlines flight did not appear terrorism-related, though police were still investigating. However, the incident further rattled the UK just days after a soldier was killed on a London street in a suspected terrorist attack. A Pakistani official briefed by the British police and PIA security on the investigation said on condition of anonymity the two suspects, speaking Urdu, had allegedly threatened to “destroy the plane” after an argument with the crew. Flight PK709 was diverted by the fighter jets to Stansted Airport. By strange coincidence, the PIA plane diverted to Stansted was the same plane on the same route — Lahore to Manchester — that had been diverted to Stansted in September 2011 due to a bomb scare. A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defence said that Typhoon jets had been launched from a Royal Air Force base after the incident was signalled by the plane’s crew, shortly before the plane was due to land in Manchester at 1230 GMT. “Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby have been launched to investigate an incident involving an aircraft in UK airspace,” the ministry spokesman said. After the plane landed, he said the incident was now a police matter and “our involvement is over”. Typhoon planes can be scrambled if the pilot or crew of a passenger aircraft sends out a passenger signal, he added. “The purpose of going up is to investigate what the situation is,” he said. “Often when a Quick Reaction Alert aircraft is launched the details are not known, but it is known that a signal has been sent.” The incident came just hours after a British Airways plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport with smoke billowing from one of its engines. Heathrow was temporarily forced to close both its runways while emergency crews put out a fire on the Oslo-bound Airbus A319, causing heavy disruption at one of the world’s busiest airports. A British Airways spokesman said the incident was “a purely technical issue”. Police said the two men were detained on suspicion of ‘endangering’ the aircraft. “Two men have been arrested on suspicion of endangerment of an aircraft,” police in Essex said in a statement. “They are aged 30 and 41 and are being taken to a police station for interview by detectives.” A PIA source said the incident had stemmed from a family row on board. “There was a family of eight to 10 people on the plane and they were quarrelling among each other,” the source said. “When PIA staff approached them and asked them to calm down, they told them to go away otherwise they would blow up the plane. “PIA staff became scared and they raised the alarm to avoid any untoward situation.”
Afghan leader escapes attack; two dead By Ali Hazrat Bacha PESHAWAR, May 24: A suicide bomber blew himself up near the vehicle of Haji Hayatullah, a leader of Afghan Jamaatud Dawa Al Quran Al Sunnat, on Friday. . Haji Hayatullah, who runs his Jamia Darul Uloom Islamia, was not in the vehicle. His drive and a guard were killed in the attack. Haji Hayatullah is said to be a nephew of Maulvi Jamilur Rehman, an Afghan war veteran. Maulvi Rehman was a senior leader of the group. According to an eyewitness, the vehicle was hit by the bomber as soon as it came out of the seminary. Haji Hayatullah was still inside the seminary in Saeedabad locality on the Pejagi Road. SP Khalid Hamdani said it was a suicide attack and the target was Haji Hayatullah. The bomber hit the vehicle from the driver’s side. Sources said Haji Hayatullah had been receiving threats for some time. Shafaqat Malik of the bomb disposal unit said the explosives used in the attack weighed 5 to 6 kilograms. A spokesperson of the hospital said three bodies had been brought to the hospital. Two of them were said to be of the driver and guard and the third one which was beyond recognition was believed to be of the suicide bomber
Ban on CNG use in big vehicles reversed By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, May 24: The Ministry of Petroleum has declared a directive issued by the Prime Minister Secretariat’s as unworkable and withdrawn a ban on the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) in vehicles with engine capacity of over 1000cc. . The PM Secretariat’s directive issued on Tuesday to the petroleum ministry, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and gas companies warned owners of CNG stations that sale of gas to large vehicles would entail a fine of Rs50,000 for first violation, Rs100,000 for second, Rs600,000 for third and suspension of CNG licence for one year in case of fourth violation. The move was questioned by Ogra which sought a clarification from the petroleum minister whether the decision taken by the caretaker prime minister had the mandatory approval of the federal cabinet or its Economic Coordination Committee as required by the Ogra ordinance. Ogra said that without such mandatory approval, the regulator could not implement the executive order of the government as clarified in the Supreme Court decision. After the objections raised by Ogra, the petroleum ministry put the premier’s directive on hold till May 25 and sought opinion on the matter from the law ministry which said that prima facie the executive order appeared to be in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens under which a specific section of society could not be discriminated against. The law ministry also said the imposition of fine or penalty on an individual or a section of society could be valid only if a legislation had been passed by parliament or a presidential ordinance was issued for a specific period. This was not the case in the CNG matter. Therefore, it said, the prime minister’s directive was not practical. An official of the petroleum ministry said that on the basis of law ministry’s opinion and a recent Supreme Court decision in which all actions taken by the caretaker set-up, including transfer and posting of government officials, had been suspended, the ministry had written letters to Ogra and gas companies asking them not to implement the executive order of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. He said a copy of the letter, along with the law ministry’s opinion, had also been sent to the PM’s Secretariat.
Overcoming energy crisis: PML-N govt to take difficult decisions, says Nawaz By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, May 24: While the PML-N said on Friday that its government would take difficult decisions to overcome the energy crisis, the PPP criticised the caretaker government for not releasing Rs22 billion for electricity generation “which could have provided some relief” from prolonged loadshedding of electricity.. A PML-N meeting, presided over by incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif at his Raiwind residence, discussed measures to overcome the crisis, proposals for the next budget and the formation of Balochistan government. The meeting reportedly expressed concern over the caretakers’ proposal to increase GST in the mini-budget of Rs152 billion. Nawaz Sharif said the PML-N government would take measures to overcome the energy crisis, adding that his party would not disappoint the nation and fulfil its promises. “After coming to power we will take difficult decisions and steer the country out of crises.” The PML-N chief vowed to provide relief to people in the first federal budget to be presented by his government next month. Punjab’s incoming chief minister Shahbaz Sharif said the caretaker government should take immediate steps to overcome loadshedding. “Up to 20 hours of loadshedding a day has made the lives of people miserable,” he said. The younger Sharif criticised the caretaker government for making a major reshuffle in the bureaucracy. He said soon after winning the May 11 elections his party started consultations for overcoming the energy crisis. Caretaker Minister for Water and Power Dr Musadiq Malik briefed the meeting about energy crisis. Senator Ishaq Dar, Pervaiz Rashid, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Mehtab Rashdi and Sanaullah Zehri attended the meeting. Meanwhile, the PPP has criticised the caretaker government for not releasing Rs22 billion for electricity generation. The party’s information secretary, Qamar Zaman Kaira, called upon Nawaz Sharif to persuade the caretakers to take immediate measures for reducing loadshedding hours. He said the PML-N chief could do it as he did in the case of mini-budget which proposed increase in the GST and other taxes. Mr Kaira alleged that in the case of mini-budget the caretaker prime minister had apparently “served the purpose of someone else” and crossed his constitutional mandate. The water and power minister had admitted that he could not reduce duration of loadshedding because the finance minister had not released Rs22 billion as per the directive of the caretaker prime minister for making payment to oil companies, and therefore power plants could not generate more electricity for want of fuel.
Senate panel wants power crisis shared by all By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, May 24: A Senate panel directed the water and power ministry on Friday to apply loadshedding schedule to all government departments and public office holders, except defence installations and hospitals.. “There should be no (loadshedding) exemption to anybody, including presidency, prime minister house, ministers’ enclave, high courts, judges, parliamentary lodges, bungalows of generals and others,” said Senator Zahid Khan of the Awami National Party, while presiding over a meeting of the Senate standing committee on water and power. Only defence installations and hospitals should be exempted from loadshedding, he added. The committee also directed the ministry to immediately stop supply of 650MW from national grid to the Karachi Electric Supply Company. Senator Shahi Syed said that the KESC was earning millions of rupees every month despite its miserable performance as there were long periods of loadshedding in the city that had affected the common people most. The committee asked the ministry to challenge in a court `faulty’ agreements signed by the previous government with the KESC. It was informed that power supply to the KESC could not be cut off because of a stay order that the utility had already obtained from a court. The committee was of the view that decisions of the Council of Common Interests could not be blocked through stay orders and hence the authorities should take steps to get the stay orders vacated. Secretary water and power Anwar Ahmad Khan told the meeting that power generation had dropped to about 9400MW because of a shortage of fuel and funds, while demand had increased to an estimated 16,000-17,000MW, leaving a shortfall of about 7,000MW. He said the situation was not expected to improve until May 29. The committee observed that an `unrealistic’ schedule of loadshedding had been provided to it and said it would recommend stern action against those officials who had misled the parliamentarians as people were criticising politicians for their miseries. It asked the secretary to suggest measures for resolution of the crisis. The secretary said that independent power plants could be converted to coal in 18 months. He said efficient power plants and those producing maximum electricity were given incentives throughout the world but it was the other way round in Pakistan where inefficient plants were being facilitated. He said power plants in the country were obsolete and had been brought in after refurbishment. As a result, he added, these were consuming more fuel when compared with those in India and Bangladesh. In Pakistan, he pointed out, efficiency tests and audit of power plants had never been conducted. The committee recommended to the government to stop recovery of fuel-based tariff increases approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority for eight months.
Caretaker govt set to liquidate PTDC assets By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, May 24: The caretaker government plans to liquidate assets worth trillions of rupees of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) across the country, according to sources in the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination. . The ministry has shortlisted three firms of chartered accountant for evaluating the corporation’s assets for liquidation, including the one owned by a man accused of being involved in the multi-billion-rupee National Logistics Cell (NLC) scam, along with three army generals. The PTDC Employees Union has decided to go to court against the move to liquidate the corporation’s assets at a time when a new elected government is about to take over. The federal and provincial governments are reported to have been in a standoff over distribution of 39 hotels, motels and resorts in different parts of the country since the devolution of the Ministry of Tourism Development to the provinces under the 18th amendment. The total value of PTDC’s property is said to be about trillions of rupees. The evaluation is being carried out to assess the actual worth of the assets. Inter-Provincial Coordination Secretary Faridullah Khan told Dawn that one of the three firms of chartered accountant would be selected on Monday. He admitted that one of the firms was owned by a former official of the NLC allegedly involved in the scam, but said an accused could not be disqualified unless he was convicted. Mr Khan rejected a perception that PTDC assets were being liquidated by the caretakers. “It is being done under the 18th amendment and has nothing to do with the caretaker government.” He said that even after the distribution of its assets, the role of PTDC as the country’s premier tourism development body would remain intact and it would continue to look after “non-devolveable aspects of devolved subjects” of the tourism ministry. An office-bearer of the PTDC Employees Union alleged that the inter-provincial coordination ministry was trying to sell or distribute assets of the corporation among the provinces on low prices apparently to oblige certain vested interests and, therefore, the union had decided to challenge the liquidation process in court. “We don’t understand why a specific firm was being favoured,” he said. Senator Raza Rabbani, the architect of the 18th amendment, told Dawn last year that the PDTC had to be handed over to the provinces under the devolution plan. “The Ministry of Tourism has been devolved to the provinces in the second phase of devolution of powers, but the PTDC is left with the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division because distribution of PDTC assets and its liabilities is a laborious and lengthy procedure,” he had said. Some of the main assets of the PTDC are as under: ISLAMABAD: A property near the sports gymnasium in Shakkarparian, a restaurant in Daman-i-Koh and a restaurant in Jaltrang. KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: A resort in Chakdara and motels in Saidu Sharif, Kalam, Miandam, Panakot/Dir, Chitral, Chattar Plain, Besham, Barseen, Balakot, Naran and Ayubia. GILGIT-BALTISTAN: Motels in Gilgit, Gopis, Hunza, Phandar, Rama Lake, Sust (Pak-China border), Astak, Khaplu, Satpara and Skardu. BALOCHISTAN: Motels in Taftan (Pak-Iran border), Ziarat, Khuzdar and Chaman. PUNJAB: Motels in Taxila, Wagah (Pak-India border) and Bahawalpur. SINDH: A motel in Moenjodaro.
PML-N’s MPA-elect disqualified By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, May 24: The PML-N suffered a setback on Friday when the Supreme Court disqualified its MPA-elect Mir Abdul Ghafoor Lehri after he failed to submit his graduation degree. . Mr Lehri, who is senior vice-president of the party’s Balochistan chapter, had won the election from PB-29 Nasirabad. The apex court had allowed him to contest the election on the condition that if he failed to produce his BA degree he would be disqualified even after winning the seat. The disqualification of Mr Lehri has reduced the number of PML-N’s seats in the Balochistan Assembly to eight. However, it remains a majority party in the province because five independent members have joined it. The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has 10 seats and the National Party seven. An independent candidate has joined the NP.
Six policemen killed in rocket attack Bureau Report PESHAWAR, May 24: Six policemen were killed and a district police officer and his guard were injured when militants attacked their vehicles with rockets on the Indus Highway in Mattani area of Darra Adamkhel late on Friday night. . According to Dawn.com, the attack was followed by an exchange of fire. The injured DPO of Kohat, Dilawar Bangash, and his guard were brought to the Combined Military Hospital in Kohat. A police officer said the situation was not clear and a heavy continent of security personnel had been sent to the area. The exchange of fire between militants and security personnel was continuing till late night. DPO Bangash was going from Kohat to Peshawar when he came under attack.
US, Indian envoys meet Nawaz LAHORE, May 24: US Ambassador Richard Olson and Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal called on PML-N president and prime minister-in-waiting Nawaz Sharif at his Raiwind residence here on Friday. . Mr Olson said smooth transition of power would help strengthen democracy in Pakistan. He said the US wanted strong ties with Pakistan and it was also ready to help Pakistan overcome energy crisis. This was the second meeting of Mr Olson with Mr Sharif after the May 11 polls. Sources said the US envoy also discussed the Taliban issue with Mr Sharif. The prime minister in-waiting had already favoured talks with Taliban. Mr Olson had said it was the prerogative of the (PML-N) government to hold talks with the Taliban. He said his government had no objection if Pakistan entered into talks with Taliban. In his meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal, Mr Sharif said Pakistan wanted to resolve all outstanding issues with India through negotiations.—Staff Reporter
Editorial NEWS
The task at hand: Dealing with the power crisis IT should now be sufficiently clear that the outcome of the election has hinged, more than anything else, on the power crisis. More than the handouts of income-support programmes, it has been electricity and gas shortages that have played a decisive part in the electoral defeat of the PPP. The growing difficulties that Pakistan is having in providing electricity to the common man, and in meeting its requirements of primary energy, are becoming a key test for governments; it is an issue perhaps more fundamental than anything else because it touches so intensely and so universally on the lives of so many. Taking this task lightly, and it can be argued that the PPP-led government did indeed take its responsibilities in this area lightly, would be a serious mistake. . For the incoming government of Nawaz Sharif, the real test lies in this area. The job ahead for the PML-N is not an easy one. What we call the power crisis is in fact a complex, multidimensional crisis of governance and fiscal affairs. It is technical in nature only to the extent that improving powerhouse efficiencies and bringing down line losses can help wring a few more megawatts out of the outdated generation and transmission system. It is as much a ‘software’ issue, in the sense that realigning incentives, bringing about transparency and choking off spaces for discretionary decision-making in the power bureaucracy are equally a part of the job. A comprehensive approach is required at this point, one which aims to improve the finances of the power bureaucracy through improving recoveries and improving transparency so that we know where the money is going and where the electricity is being delivered. If after 100 days in office, Mr Sharif should find himself chairing a meeting attended by the MD, PSO and the secretaries of finance, petroleum, water and power along with their respective ministers — and the whole objective of the meeting is to arrange money for PSO to pay for its next shipment of furnace oil — he should understand that he is on the road to breaking his campaign promise to eliminate loadshedding in two years. We don’t need more ‘energy summits’ nor do we need any more ad hoc announcements of energy conservation measures that everybody knows are not going to be fulfilled. What we need is fundamental reform, and if the new government cannot start delivering on that immediately, they might as well start pack-ing their bags on the 101st day.
An unacceptable practice: Disenfranchising women POST-elections, amidst the cacophony of vote-rigging allegations and demands for recounting and even re-polling in certain cases, little notice has been taken of the blatant disenfranchisement of women in some parts of the country. While a few agreements between local chapters of various political parties to bar women in the areas from voting had come to light before the elections, such as in Mianwali and Lower Dir, others have surfaced now. In Upper Dir, it seems representatives of various parties had made a similar pact. Likewise, in Bajaur, only 2,800 women out of a registered 130,000 plus — a mere three per cent — were able to cast their votes because religious/ political parties and tribal elders flouted earlier commitments to the contrary and barred women from voting. . This issue, repeated every election cycle in Pakistan, and one that makes a mockery of the concept of universal adult franchise, must be treated as seriously as any other form of electoral malpractice. In the run-up to the election, the ECP vowed it would go the extra mile for women voters and, in its draft bill on electoral reforms, included the requirement for re-polling at polling stations with less than 10pc turnout of registered women voters. The bill, however, was never legislated upon by parliament. Nevertheless, according to Pakistan’s electoral laws, preventing individuals from exercising their right of franchise is as illegal as compelling individuals to vote for a particular candidate, and the ECP must take action against those who deprived women of their right. Meanwhile, it is unfortunate that only six women have been elected on general seats to the National Assembly as opposed to 16 in 2008. It is indicative of the prevailing mindset that of the 150 women who stood for election to the Assembly, only 36 had been nominated by the political parties. It is high time that our political culture casts off its regressive mindset and gives women’s vote and their representation in parliament due importance.
No end to bloodshed: Carnage in mosques NOBODY has claimed responsibility for Friday’s bombing of two mosques in the Malakand Agency but the fingerprints are those of the militants waging war on the state of Pakistan: to them, nothing is sacred. They have bombed schools, mosques, Eid congregations, hospitals, religious processions, peace ‘jirgas’, funerals and bazaars full of men, women and children. To them, the over 20 people killed on Friday will merely add to lifeless statistics — some 50,000 Pakistanis killed or injured, 4,000 of them being soldiers. The Malakand area has a heavy military presence, and that’s the reason why the militants — whatever faction they belonged to — targeted the two mosques. Even though the Pakistani Taliban had stepped up their murder of political workers by bombing party rallies and corner meetings during the election campaign, this is the first time they have carried out a major attack in the Malakand region after the May 11 election. Is this a foretaste of things to come? Will the Taliban and other militant organisations continue to shed blood, or will they relent, because the three main parties which were spared during the campaign will soon be in the driving seat?. Given the party’s landslide in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI is likely to form government in KP. Its possible coalition partners had all along pursued a policy that seemed to ignore if not condone terrorism and tried to present it as an inevitable consequence of America’s drone attacks. Now that the KP people have voted for his party, will Imran Khan and his would-be coalition partners take a clear-cut stance on terrorism? The drone attacks are a gross violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, but can the attacks by a foreign country’s unmanned aerial vehicles justify the spilling of blood of Pakistanis by their own people?
Politics of sect: Communal parties rejected RELIGIOUS parties have generally failed to perform at the ballot box in Pakistan and their offshoots — parties based on sect — have fared even worse. This trend sustained itself in the 2013 general elections as both Shia and Sunni parties fared dismally. Shia grouping Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen, which was contesting elections for the first time, as well as the Sunni far-right Muttahida Deeni Mahaz alliance, which contained the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (successor of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan) under its umbrella, failed to convince voters to give them a shot at power. The MWM only managed to secure one Balochistan Assembly seat while the MDM failed to get any candidates into the assemblies, though ASWJ leader Ahmed Ludhianvi lost by a whisker to the PML-N in the Jhang National Assembly seat he was contesting.. Sectarian politics came to the fore in the Ziaul Haq era; it was given oxygen by the dictator’s ‘Islamisation’ campaign while the influence of Saudi Arabia and Iran in local politics was also a factor in its growth as far-right Sunni groups such as the SSP were formed in reaction to a more pronounced Shia political identity in Pakistan after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Since then overtly Shia and Sunni parties have become a permanent feature on the political landscape. While the voter has repeatedly rejected sect-based groups, their rise, growth and continued presence points to key issues that must be addressed by mainstream parties. For example the MWM’s rise, which campaigned against the targeting of Shias, came about because many Shias felt the major political parties did little to protect them from sectarian militants. Such grievances appear justified. Hence if mainstream parties fail to address sectarian violence, they may face further alienation of the Shia voter. But, the fact remains that most Shias and Sunnis in Pakistan do not vote along communal lines. For that matter, even Islamist parties have failed to attract the voter in this country. Hence Shias and other religious groups that feel victimised need to engage with political parties; the future lies in convergence with the political mainstream. As for the major parties, they need to reassure voters of all creeds that their rights will be protected and that they will work to build a society free of sectarianism. Regarding groups like the ASWJ who lost by small margins, this is indeed a troubling indication. However, this can also be countered by mainstream political parties by ensuring good governance and the rule of law, thus taking the wind out of the extremists’ sails.
A new beginning: Nawaz Sharif-Gen Kayani meeting OF one meeting is not made a relationship, functional or otherwise, but Saturday’s three-hour tête-à-tête in Lahore between the incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Kayani suggests that both sides can at least be expected to try and work together in the months ahead. The army’s hands-off approach towards the elections, for the most part, will have gone some way in addressing the PML-N’s concerns that somehow the likelihood of another stint in Islamabad for the N-League was being undermined by the army — the complaints about a nexus between former ISI chief Gen Pasha and the PTI being the loudest and most toxic. Now that the PML-N has swept to unexpectedly large gains in its strongholds in an on-schedule election with minimal interference by the army-led establishment, the party may be more willing to look at the army leadership as a partner rather than a potential adversary.. On the army’s part, Mr Sharif’s suggestions in the days leading up to the election that a Sharif-led government will determine national security and foreign policies and the army will be expected to follow it will have raised some eyebrows but there was also enough in Mr Sharif’s comments to suggest that he is no way spoiling for a fight. More important will be how the incoming prime minister decides to try and influence two key relationships: with India and Afghanistan. On India, Mr Sharif’s intentions are well known and it can be inferred that the army would prefer a slower rate of progress than the PML-N supremo appears to want. On Afghanistan, Mr Sharif has said virtually nothing, meaning there is little clarity on whether he is in agreement with the preferred army option of creating the maximal space for Pakhtuns/ Afghan Taliban in Afghanistan post-2014. Internally, the PML-N has never seriously questioned military operations, but then, what is said from the luxury of sitting in the opposition can be very different from what is done with a hand on the levers of the state.
Google hardly affected: YouTube blockade EIGHT months and counting: the government that imposed the ban is gone, a new one has been elected and there have been several appeals. Yet, there is no sign on the horizon of the blockade on YouTube being overturned. The only information to come out on this front recently is that apropos of a legal challenge on the ban, on Friday the Lahore High Court was informed by government officials that the Google administration, whose point of view had been sought by the LHC, was mulling over the legal implications over appearing before a foreign court. But Google and subsidiaries such as YouTube are used by all manner of people and all sorts of material passes through these channels; the whole idea is to allow unfettered communication. Were Pakistan a major market that would make blockades imposed by the government carry some leverage with Internet giants, there might have been some hope. Lacking that, it is unlikely in the extreme that Google would consider the loss of YouTube in Pakistan anything more than a minor irritant that matters only to Pakistanis.. For the resolution of the matter, it would be more sensible to turn the searchlight inwards. In January, it was reported that what Pakistan lacks is a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the US under which, amongst other issues, an Internet company could be directed to abide by the laws of other countries. It should be recalled that back when the ban was imposed, other countries including India and Egypt managed to get Google to selectively bar countrywide access to the content considered illegal. The Ministry of Information and Technology, Pemra, the PTA and all other stakeholders need to get their paperwork sorted instead of wasting further time.
Zardari’s regrets: Reasons behind PPP loss THE last time President Asif Ali Zardari was in Lahore, the PPP had as many National Assembly seats in the city as it now has in the whole of Punjab — two. On Monday, Mr Zardari spoke of conspiracies against his party; a day earlier he had hinted at election fraud with his remark about the power of the returning officers in charge of the polling stations. He said he could win an election just by having them by his side. Delving deeper into the PPP’s poor poll showing, the president listed his reasons why the party couldn’t perform well: energy crisis, the judiciary, the Taliban threat and personal tangles which prevented the two former PPP prime ministers, Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, from campaigning. He said 20-odd seats in the election were not worth risking the life of another Bhutto. . To campaign in public or not was a sensitive decision for the PPP. But even if the party opted for caution it made absolutely no attempt to find a way around the Taliban threat to connect with the people. It left the party without a leader. Pakistanis at large were denied a choice which they had earlier exercised, regardless of whether or not they wanted to exercise it now. Over vast areas in the all-important Punjab, the PPP had only a ghostly presence resonating in its tragic refrain about its past leaders and their sacrifices. In line with his rather ‘journalistic’ analysis of the situation, Mr Zardari agreed with general media projections about how many National Assembly seats the PPP could have ended up with: around 60, and obviously not the number that leads to hopes of retaining power. But a bigger catch, especially in Punjab, could have perhaps helped the party avoid all these new and brushed-up obituaries about Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s invention. Without exception, the PPP’s 2013 elegy implicates its incumbent leadership in the party’s failures. Mr Zardari now regrets his decision of not giving up the presidency for leading the party’s election campaign. This admission serves no purpose other than seeking to restore to the de facto PPP head some of his old reputation as a sharp politician — sharp in retrospect. The moment has passed. An election has been badly lost and a party badly bruised. Then the focus was on the party somehow finishing its term. Now the president wants to complete his term in office. The question then and now: to what effect is it other than mere formality?
Pyrrhic victory? The battle for NA-250 OUT of all the constituencies in the country where allegations of mismanagement emerged during the general elections, Karachi’s NA-250 was probably the most high-profile. Irregularities and a lack of staff at numerous polling stations on election day led the Election Commission of Pakistan to order re-polling in 43 stations of the constituency on May 19. But the re-polling process has been controversial for various reasons. On Saturday, PTI leader Zahra Shahid Hussain was gunned down outside her DHA home, which spread fear in the area and contributed to the low turnout on Sunday. Also, the MQM, which wanted re-polling in the entire constituency, boycotted the process, as did the PPP, JI and some others. So it is something of a pyrrhic victory for Dr Arif Alvi, the only PTI candidate to win a National Assembly seat from Sindh as per unofficial results.. Two issues must be considered; the question of re-polling as well as the murder allegations levelled by the PTI against the MQM in Zahra Shahid Hussain’s case. The PTI should have agreed to re-polling in the entire constituency especially when the ECP had agreed to the deployment of army personnel inside the polling stations. That way, if other parties had still been in the field a victory would have been more convincing, while it would have strengthened the PTI’s demands for re-polling in other Karachi constituencies where the party polled a significant number of votes. Regarding the murder of Ms Hussain, it was premature and ill-advised for Imran Khan to blame Altaf Hussain for the killing before any investigation had been conducted, especially in such a charged atmosphere. Hence the MQM’s criticism of the PTI chief’s remarks seems justified. But the MQM had also raised the temperature earlier by allegedly threatening the PTI and hurling personal abuses at Imran Khan. Ms Hussain’s murder, which police have termed a targeted killing, needs to be fully in-vestigated; in the meantime, all parties must show restraint, accept the results and move forward with the political process.
Top of the world: Women on Everest AFTER they conquered the mighty Mount Everest in 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became household names for generations of people. This year, climbers are celebrating 60 years of conquest of the 8,848m-high mountain’s summit; the proud peak continues to be a site where history is written. On Saturday, 25-year-old Raha Moharrak became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to reach the top; a day later, her achievement was matched by Pakistan which saw the first of its daughters, Samina Baig, do the same. The 21-year-old from Hunza was accompanied by her brother, Mirza Ali and — in another first — twin Indian sisters Tashi and Nugshi Malik. Upon reaching the summit, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay buried some sweets and a small cross in the snow; on Sunday, the Pakistani and Indian mountaineers hoisted flags of their countries side by side.. The strength, courage and endurance that such a climb demands can simply not be envisioned by non-mountaineers. But the brave young women have prevailed over not just a terrain that is amongst the most hostile on the planet, they have also won a victory for another, equally monumental challenge: that of gender equality. Particularly given the countries of their origin — Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia where patriarchy and gender discrimina-tion remain deeply entrenched — they have forged a path through a treacherous landscape. At the Islamabad press conference in March where Samina Baig and Mirza Ali announced their intention to attempt the climb, the former said that “together we are promoting gender equality”. That goal was achieved when the young woman set foot on the first step to the top; in having achieved the summit, she and her companions have presented their gender with an impressive model of standing fast.
A bloody track record: Talks with the Taliban IF the TTP can be tamed politically, nothing like it. If death and destruction can come to an end through dialogue, then why not? Talks, said Nawaz Sharif on Monday, are the “best option”. Speaking to a gathering of his party’s newly elected MPs in Lahore, the incoming prime minister made remarks that deserve to be noted. The PML-N chief referred to the 40,000 casualties the Taliban have inflicted on the country — and the consequent cost to the economy — and said that dialogue was not a bad option. The question is: will a dialogue with the Taliban work? What is their track record? Have they in the past abided by the agreements worked out with the state of Pakistan and kept their peace? . The victor of the May 11 vote is a worried man. The problems he has to fix range from the energy crisis to a sinking public sector. Foreign exchange reserves have tumbled, industry is stagnating, foreign investment is shy and Pakistani entrepreneurs are investing abroad. On top of this is the need for the new regime to develop a working relationship with the federating units to be ruled by other parties. But all this is not possible without giving peace to the people who have seen, heard and suffered blast after blast since the Taliban began their terror campaign in 2007. Undeniably, the PML-N has a conservative outlook and was one of the three parties the Taliban had chosen as ‘guarantors’. Nevertheless, now that he is about to form government, Mr Sharif knows all too well that all his plans for the economy’s revival — and such fancy projects as a bullet train — will never see the light of day without an end to the insurgency. If he thus seeks a negotiated end to the insurgency, his government must not only talk from a position of strength, the PML-N high command should also be mindful of certain incontrovertible realities: the Taliban have used the peace interregnum to shore up their defences; they continue to host terrorists from all parts of Pakistan and abroad, and they reject the democratic process. If the Taliban want peace, they must renounce violence, accept the sovereignty of the state of Pakistan on every bit of territory and join the political mainstream. The state will give away nothing; it is the Taliban who have to accept the fundamentals of civilised living, like democracy, education and women’s rights. That’s what the talks should aim at.
Action, not simply words: Army chief’s remarks GEN Kayani’s comments on Monday hailing the bravery and commitment of the Pakistani people to democracy by turning out in large numbers to vote on May 11 despite the threat of terrorist attacks are perhaps an opportunity to turn the question around: will the army leadership now accept that there is in fact a consensus inside Pakistan against militancy and that it is time for the military to catch up with public sentiment? That Gen Kayani has been forthright in denouncing militancy inside Pakistan and challenged militancy apologists is a good thing and he has done it consistently for nearly a year now. But the fight against mili-tancy requires some fundamental shifts on the part of the army that go far beyond words of praise and statements of resolve.. Where, for example, is the army’s strategy for rolling back militancy inside Pakistan — beyond military operations in the tribal areas and parts of KP? To hack off some branches of militancy — as the army is doing in confronting the anti-state TTP — while leaving others unmolested — the infrastructure of ‘jihad’ orientated towards Afghanistan and to some extent Kashmir is believed to be intact — is simply not adequate. Then there is the army’s own history of sponsoring jihad that needs to be reckoned with honestly — something even the forthright army chief has been unable or unwilling to dilate on. And finally, little is said about the armed forces’ internal situation, about the rank and file and leadership tiers that may increas-ingly be infected with xenophobia, extremism or even worse. In fact, Gen Kayani’s stance so far can be interpreted as a sign of concern mixed with confusion, reflecting a military leadership that perhaps has finally understood the problem with its age-old policies but is too cautious or fearful to try and reverse them. Given the number of troops that have been killed on the frontline, Gen Kayani should be aware that to defeat militancy, clarity is needed — on all sides and with all audiences.
Fowl play: Conditions at the Karachi Zoo IT is a picture in contrast: in Islamabad on Friday, rescuers were alerted to an injured eagle that had been stranded in a tree for two days. It proved to be a steppe eagle, a migratory bird from Central Asia and a rare visitor to Pakistan in this season. It was taken to the vet at the Islamabad Zoo and will be set free after recovery. Meanwhile, as reported in our Sindh pages, at least 15 large birds under the care of the Karachi Zoo have died in a little more than a year. The most recent was a macaw found dead in its cage, apparently the victim of neglect and an environment detrimental to its health; several owls died within mere days of their arrival. Underscoring the irony, most of these birds were donated to the zoo to celebrate the facility’s first zoo day, held on Feb 28 last year.. The Karachi Zoo regularly loses other animals too, and for similar reasons. But notwithstanding media reports, conditions just don’t seem to improve. Zoo officials blame the situation on financial constraints, saying that if they were given even 10pc of the revenue the facility earns, improvements would be possible; an order that 25pc of the revenue should be spent on the facility was never implemented, they complain. Things are rapidly reaching a crisis point. If the zoo administration cannot improve the conditions in which the animals are kept, it might be time to start thinking about shutting down the facility for humane reasons. Certainly, as a first step the zoo must stop accepting or acquiring animals or birds that it cannot properly house. This grim procession of death and neglect has to be brought to an end.
What voters want: Election results AN election is primarily about numbers — the seats won and lost and the votes polled and counted. More than a week after polling day, the ECP has released its official count. There are few surprises as the earlier results had already provided a fair idea of the mandate. The polling numbers have merely added some detail to an already clear picture. Indeed, the official numbers released underline the extent of the PML-N’s victory — the party improved its performance in terms of votes garnered in 2008 by over 100pc. Similarly, the numbers emphasise the disaster that was the PPP on May 11 — the party that ruled the centre and three provincial set-ups has now been reduced to the third biggest party in the country.. The numbers also reveal how one province, Punjab, dominates the country’s electoral arena. The PML-N won primarily from Punjab and ended up as the biggest vote earner and with a simple majority in the National Assembly. Fortunately, the parties that came second and third in terms of votes polled represent Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh respectively and will ensure the federation’s representation in the National Assembly. But more importantly, an election also conveys the needs of the electorate and their judgement of governments. And the voters have sent a clear message. The wholesale rejection of the PPP in Punjab and of the ANP and the PPP in KP proves that the people want their governments to deliver better living standards and security — ideological rhetoric and democracy-strengthening legislation is not enough if villages and cities are enveloped in darkness and unemployed residents face terrorist attacks. Indeed, if the people of Punjab voted for the PML-N in the hope that it would deliver on electricity and inflation, it can be argued that the residents of KP voted for parties that promised them peace. This was the promise that the ANP made in 2008 when Swat and most of Fata were in the control of militants and the former promised to negotiate and to end the fighting. The ANP failed — for many reasons beyond its control no doubt but fail it did. And five years later, the people once again voted for those who promised to end the violence and bring peace. The PML-N and the PTI should note this as they rejoice. Five years pass far too quickly and if they waste the opportunity given to them on May 11, they will face a similar fate.
A welcome ban: CNG and large vehicles THE caretaker government’s decision to place a ban on the use of subsidised CNG in cars and other vehicles with an engine capacity of over 1000cc is a welcome step. This measure will help save gas — a depleting natural resource — and divert it to the power sector and industry, which, at present, are looking for strong support from the government in order to put the economy back on track. It should also help to eliminate to some extent the untargeted subsidies being pocketed by the wealthy in the name of the poor. While exempting public transport from the ban to provide cheaper travel facilities to ordi-nary people must be appreciated, not including government-maintained vehicles in the list goes against the principles of equity and fairness. The decision will obviously hurt the owners of CNG stations who have invested billions in this sector over the last decade or so; it will cut their sales and profit margins. Therefore, their association took little time to reject it. It is time the policymakers stood their ground instead of buckling under the pressure of vested interests at the cost of the country’s economy and growth. . Ever since the government started encouraging the use of CNG for transport to reduce its petroleum imports in the early 2000s, more and more car owners have switched to this resource to save on fuel costs. Today, Pakistan has the largest fleet of vehicles running on CNG with luxury car owners and CNG station owners being the major beneficiaries. A consensus has developed amongst the economic experts over the years that the government should phase out the use of CNG for private transport and restrict it to public transport alone. The ban should only be the first step in that direction. But, as it turns out, the caretaker government has taken the decision in haste without the approval of the Economic Coordination Committee or the cabinet. Chances are the courts will strike it down unless the judges choose to ignore this legal lapse.
System in freefall: Flawed EPI programme IF there were any doubt left about the shambles the country’s Expanded Programme for Immunisation is in, a recent indictment delivered by a string of national and international health agencies will have put paid to them. Spurred into action by the deaths of over 400 children due to measles between January 2012 and 2013, several organisations including Unicef, USAID, the Aga Khan University and the Pakistan Medical Research Council as well as the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination undertook a comprehensive analysis on the countrywide failure of the immunisation programme. USAID said our EPI system was in a “freefall of disrepair”; WHO pointed out the low rates of routine vaccinations; the National Institute of Health noted that measles deaths occurred in all the provinces though Sindh was worst affected, and criticised the inability to identify and vaccinate vulnerable populations. Most worryingly, it seems that the districts are reporting a once-vaccinated child as fully covered when several vaccines, including measles and polio, require follow-up doses.. The situation cannot be remedied without the political and technical leadership at both the federal and provincial levels demonstrating far more commitment than they have in the past. For years, health — particularly child health — has been relegated to the background with the focus settling instead on more high-visibility killers such as extremism and militancy. While these are of course life-threatening issues, so are the illnesses that kill a shockingly high number — 435,000 — of children under five each year. Some 20pc die of illnesses that could have been prevented if vaccinations under the EPI had been administered. While this generation of leaders needs to leave behind a country worth inheriting, it also needs to ensure that those that inherit it have a fair shot at reaching adulthood.
Common ground: Better PPP-PML-N ties? IT wasn’t quite akin to turning back the clock to the first half of 2008, but the amicable meeting between President Zardari and prime minister-to-be Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Chinese premier’s visit is another small step towards a smooth transition of power in Islamabad. Mr Sharif had already made clear that neither is he averse to taking the prime ministerial oath of office from Mr Zardari nor is he interested in cutting short the president’s fixed term — and both public reassurances have gone some way in quelling the possibility of political discord and a constitutional crisis at the very outset of Mr Sharif’s incoming government. Now, in publicly meeting Mr Zardari at the presidency, the incoming prime minister has through his actions raised another possibility: could the PML-N and PPP work together on key structural areas in the next parliament?. There is a practical necessity here that has been overlooked in the aftermath of the PML-N’s unexpected success, at least in terms of the margin of victory, on May 11. The upper house of par-liament, the Senate, is locked in until March 2015 and its present configuration will give the PML-N much to think about: with a dozen senators compared to the PPP’s 45-odd senators, the PML-N will find it impossible to pass legislation on its own in the upper house. There are some important caveats to this: the Senate is not required for the election of the prime minister; it does not have a binding vote on the federal budget; and Article 70(3) of the Constitution allows for a joint sitting of parliament to circumvent a recalcitrant Senate on legislative matters. However, given that one of Mr Sharif’s explicit goals is the strengthening of parliament, following proper form and normal procedure in legislative matters will be an important benchmark — and for this, the PPP’s near-majority in the upper house will surely need to be kept on side by the PML-N when it comes to key debates, resolutions and pieces of legislation. In fact, the PML-N and PPP need only revisit recent history to find common ground between themselves: the Charter of Democracy signed by Benazir Bhutto and Mr Sharif in 2006 still has important aspects left to be fulfilled, particularly when it comes to establishing civilian control over national security and foreign policies. A formal PML-N and PPP alliance is unlikely in the extreme but in their common commitment to the democratic project, there is some room for a common approach on some matters.
New promise: National Assembly first-timers THE arrival of 119 new faces in the National Assembly is a welcome occurrence within the larger effort for improvements in the country’s political culture. Among these newcomers are those who have fought the election for the lower house before but without succeeding, and some of these lawmakers have graduated to the national stage after having sat in the provincial legislatures. In any case, the infusion, which must be accompanied by the fresh batch’s ambition to stand by their electorate, promises to lend greater vitality to the Assembly proceedings. The fresh faces do not only raise hopes for generation of fresh ideas; just as in any other group, they are expected to have an impact on the old guard in the house, which could always do with a nudge or two to prevent them from being too complacent and too mired in tradition. . A decade ago, Gen Pervez Musharraf tried to create a parliament of his liking by introducing his Bachelor’s degree bar. This brought in some new faces, largely belonging to old political families. Many of the first-timers now are also carrying forward the family tradition of sitting in the Assembly but many others have emerged out of the changes in the Pakistani poli-tical landscape where the stalwarts have come under increasing pressure from new hopefuls over the unsatisfactory pace of pro-people development. Politics has undergone many changes since Gen Musharraf’s times. The political parties have been forced to embrace new local players, many of them thrown up by the country’s latest experiment at the grassroots, the local governments. The demand for legislators to debate their ideas in the media has in no small measure contributed to a situation where, unlike the unsung, unrecognised back-benchers of the past, no member of the Assembly today goes unheard and unnoticed. The newcomers are expected to play their role in boosting the quality of debate in the house and as the newly appointed guardians of its standards, outside the Assembly.
Back in the game: Imran Khan’s recovery IT’S good to see Imran Khan back on his feet. The PTI leader was discharged from hospital on Wednesday and shifted to his Lahore home, though doctors say it’ll take another six to eight weeks before the former skipper is back in full form. His dramatic fall from a forklift as he was being hoisted onto a stage to address an election rally on May 7 in Lahore sent shockwaves across the nation and brought electioneering to a temporary halt. Horrified audiences viewed the repeated TV footage of the fall and the subsequent shifting of a bloodied, semi-conscious Mr Khan to hospital. The fall elicited sympathy not only from his supporters and the general public, but also from bitter poli-tical rivals. Considering the height of the fall and the fact Mr Khan received injuries to his backbone and chest, the recovery is remarkable. It is said the impact of the fall was mitigated by the bullet-proof vest he was wearing. The expert medical care he received aided his recovery while the respectable performance of his party at the polls must have given Mr Khan additional vigour.. Imran Khan had also battled injuries during his cricketing career. He suffered a leg injury in the mid-1980s, while he went into the 1992 World Cup final — which Pakistan won — nursing a bad shoulder. While his politics attracts derision and praise in equal measure, Mr Khan is a survivor. Now that his party is due to take power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and sit in the opposition in the centre, he’ll be faced with many more slippery slopes and potential falls of the political variety. To survive, he needs to display maturity and a sportsman’s spirit while he needs to lead his team by example, backing up his talk of good governance with action.
Shared goals: Ties with China THREE points — energy, Afghanistan and counter-terrorism — stand out among the number of issues on which Pakistan and China reached understanding during Prime Minister Li Keqiang’s two-day visit. Quite understandably, the incoming prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, laid stress on seeking Chinese help in resolving Pakistan’s serious energy crisis when he met Mr Li on Thursday. With parts of the country denied power for as long as 19 hours, Pakistan’s energy crisis needs to be tackled on an emergency basis. Mr Li, of course, promised help in conventional, renewable and civilian nuclear power technology. But basically it is Pakistan’s problem. While we cannot review the entire gamut of Pakistan’s energy problem here, it goes without saying that we have thoroughly bungled the energy sector and are paying the price for it. The PML-N government, thus, has to draw up a comprehensive programme for self-sufficiency in energy, because China can help only up to a point.. In Mr Li’s visit to South Asia — his first tour abroad since the transfer of power in Beijing — China observers can detect many messages. With its economic boom and rising political clout, China has pursued towards South Asia a policy which blends economic considerations with restraint in dealing with its main Asian rival, India. The circumspection shown by China during the recent stand-off in the Ladakh region underlines Beijing’s resolve to not up the ante in a region that is already tense. At the same time, while going for increased trade relations with India, successive Chinese governments have taken pains to emphasise that Beijing’s relations with New Delhi are not at Islamabad’s expense. In fact, as the joint statement averred, strengthening the “strategic partnership” was the two countries’ “shared objective”. The joint statement and Mr Li’s address to the Senate testify to the two countries’ commonality of views on a number of key problems, including security, Afghanistan and what the joint statement called “three evil forces” — terrorism, separatism and extremism. China is rightly concerned over acts of terrorism by separatist elements in its Xinjiang province bordering Pakistan. Saddled with its own twin problems of terrorism and insurgency, Islamabad has cooperated with Beijing in earnest and denied the use of its soil for terrorism. China appreciates this, and — as the joint statement points out — Beijing “respects” Islamabad’s counter-terrorism strategy: something that Islamabad should welcome, given the criticism of its counter-terrorism policy by some quarters. There is no doubt that strategic ties and friendship between Pakistan and China are in the two countries’ mutual interest.
Realisation on drones: Obama’s speech IT was a widely anticipated and hyped speech and President Obama did on Thursday say many important things, to his own public and to the wider world, on his administration’s approach to national security issues. For Pakistan, being a frontline state in the fight against terrorism and intrinsically linked to the outcome in Afghanistan post-2014, there were both words of encouragement and concern. The American president acknowledged the “cost to our relationship with Pakistan of the unilateral May 2011 Osama bin Laden raid and admitted that “we are just now beginning to rebuild this important partnership”. Even if the ultimate choice would be no different a second time round, it is at least encouraging to note that the commander in chief of the US is both aware of and understands the ripple effects that his decisions can have on Pakistani state and society — especially since he has the power to greatly destabilise both with ill-advised actions.. However, on his comments about the “Afghan war theatre”, which the US takes to include Pakistan and its tribal areas, the president suggested that it would be business as usual on drone strikes until the end of 2014, the deadline for the handover of Afghan security to Afghan forces and for the withdrawal of most foreign troops. Drone strikes, for all their efficacy as acknowledged by even Pakistani military and civilian leaders, have become a bit like the tail wagging the dog, a tactic that has narrow military dividends but has come at the cost of poisoning the overall Pak-US relationship not least because the unilateral strikes violate the principles of sovereignty. Given President Obama’s resolve to exit the war in Afghanistan and the consensus in US foreign-policy circles that Pakistan is ‘more important’ or the ‘greater concern’ going forward, it is an unhappy realisation that the US still does not have a coherent Pakistan policy. Killing ‘enemies’ on Pakistani soil surely cannot be a meaningful substitute for a deeper engagement with the “more important” country in AfPak.
Proceed with caution: Talks with militants THE brutal ‘logic’ of the Pakistani Taliban was witnessed once more on Thursday. According to media reports, TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan, while adopting a wait-and-see stance, did not spurn Nawaz’s Sharif offer of talks, saying that the option of dialogue would be discussed by the militant group’s leadership. But in the same breath, the TTP spokesman claimed responsibility for the bombing which killed at least 12 people — mostly policemen — in Quetta. Ehsan said the law enforcers had been targeted because the Balochistan police had arrested and killed TTP fighters from Swat. Such actions reveal the Taliban’s arrogance and the fact that they want to negotiate with the state from a position of strength. While expressing the desire for dialogue the militants are capable of excessive destruction. The extremists, to put it mildly, can be very slippery, and have no qualms about shedding blood. Hence any effort at negotiations where the militants have the upper hand cannot be very promising. This is a stark fact that Nawaz Sharif should realise, as should Imran Khan, Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Munawar Hasan, who have all supported the idea of talks with the religious extremists.. Indeed the nation is tired of years of deadly militant violence and battle fatigue is affecting all segments of society. Any talks ‘offers’ by the TTP should be thoroughly scrutinised by the state and red lines must be clearly drawn. Peaceful negotiations to end a bloody conflict are always a preferable option to violence. But there must first be an unambiguous willingness on the militants’ side to renounce bloodshed. The incoming government needs to proceed with great caution on this front. The state cannot be browbeaten and cowed into talking to the extremists on their terms and under the shadow of their swords.
Columns and Articles
Master strategy By Muhammad Amir Rana A SORT of unprecedented political pragmatism has followed the 2013 election. As in other areas, improvement in the country’s security situation is also being projected by many who are optimistic about the incoming government’s ability to fight the menace of terrorism. . They allude to the Sharif brothers’ significant success in countering the threat of sectarian-related terrorism in Punjab during the late 1990s. However, the present phase of terrorism and violence has no comparison with that of the 1990s. Most incidents of violence and terrorism in the 1990s were sectarian-related. There were few actors of violence. The number of such incidents and resulting casualties was also remarkably low when compared to the present state of violence. Currently, the average number of fatalities per terrorist attack in Pakistan is about eight whereas the number of militant, insurgent and sectarian groups carrying out terrorist attacks has crossed 200. The security policy of the PML-N-led government in Punjab during the last five years was a tricky one. The Punjab government was seen by many as shying away from criticising the militants. Looking to the future, let us analyse the current and emerging security challenges for Pakistan and the vision, likely security policy and capacity of the incoming PML-N government. Let’s assess the level of the challenge first. Pakistan faces multiple and disparate conflicts that tend to increase the risk of violence and insecurity each day. There is Taliban-led militancy particularly in Fata and KP, a nationalist insurgency in Balochistan, ethno-political violence in Karachi, and sectarian violence in some parts of the country. All these forms of conflict have many variations and sub-tendencies which further intensify the risk and impact of the violence. These pose different threats and require different remedies. In general, certain frameworks are available to reduce the risk of violence and insecurity that range from the ideological to the strategic and economic. Pakistan is already using some of them. When Pakistan chose to be a part of the US-led war against terrorism, it had a strategic purpose. This strategic framework to achieve internal security remained functional until 2008 when the PPP-led government came to power. While the PPP government failed to fully transform this strategic framework into a nationalistic or ideological framework, the government’s secular credentials added an ideological colour to the former. This resulted in increased ambiguity and confusion in the public on issues of extremism and terrorism that is clearly reflected in the opinion polls conducted during the last five years. As suggested by its chief’s recent statements, the PML-N plans a different approach. Economic recovery apparently seems to be its master strategy to achieve security and counter terrorism. The economic framework characterises terrorists as rational actors who use violence to maximise the benefit — economic, political or ideological. In response the state evolves strategies to minimise the advantages the terrorists have in mind. Political engagement and slow encroachment through administrative reforms and development are key tools in this framework. Every government with an economic agenda follows almost a similar approach and so will the PML-N government. In Pakistan’s case, the state has already applied a level of deterrence, which did not achieve strategic success because its application was selective. For the new government, the expenditure on deterrence measures will be another critical issue and it is most likely that it will initiate talks with the militants. Mian Nawaz Sharif has already indicated that, and a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson has also come up with a positive response. Nonetheless, the government will focus more on minimising costs both in economic and political terms. In the given scenario, will it be possible for the new government to properly link the security policy with its master strategy of economic recovery? The existing frameworks were evolved around certain strategic needs. Can the government shift its focus or challenge these conventional frameworks? The economic framework provides a solution to immediate security needs, but its sociocultural impact remains low and requires more liberal government credentials. The new government will have to craft its strategy quite carefully. Keeping in mind the PML-N’s national and provincial track record, its recent election manifesto and the statements made by its leaders, it is most likely that the new government will evolve a defensive approach. Obviously, Balochistan will be the top priority. The new government will have space to establish its goodwill. A broad-based provincial government, including the Baloch nationalist parties, with a development agenda can provide some relief to the province. Karachi will remain a critical issue even for the incoming government. For the federal government, a good working relationship with the Sindh government and the political parties in the province, especially the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, will be essential to smoothly pursue economic recovery. The deterrence part of the agenda could be linked with the elimination of terrorists and criminal networks in the city but would be a difficult task to implement for the provincial and federal governments. The mother of all ills will remain the militants present in the tribal areas and their affiliated groups across the country. Initially, a modest approach based on a political solution could be applied with reforms and a development strategy. The threat from TTP and Al Qaeda affiliates in the mainland could be countered through engaging their partners such as the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba etc. The new government’s defensive approach can help to reduce the number of terrorist and other violent incidents. But it is difficult to predict whether this strategy will provide long-term and permanent solutions. There are two reasons behind this unpredictability. First, a master strategy needs a master narrative to counter extremist ideologies, which is still lacking. Secondly, the economic framework becomes inapplicable and ineffective in an environment where strategic interests dominate other interests. The writer is editor of the quarterly research journal Conflict and Peace Studies. mamirrana@yahoo.com
The politics of urbanisation By Anjum Altaf THE politics of urbanisation could be less or more important than its economics. . It depends on the context. In relatively stable societies, economics shapes politics — these are places where one can meaningfully say “it’s the economy, stupid”. Even seemingly bizarre foreign policies can be related to economics as one might infer from the title of Lenin’s classic text Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. In less stable societies, the economy is hostage to politics. Think of Pakistan’s quixotic foreign policy adventures that have no conceivable relationship to national considerations and have driven the economy into the ground. Politics, in turn, is orchestrated by narrow, parochial and privileged economic interests as those who can discern can readily make out. It is in this framework that the politics of urbanisation in Pakistan is more fascinating than its economics. Almost every news report in the election season makes the point that the urban sentiment is quite different to the rural one — more politically conscious, more receptive to party programmes, less weighed down by clan loyalties, and less indebted to patrons for access to basic rights. As the country becomes more urbanised, the hold of dynastic quasi-feudal elites should decline — but this is where politics intervenes. Electoral outcomes depend heavily on how individual constituencies are delimited. In most secondary cities the urban vote is fragmented over many constituencies each of which has a rural majority. As a result the urban vote is under-represented, a standard practice in all conservative polities where entrenched privilege benefits from rural votes. It is also no surprise that the population census has not been carried out since 1998 although that is no more difficult a task than conducting an election. Given rapid migration and urbanisation a census update clearly has implications for the allocation of seats both across provinces and the urban-rural divide. It is here that one can glean a lot from the Latin American experience, a forerunner to Pakistan’s encounters with kleptocratic democracies and authoritarian dictatorships focused on shoring up entrenched privilege against the demands of marginalised majorities empowered with the right to vote. It was only after Latin American countries were almost fully urbanised that biased delimitation tactics became ineffective. Urban citizens were then able to struggle and organise over time to vote into power leaders like Lula, Chavez and Morales who represented better the demands of the majorities. Pakistan still awaits such representatives and must contend with several more rounds of rule by representatives of entrenched privilege, either populists like Peron or strongmen like Pinochet. The violence with which the Latin American transition was accompanied, and which still continues, clearly suggests that the violence in Pakistan is not exceptional. We can expect our cities to become even more violent as entrenched privilege defends its interests and attempts to break up the solidarity of the urban vote. Here Pakistan is more vulnerable than Latin America because of the ethnic and sectarian heterogeneity of its urban population that remains vulnerable to the politics of identity — witness the internecine wars in Karachi the origins of which can be traced back to political manipulations of one kind or another. The politics of urbanisation plays out within cities as well as a brief recap of its history would illustrate. At the time Europe was urbanising the footprint of the city was small. Without mass transportation rich and poor had to live in relative proximity. There were no privatised sources of clean air or water and no selective protection from diseases via immunisations. Outbreaks of pestilence affected all citizens with equal effect. It was this shared fate that became the basis for urban reform as elites fearful for their lives and businesses allocated resources to city-wide improvements in sanitation and sewerage. All this has changed in our times as advances in science and technology have ironically worked to the disadvantage of the poor. The affluent can now physically segregate themselves by moving to suburbs, protect themselves from disease through inoculations, and are no longer dependent on city-wide networks for access to amenities. As a result our cities have split into rich enclaves and poor slums and there is no powerful group of influential citizens to lobby for reforms that benefit the entire city. Urban funds are spent on better roads for cars while pedestrians and cyclists are left to fend for themselves. The emphasis on clean water and sewerage for the low-income areas is remarkable only for its absence. It is in this context that those who project cities as unambiguous engines of economic growth need to take pause. Because of their ethnic and sectarian heterogeneity and the polarisation of rich and poor, South Asian cities can just as easily be powder kegs ready to explode. And the fuse is quite likely to be deliberately lit by those who stand to gain from the fracturing of the urban vote. The gerrymandering of electoral constituencies does not mean however that the city can be ignored. We need to keep our eyes open and our ears to the ground as we move forward in time. The capacity of the state and market to deliver to urban citizens the essentials of everyday living like electricity and natural gas has eroded to a dangerous degree. Unless it is ameliorated, if not fully repaired, any random trigger can set off pent-up frustrations that have accumulated over the years. If that happens the politics of urbanisation would overwhelm not just the economy but the country itself. The writer is dean of the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
End of the electables? By Cyril Almeida HURRAH for democracy. Not because of who won, but what won. Parties won. . Not ugly local politics, not dharrabandi, not thana-kutcheri, not the candidate who can ride his local network of support to victory on any ticket, in any election. Parties won. N-League in Punjab, PTI in KP, PPP in Sindh. And had the nationalists in Balochistan tried to fight a tougher fight than the talk they talked, Balochistan too could have joined the club. For the first time in a generation, arguably two, Pakistan has begun to reject the politics of Zia — an apolitical kind of politics in which people voted for local representatives, for electables, not parties. Injected into the system by Ayub, it accelerated in the late ’70s with Zia’s local government elections and culminated in 1985’s party-less elections — a kind of politics where you went into the polling booth holding your nose instead of a party flag. The whole point of Zia’s anti-politics was to make politics undesirable — a void to be filled by religion, technocrats and straw men masquerading as politicians. The real politician was everyone’s favourite Aunt Sally, an under-siege figure on whom contempt and scorn was heaped. Zia’s anti-politics was doubly pernicious because it pushed back against the ZAB-inspired political awakening of the ’60s, ensuring that party platforms were a distant consideration of the voter. Instead, the voter’s focus was returned to the parochial: what his constituency politician could do for him and how well his representative was plugged into the state to help get the voter what he needed — the ugly politics of thana-kutcheri, biraderism and patronage. The first glimpses of the voter’s rejection of anti-politics came in the 2008 election when Musharraf’s cabinet was scattered like ninepins: a very deliberate rebuke by the electorate of Musharraf policies expressed through the systematic rejection of strong Q-League candidates who had worked the levers of patronage hard to try and keep voters happy. But the BB assassination factor made it difficult to know what part was emotion and what part savvy, evolved voting. This time round it’s a lot clearer. The annihilation of the PPP in Punjab was the voter saying thanks but no thanks to the party’s ugly politics of impoverishment. Here, take a thousand rupees a month and be grateful, the PPP essentially said to the voter. On May 11, the voter shot back: thanks for the pocket change but let’s talk about inflation, joblessness, electricity and gas. So far, so good — disastrous incumbency should be punished heavily. It’s the other half of the voter’s response, though, that is especially interesting. Instead of lapsing back into the politics of patronage, going local and flocking to the constituency politician, the electable, who can offer some protection against the state and economic winds, the voter took a leap of faith — towards one party. The PPP’s failures were not a failure of politics, the voter has said, they were the failures of a party. Had the voter judged the PPP’s failures to be a failure of politics, Punjab could have split between the N-League, PTI and the detritus of the PML-Q and PPP — for each of the smaller parties had enough electables to squeeze out a dozen or two seats. Electables, the very embodiment of anti-politics, are not done yet, as more than a handful of independents elected from Punjab suggests. But they do appear to be a dying breed. And the quicker they disappear, the stronger will democracy be, for political mercenaries as public representatives, always hunting for the best deal, the best ticket, and always trying to manipulate power structures at the local level to keep voters beholden to them — that is the very essence of anti-politics. But to guarantee extinction of the electables, the voter can only do so much ultimately, it’s down to the parties themselves. Deliberately targeting Musharraf’s ministers in 2008; picking off PPP heavyweights outside Sindh in 2013 while surging towards the N-League in Punjab and PTI in KP — the electorate has expressed its preference for stable party politics. Unhappily, the parties themselves have yet to learn such bravery. The PTI tried hardest but Imran eventually conceded too much — though, because many of the ugliest concessions to electables were in Punjab, the success in KP can still be cast somewhat as a rejection of old-school politics. The PML-N, spoiled for choice in the end, made some unpleasant, and unnecessary, decisions. Akhtar Rasool is a name that has left many squeamish, he being the ultimate embodiment of an opportunist politician. A charitable explanation for the PML-N flinging its doors open to electables could be that many were only returning to the party fold, having been broken by Musharraf and the Chaudhrys and carted off to the PML-Q. N-Leaguers will also leap to point out that the Q-League Likeminded faction and the unification bloc in the last Punjab Assembly were ultimately shafted by the party when tickets were handed out. But in the end, the N-League did give significant weightage to personal electability instead of focusing on a loyal party cadre that, whether individually weak or strong, could be carried to victory by a wave of support for the PML-N. Why? Most obviously: the party was looking over its shoulders at the PTI. Once elected, electables demand their pound of flesh — through state contracts, through the police, through land appropriation, through government ministries and departments. After all, the electable promised his voter and his political network some of the spoils and victory means having to deliver on at least some of those promises. Though, because the N-League’s victory in Punjab was so commanding, the distortionary effect of electables will be tempered this time. The thing is, voters appear ready for so much more — to bury the politics of electables for the proper politics of parties. Will the parties themselves catch up? We have five years to find out. The writer is a member of staff. cyril.a@gmail.com Twitter: @cyalm
Room for hope By Moeed Yusuf WE are through with the May 11 elections. Given the persistent violence and the overall aura of uncertainty that marked the run-up to the elections, the state deserves credit for having pulled off the ballot. . The conduct of the elections itself was satisfactory although rigging has been alleged in a handful of constituencies in Sindh and Punjab. Of course, the allegations necessitate an impartial and authoritative inquiry by the election commission — with tangible repercussions for the individuals and parties involved. That said, these irregularities should be situated within our context. Unfortunate as it is, the quantum of alleged rigging and more significantly the response to it marks considerable improvement over the past. What we have witnessed is a substantially constrained space for riggers now operating under the eye of the camera and in the presence of proactive citizens eager to report irregularities. The response by those seeking to be redressed and the media has also been mature and categorical. The parties allegedly involved have been called out; even if evidence to prosecute them is found wanting this time, civil society’s focus and the media’s stance will only make it harder for them to put up repeat performances in the future. There are a number of other positives to report from the recent ballot. Hardly anything needs to be said about the all too apparent excitement and energy among Pakistani voters. The 60pc-plus turnout speaks for itself. All credit to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for having sparked an election campaign focused on the traditionally de-politicised urban segments of society; this, in turn, compelled rival parties to follow suit. The emergence of a genuine third force in Pakistani politics is also a positive sign as is the fact that both the PTI and PML-N ultimately campaigned on the message of change and hope — a much-needed communication strategy for a citizenry that is otherwise becoming increasingly despondent about its country’s future. The results of the elections are also fairly positive in as far as they provide a genuine opportunity to the winners to govern effectively. The biggest fear of pundits prior to the elections — a hung parliament that would create a gridlock on key national issues — has not materialised. The PML-N has emerged with a healthy mandate. Its control over Punjab will provide it even greater leeway to implement its national vision. At the same time, the results force Nawaz Sharif to work with the PTI and PPP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh respectively and to form a coalition government in Balochistan. This should be reassuring for those concerned about the PML-N’s dictatorial tendencies, manifested during the 1997-99 period when the party had a two-thirds majority at the centre. With the 18th Amendment in place and the PML-N absent from governments in KP and Sindh, Sharif will have no option but to maintain cordial relations with the provincial governments. The centre and KP will also require extensive collaboration on Fata. Also, not to be ignored, political parties have exhibited a fair amount of maturity in the post-election week. While Machiavellian manoeuvring and lobbying continues behind closed doors in all party headquarters, we shouldn’t dismiss Sharif and Imran Khan’s desire to let the past be and work together. Similarly, kudos to the PPP and Awami National Party (ANP) for making statements that acknowledge that the results reflect the electorate’s rejection of their performance. Now to the most crucial part: the next five years. The message the electorate gave to the political masters on May 11 is heartening on two counts. First, the results categorically suggest that performance of the incumbents matters. There is no other way to interpret the routing of the PPP and ANP; their inability to campaign alone can’t explain the manner in which both have been decimated. In retrospect, the genius of the PML-N’s election campaign was that it managed to transfer the entire responsibility of the governance failure over the past five years to the PPP-led coalition in Islamabad. Second, while the results in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan suggest that the majority of voters remain traditional, the number of votes bagged by the PTI in Punjab and its performance in KP suggests that Pakistani voters can rise above patronage politics to express their preferences. Patronage-based, politically motivated disbursement of development funds was also rejected in a number of cases in the May 11 ballot. The losses suffered by Raja Pervez Ashraf, the sons of Yousuf Raza Gilani, and Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, among others, despite the fact that they diverted an astronomical amount of resources to their constituencies during their tenures as prime minister (or their relationship to one) and chief minister is an important statement by the voters. The trend suggests that national and provincial level performance is likely to be the key for the fortunes of political parties in the next elections. Four benchmarks underpin virtually all else required to deliver ‘good governance’: energy; tax-to-GDP ratio; ability to address extremist violence; and civil-military relations. At the centre, the PML-N government is largely perceived to be better placed to deliver on economic requirements. On extremism, however, the party’s track record over the past five years was dismal. With Islamabad, Punjab and Fata now in their control, they have no excuse not to confront this menace head on. Sharif’s ties with the military should be observed and as predictions go, this could be a major stumbling block. The PTI has much to prove in KP — its message and promises are attractive but they will now be put to test. Its success will cement it as a permanent force in Pakistani politics; failure may quickly send it into oblivion. The PPP on the other hand requires no less than a fundamental overhaul. Its governance performance in Sindh may well turn out to be make or break for its future. The writer is South Asia adviser at the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.
The leviathan stirred By Hajrah Mumtaz THE revolution happened. And it happened on Facebook. Well, well, well. . It seems, as the joke going around underscored, that the cost of Naya Pakistan appeared too much and the country has settled instead for a patched-up — we hope — old lemon. The Khan team is miffed, badly so. And why not? Their enthusiasm was infectious until it became irritating, their hearts were solid gold; they believed with the passion of the newly awakened. People bought international air tickets to come back home to vote balla, cut short aged parents’ vacations in Canada to send them to bat and dragged ancient grandmothers along to the polling station to score one for the team. And, perhaps more to the point, narrative causality meant that the result ought to have been different. Take any story, any of the good ones, and the outsider, the underdog, the one who challenges the monolith, the one who believes — he not just wins but has to win. In any rightful universe, David has to beat Goliath, Cinderella must marry the prince, the sword in the stone cannot go to anyone other than the unlikely undersized challenger. This is how it works in the fitness of things. And this is the prism you need if you’re one of those scratching your head at the manner in which many Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters seem to be taking electoral defeat as a personal affront. The famously apolitical leviathan of Pakistan — the elites and the young — finally shook off its apathy; inconceivable that it should have been in vain. So how can I say that a revolution of sorts has indeed taken place? The PTI dominates just one province. As for the rest of the country, we’re back in familiar territory redux. Yet it was a break from the past, just not the Tahrir Square sort of triumph the Khanistas imagined. Imran Khan’s contribution is that he managed to stir the leviathan — though for how long it remains to be seen. He managed to seduce a class and an age-group that has in recent decades largely tended to remain aloof and sneering of the political process. First, the age demographic. The generally agreed-upon definition of ‘youth’ is under 30. That means people born in 1983 and after. Pinning down the urban apolitical, though, I’d be willing to stretch this back another five or six years; there exists a massive group of people that spent their lives largely in an atmosphere where the legitimate political process was under heavy fire. They never heard Bhutto speak. The trial and its outcome is a piece of information picked up by the way during the course of their lives (it has never been in the textbooks), at a time when the whole idea of democratic politics was the target of a sustained campaign by shadowy quarters spanning at least a decade (as the outcome of the Asghar Khan case indicates). These people were children when Benazir Bhutto made her game-changing first homecoming, and as teenagers or young adults what they experienced was the now this, now that, game of the ’90s, to end in a benevolent (compared to the Zia years, which they never experienced first-hand on account of being too young) dictatorship. For this group of people, I would postulate, George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’ did not change the world, it was the world as they knew it — someone born in 1980 was 21 when the Twin Towers were hit. The belief that many of this age-group display in the futility of the political process, and the venality of the political class, is not really that hard to understand, even though it is unfortunate. This group of people cannot be blamed for wanting something new even if they can be faulted for failing to do their history reading and assessment exercise. Many of them seem to be very bitter and disappointed now, and their leader should take the time to shore up their confidence and underscore the importance of the process of politics. If would be sad if these thousands of people were allowed to slip back into bad old habits. Pakistan can only benefit from increased participation of the citizenry in the political sphere. Second, the elites or, to adapt a term coined by a far wittier writer, the Cliftonia demographic. The wealthy and powerful men of Pakistan’s economic elites may always have kept an eye on governments and their connections with regard to their own interests, but far less so their sisters and spouses and children, men and women in well-paid jobs, many of an age now to have children of their own. As the lexicon over last week’s elections so aptly showed, the burgers don’t do what the bun kebabs do, including vote — or such the case used to be. But it seems that quite a few sections of these people too were drawn into Imran Khan’s train. And that may give rise to a fair amount of (rather delightful) humour, but it’s undeniably a good thing. When the elites get involved — when the leviathan stirs — things tend to start happening, if only because of the self-assuredness and reach of the beast. Consider the case of the thousands of calls flooding the London Metropolitan police after MQM leader Altaf Hussain made statements that the elite took to be threatening. We may not have a new Pakistan, but it isn’t entirely business as usual either. If this momentum for increased political participation can be sustained and honed over the hopefully five years before the next elections, it would provide strong impetus to send the country towards a different political trajectory. The writer is a member of staff. hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com
The road to privatisation By Moazzam Husain & M. Umar Shereef AN economic turnaround can be brought about by unlocking value from assets that are presently under-performing. . Basically, to instigate economic growth would require a jump in the output of goods and services that the economy produces. That impetus can come from the privatisation of the 200 or so state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Whilst the exact amount of losses being incurred by these enterprises would depend on what you count and how you count, the final figure would probably be in the ballpark of the annual defence budget. Even then, this is the smaller issue. The larger one being the opportunity cost of not taking action, a theme we will return to in a moment. When approaching an acquisition, financiers and businesspeople are looking more at its cash flow potential and less at its assets (land, buildings, and machinery). We gain a better perspective by viewing these SOEs (businesses) as going concerns rather than as a garage sale of assets. Often these assets have greater countervailing liabilities leaving many of our SOEs with negative net worth. To ensure a smooth privatisation journey, the government’s policy planners would do well to explain these differentiations to the general public, the media and to the legal fraternity. The infamous Steel Mills case of 2006 ran into snags when it was felt that the price being offered was less than the cost of the land. This could have been avoided if the deal had been structured for the going concern. Nevertheless the Pakistan Steel judgment does bring some lessons on the need to improve transparency and to ensure that a level playing field is maintained at all times. Sprawling units like Pakistan Steel and Pakistan Railways (after restructuring and corporatisation) can be offered on the basis of leasehold land (granting temporary and conditional rights on the land) instead of freehold (which grants property rights in perpetuity). For the investor, this would bring down the capital outlay while the government would retain title to all its properties. In a going concern the real value is created from satisfied customers, improved business performance and increased cash flows. From the point of view of efficient business operations, it matters little whether the land underneath is leased or owned. It would be advisable to offer additional incentives to privatised businesses that also undertake to list on the stock market. Apart from broad basing ownership this would increase the size, and arguably the depth, of our capital markets. At present, 23 majority state-owned enterprises — led by the OGDC, the national oil and gas company — account for over a third of the total market capitalisation of the Karachi Stock Exchange. It is also critical to have a pro-privatisation management in the entity being sold. Nothing can be more discouraging than for a bidder to meet the management of the company only to be told what a bad decision it would be to buy the asset. An unwilling management can also stall the process by not providing the correct data or withholding data until the last moment. In worst cases it can incite employees to demonstrate against the sale — and you have all the ingredients of a failed transaction. Taking management and employees along not only smoothes the process, it is also the fair way to proceed. Another key determinant of success is the visible commitment on part of the government. The National Power Construction Company has been taken to the bidding stage on a number of occasions, by a number of governments. Then the process has been abandoned. This has left bidders completely disillusioned (having spent thousands of dollars in due diligence) and now they refuse to take the process seriously. The moral of the story is that when the decision to sell has been taken, then market forces should be allowed to take over. Investors are astute people and if the government ensures full disclosure and a fair and competitive bidding process, they will arrive at a fair market-based price. Once you approve the successful bidder, the transfer process should be mechanical. On a priority, the government must undertake the long delayed policy reforms — particularly in the energy sector — and other sectoral and regulatory strengthening centred on key entities being privatised. In tandem it should launch a communication programme to explain the merits of the privatisation and reform agenda to the public. According to a recent report in the Telegraph, 100 shares of British Gas bought during its privatisation in 1986 for £135 would today be worth £1,682. Compared to the FTSE 100 which has trebled over the same time period, British Gas has increased 12 times. These forgone profits represent the opportunity cost of not taking action — which we had alluded to earlier. Pakistan too has a reasonably good track record of privatisation. Since 1991, 167 entities — banks, energy companies, telecom operators, fertiliser plants, ghee mills, cement factories, automotive plants, chemical and light engineering industries — have been privatised to yield $9 billion to the exchequer. Most of the entities have fared well under private management and their share price valuations have contributed to creating national wealth. In several of these, notably Kapco and PTCL, the government retains its majority shareholding and earns dividends on their profits. In many of these entities, private owners have injected technology and management practices and enhanced these government assets to blue chip grade. Lastly they continue to pay taxes at the corporate income tax rate of 35pc. The path to prosperity has seldom been more visible, illuminated as it is on both sides. Moazzam Husain has served the Punjab Board of Investment & Trade as director general. M. Umar Shereef is a senior partner at Haidermota & Co.
The new Sharif era By Zahid Hussain GOOD, bad or ugly, the 2013 elections are over; and now testing times are ahead for the new incumbents. It is the third coming for Nawaz Sharif, a remarkable turn of fortune for a leader who was ousted from power by the military at gunpoint in 1999 and convicted on treason charges.. With the independents jumping on its bandwagon and support from allied parties the PML-N is now close to reaching the coveted two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. It may not be the same ‘heavy mandate’ that Mr Sharif had enjoyed during his second term in office, but it nevertheless gives him enough space and power to take tough decisions urgently needed to bring about the economic and political stability the country needs. Can Mr Sharif deliver this time what he failed in his controversial previous term in office? Has he gotten over his past ambition of becoming the all-powerful ‘amirul momineen’ and is he now willing to accept the pluralistic reality of the country’s power structure? The country’s political landscape has changed extensively since Mr Sharif’s last term in office and it remains to be seen whether he has learnt from his past mistakes. It is certainly not going to be smooth sailing for the third-timer. While its landslide victory in Punjab has catapulted the PML-N back to power in Islamabad after a hiatus of 14 years, the party has failed to gain a strong foothold in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. That makes the new government more Punjab-centric with some serious ramifications for the federation. The 2013 elections have reinforced the regionalisation of politics in the country. Different political parties will be controlling governments in different provinces. While in Sindh it is the return of the old PPP-led coalition government, a brand new face in the form of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is to lead the administration in the country’s most troubled province of KP. In Balochistan, the PML-N owes its success largely to the dismally low voter turnout in the Baloch constituencies. In certain areas, candidates getting less than 1,000 votes have been declared elected. Nevertheless, the PML-N with the support of the National Party and Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, which has achieved a stunning victory in the Pakhtun belt, will form the government in the province. These were the first elections after the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment that granted greater autonomy to the provinces. With most of the power already transferred to the provinces, the hold of the central government may not be that strong any more. The amendment has decentralised economic and political decision-making down to the provincial level. The autonomy to the provinces has transformed Pakistan into a truly federal state and generated a new dynamic that is impacting the course of politics in the country. The seventh NFC award that followed the Eighteenth Amendment has also resulted in the transfer of greater resources to the provinces. This has left the federal government primarily focusing on the macroeconomic framework and the conduct of fiscal, monetary and trade policies. A critical question is how a Punjab-dominated government will coexist with a new decentralised federal structure. Despite its emphatic victory in the elections the PML-N has not been able to introduce any fresh blood and the same old faces are expected to form the new cabinet. There is the big question of whether the party is still trapped in the past or willing to move forward in a changed situation. The challenge facing the country needs a leadership with a fresh outlook and vision. A major challenge for the new government lies in how it will deal with the new geo-strategic reality. The decade-long US war in Afghanistan has spilled over deep inside our territory. The country itself has become a theatre of a war unleashed by the militants and the local Taliban. More than 100,000 army troops are now engaged in a bloody war in the lawless tribal regions. With the approaching 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan, Pakistan needs to have a coherent national security strategy. Therefore, it is imperative that the civil and military leadership are on the same page. The civilian government needs to take charge of formulating the national security and foreign policies. For that they need to have a proper understanding of the situation as well as the capability to come up with a clear national narrative. Mr Sharif seems to have rightly assigned top priority to the revival of the economy. But can this be possible without addressing the problem of militancy and violent extremism? What is most troublesome, however, is his ambiguous position on these critical issues. Going by the PML-N election manifesto and Mr Sharif’s recent statements the twin menace threatening the country’s unity and existence seems to be at the lowest rung of his priorities. Hopefully, Mr Sharif will soon come to terms with the fact that the revival of the economy cannot be possible without effectively combating the militancy that is sweeping the country. This will also depend on how civil-military relations evolve under Mr Sharif’s stewardship. That has been the biggest problem during his previous two terms. He seems to be still haunted by the memories of being taken away handcuffed by soldiers and incarcerated in a dungeon by the military regime. But the time has come to move on after the people have once again reposed confidence in him. For the military leadership too it is time for retrospection and building bridges. Gen Kayani’s initiative in visiting Mr Sharif and briefing him on national security issues may help build confidence between the civil and military leaderships. It is imperative to evolve a strong working relationship among all institutions of the state to deal with the grave challenges faced by the country. The writer is an author and journalist. zhussain100@yahoo.com Twitter: @hidhussain
Changing trends By Niaz Murtaza POLITICAL parties differ in a variety of ways, eg in their ideology, their leadership’s socio-economic background and their national or ethnic focus. . The types of parties representing a region reflect its socio-economic characteristics. Such regional analysis for the 2013 elections helps in better understanding today’s Pakistan. Around 25pc of National Assembly seats went to nine supposedly liberal parties (PPP, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Balochistan nationalists, etc.) while 75pc-plus went to 10 parties with conservative leanings (PML-N, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, religious parties, etc.). ‘Liberal’ parties had won 50pc of these seats in 2008, suggesting huge ideological shifts in just five years. However, Pakistanis prefer practical issues over ideology while ideological differences between larger parties have narrowed. Thus, while Pakistanis are shifting rightwards socially, this 25pc-plus drop reflects other important reasons too. Regional analysis helps understand this puzzle. ‘Liberals’ won 80pc-plus of the combined national seats of Sindh and Balochistan. Conversely, conservatives won 90pc-plus of the combined national seats of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Islamabad. This suggests a huge ideological divide geographically. Northern (Punjab, KP etc) Pakistan is arguably more socially conservative. But differences in regional political power better explain this divide. Most ‘liberal’ parties are ethnic parties. Even the PPP now represents Sindhi grievances. Southern (in Sindh and Balochistan) ethnic groups enjoy less power and harbour ethnic grievances. Their voting preferences are less volatile as voters remain linked strongly to the parties representing their ethnic grievances despite their managerial weaknesses. Given the absence in practical terms of inclusive national parties, voters in the south supported ‘liberals’ mainly for their ethnic politics. Conversely, the larger northern ethnic groups are more powerful politically. Their fates are not linked to particular parties and they shop around more frequently, even across ethnic lines. They prefer managerial strength and national politics over ethnic politics. Urban-led parties generally possess stronger managerial skills, as evident in the PPP’s recent poor management record and the PML-N’s relatively better one, at least in terms of unveiling a dizzying range of populist projects. Most ‘liberal’ parties are rural-led, while the larger conservative parties are urban-led. The incoming PML-N and PTI governments will probably outperform the ex-PPP and ANP governments in managerial terms. Even Mohajirs — richer, urban and ex-right-wingers — could gradually embrace the PTI and PML-N. These factors and the small proportion of national seats in the south indicate that the current ‘liberal’ parties, despite being liberal only nominally, may not regain federal power. The long-standing political anomaly of coalitions of ‘liberal’ parties from smaller provinces often winning nationally in conservative and Punjab-majority Pakistan may now disappear. However, a new anomaly has emerged: urban-led parties won most of the national seats in a rural-majority Pakistan. Moreover, Punjab-led parties won two-thirds of the seats in 2013. So, federal power appears to be gravitating towards urban-led, Punjab- based, conservative parties. Liberals must not despair since ideological differences among larger parties are narrow anyway. ‘Liberal’ parties have accepted obscurantist constitutional provisions and abandoned progressive economics while the PML-N and PTI have partially adopted many liberal positions overtly or covertly, eg, peace with India, helping the vulnerable, closet secularism and good governance. Being conservative, they may also more easily disarm the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan largely unconditionally or else mobilise societal support for decisive crackdowns. The rhetoric may be more conservative; actions will largely resemble those of nominally liberal parties. Moreover, longer-term liberal prospects remain bright. Right-wing managerial-ism can deliver popular but questionable grandiose projects, eg bullet trains, but not the inclusive and sustainable development that liberalism can. The majority of Pakistanis are low-income, ethnic and religious minorities’ grievances are high, women’s status is abysmal and the middle classes desire good governance. These groups represent a potential liberal majority given strong ideas, a charismatic urban leadership, strong management and extensive grass-roots work. However, the PPP’s prospects are bleak given how badly its brand has been damaged. So, newer, urban-based, national liberal parties must eventually emerge. Meanwhile, the main-dish menu choice is between conservative (the PML-N) and more conservative (the PTI). Barring the PTI and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal, all other parties won the majority of their seats from one province. Even the JUI-F largely won among Pakhtuns living in isolated areas near Afghanistan. Thus, the PTI enjoys more evenly spread support nationally than other parties — across Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Hindko-speakers and to some extent even Mohajirs. It seems to be the party-in-waiting for 2018. However, barring an unlikely disastrous PML-N managerial performance, demographics may remain unfavourable for it even then. Occupying the narrow right-wing space between religious parties and the PML-N, and appealing largely to the small middle class based on its merit, it faces a demographic improbability. Patronage-driven parties still won the largest chunk of national seats in 2013. To win nationally, it must move to the PML-N’s left, and mobilise the disaffected groups mentioned earlier. These elections show that Pakistan is neither the PPP’s landlord-run older Pakistan but nor is it the PTI’s CEO- run ‘naya’ Pakistan. It is the PML-N’s slowly changing Pakistan where patronage is now delivered more efficiently. Despite the setback to the ‘liberals’, I view the election results positively. The presence of a serious third choice in the shape of the PTI has made the Bangladesh model less likely in the future. Generals will also perforce have to show greater deference to the right-wing, northern-based and more popular politicians. Divided mandates could also generate a healthy competition between the PML-N and PTI for resolving managerial-cum-technical problems. But more serious work must await a liberal revival. The writer is a political economist at the University of California, Berkeley. murtazaniaz@yahoo.com
Cruel law of evidence By Asha’ar Rehman IT is simply not enough to say that an occurrence does not appear to be the logical outcome of events in the build-up. Thus, proof must be furnished, to clearly show that this latest has been a particularly faulty election.. No election is completely free and transparent and election fraud is not unheard of in Pakistan. All votes are accompanied by ballot stuffing and rigging. If this is true, which surely it could be, why has there been so much noise this time around? If truth be told, it is not easy to blame it wholly on the dreamy Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) followers, the group some of us are so wary of that they would rather have it contained here and now. The PTI followers are new and may have been misled by their enthusiasm into believing that victory was theirs for the taking. The problem is the gap between what was seen in the run-up to the polls and in the results, (for whatever it is worth right now) as evidence against hard, cold facts yet to be fully revealed in all detail. Errors and omissions are accepted. These are frankly just suspicions — as many suspicions are — and very much liable to be found baseless on closer scrutiny. That scrutiny cannot be carried out without complete and free access to the election record, which is taking a bit too long to collect. The sooner that data is available, the sooner it will be possible to dispel the impressions. Election officials are never thrilled by the prospect of a few self-styled researchers probing their work. They are apparently out to make an example of an organisation of election observers which has admitted to having released the wrong figures about a few voting stations. How it came about and the role the Election Commission of Pakistan’s polling scheme might have played in it is yet to be investigated. All that is known is that the observers’ group is faced with more than a dozen criminal cases in Punjab. Deterrents apart, in time, when the full data is available, there will surely be proposals about how to better organise an election. Already there are bits of evidence available that call for greater care and transparency in future. The 472 votes that Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was shown to have got at one station in a Rawalpindi constituency were reduced by 200 on recount. But obviously that was too small an incident for those who must always base their case on grand numbers and big percentages: 200 out of 472, about 42 per cent, is it? On another plane, there was also evidence of a young boy who got 20,000 odd votes in a contest for a Punjab Assembly seat in Multan. Was he dead or alive, well or injured, could he be expected to return and be with them, his voters had absolutely no idea. Ali Haider Gilani was taken away by armed men a couple of days before the vote. That is a story which has yet to take its place among the chronicles of forcible removal of political opponents, like the most infamous disappearances in the period just before the 1977 general election in the country. These things always happen. These are things that must be ignored in the larger interest of the country and democracy, the dominant argument goes. Those who are confused by the huge difference between their informal (anecdotal, the fact-finders brusquely point out) evidence and the final numbers need not scratch any deeper. The suggestions for a better system can wait. The cries for an order that actually facilitates and not discourages the search for evidence are to be drowned in the positives that the election has thrown up: an experienced, mature, chastened, even forward-looking leadership, stability of a huge mandate, continuation of democracy which can be gravely threatened by protest over a few ‘unexpected’ results — four, 10, at most 12 seats. Pakistanis have just performed a huge democratic feat by helping an elected government on to a full term. They must now pledge complete, unconditional support to a new government with a huge mandate, and that commitment must rest on a total submission to the conduct of polls by the bureaucracy, overseen with so much ceremony by the ECP. Sound logic. They can of course always analyse, and there is a lot to be assessed and analysed out there right now. It hurts no one’s national interest to discuss the ‘impossible’ return of the PPP to national politics, or to talk about the containment of the PTI. Reduced to a vainly protesting cult from a grand alliance of electables in the span of few days, Imran Khan’s party has been behaving exactly as its opponents would have liked it to. Waiting for directions from its leader from his hospital bed, it has failed to effectively fight the elitist, ‘burger party’ label that its detractors are so eager to paste on it and it has at times appeared to be undecided in its post-election stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PTI’s Defence protests in Karachi and Lahore have failed to expand to the delight of its opponents. The party is dependent to a large extent on its allegations of election fraud, but the demonstrations its followers have held in the two cities had to be complemented by some noise created deep in the districts. The much-hailed party structure created by the famous intra-party election was nowhere to be seen. This was an easy opportunity and was exploited by the PTI’s opponents as they explained the huge gap between the promise generated by Imran’s run-up and his delivery. The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
The obstacles ahead By Najmuddin A. Shaikh IT would be naïve on the part of the new government as it formulates its policy towards Afghanistan, not to recognise that there is a nexus of sorts between the terrorist attacks in Pakistan and those in Afghanistan. Both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban pursue not only their so-called religious goals but more mundanely cover for their criminal activities. . Forces intent on pursuing their smuggling, drug trafficking and other criminal activities have a vested interest in keeping the entire Pak-Afghan border aflame. It is my estimate that the value of goods smuggled into Pakistan annually through Afghanistan amounts to about $5 billion and there is an official estimate by UNODC, the United Nations agency for drug and crime control, that 45pc of the opium produced in Afghanistan moves into Pakistan. In the past we have turned a blind eye towards this because it was felt that smuggling was the one way to provide employment to the impoverished youth of the tribal areas. The employment effect we should recognise is minimal. What we have achieved instead is a tacit acceptance of a culture of corruption, which more than any other factor has contributed to eroding the moral fibre of our bureaucracy and, by extension, of our society. If the new government wishes to bring order back to our society tackling this issue must be one of our foremost priorities. President Karzai as he nears the end of his term is seeking to deliberately fan the flames of Afghan and more particularly Pakhtun nationalism with regard to the Durand Line. This he hopes will burnish his credentials and facilitate victory for his designated successor — his brother is now a declared candidate. It was during Nawaz Sharif’s last stint in office that the Taliban were recognised by Pakistan and there was much talk of Mr Sharif as the ‘conqueror of Kabul’. Clearly the incoming prime minister entertains no such ambitions now but given the past history fomenting distrust of Pakistan has become easier for Karzai. Karzai will keep talking of reconciliation but no positive movement is discernible. The Americans are not battling him on this issue. At the meeting of the US-Afghan bilateral commission this month the American representative said that America supports the opening of a Taliban office in Doha only “for the purpose of negotiations between the (Afghan) High Peace Council and the authorised representatives of the Taliban”. The Taliban, in my view will move towards such negotiations only after there has been, through US-Taliban negotiations, an exchange of prisoners and in return a Taliban pledge to renounce ties with international terrorist organisations. Reconciliation, it now seems, must wait upon Karzai’s departure from Afghanistan’s political scene. Pakistan may be seen to have no choice but I would argue that even while Karzai paints Pakistan in the worst colours and even while he offers the red rag of seeking an Indian military presence in Afghanistan our new government must for our own stability continue its efforts with Karzai. I would recommend that Pakistan ask Kabul to hand over the TTP leader Maulvi Faqir Mohammad and in return offer to release such of the Taliban in Pakistan’s custody as Afghanistan’s High Peace Council thinks would help reconciliation. Second I would recommend that, Afghan provocations along the border notwithstanding, Pakistan must continue its policy of not engaging in a propaganda battle. Instead, using contacts in the Afghan media and in Afghan political circles, we should make clear through authenticated maps that we have not at any point established posts or gates on the Afghan side of the Durand Line. It has now been confirmed that the US in its negotiations with Afghanistan has asked for maintaining its forces in nine Afghan bases after 2014. The purpose would be to train Afghan forces and to target the remnants of Al Qaeda. The force level has yet to be determined but indications are that it would be about 8,000 with another 4,000 coming from the International Security Assistance Force allies. The Afghans will, in my view, grant as the Americans have insisted, immunity to these forces from the application of Afghan law. Our new government must decide what its stance will be. Anti-American sentiment is now part of the Pakistani psyche but we must not take a public stance against such an American presence because without this presence it is unlikely that foreign aid in any substantial quantity will continue either for the maintenance of Afghan forces or for the civil sector. Pakistan will bear the brunt of the consequent economic collapse. Without reconciliation, a civil war in Afghanistan is inevitable but a residual American presence may help put it off and give efforts at reconciliation a chance. In my view, in his speech on counterterrorism and the use of drones on Thursday, President Barack Obama will reiterate the view that the “war against terror” will continue for many years to come and the drone policy in the region will be unchanged. If there are no bases in Afghanistan, bases in Central Asia or ships in the Arabian Sea will be used. Washington’s decision-making circles are permeated with ill-will towards Pakistan. Many hold Pakistan responsible for the Afghan debacle while glossing over American errors contributing to this denouement. And yet setting our economy in order will need American assistance. Facilitating American withdrawal and muting concerns on the methods Americans employ in their war on terror should therefore be part of the policy that the new government fashions. For America and for Afghanistan Pakistan’s internal war against terrorism is extremely important. No one questions the value of seeking a solution through dialogue but who should be the partners in such a dialogue? In a recent interview, Sartaj Aziz, the most experienced foreign policy adviser of the incoming prime minister, recalled that Nawaz Sharif has said he would talk only to such groups as “accept Pakistan’s Constitution and democratic system”. This, one hopes, will in fact be the policy. The writer is a former foreign secretary.
Turning point By Mahir Ali ON the eve of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to India this week, his aides revealed that he would be requesting assistance “with military needs and shortages” during his sojourn in New Delhi.. This suggests, on the one hand, that he is not exactly complacent about such needs being met by his primary sponsor. On the other, as he must be aware, the request is bound to fuel some angst at the military headquarters in Pakistan. The rout of the feuding mujahideen by the Taliban in the mid-1990s was considered a success story by the Pakistani army. It came a cropper in the wake of 9/11, but the prospect of pushing the reset button once the international forces withdraw next year has remained in doubt, partly on account of India’s relatively small role in Afghan reconstruction. The role of subcontinental geopolitics in determining the future of Afghanistan is bound to be crucial in the years ahead, and the Karzai regime can hardly be faulted for its inclination towards increasing cooperation with India, given that sections of Pakistan’s security apparatus are still considered to be complicit with at least some elements among the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban. It should not have been too hard, were the Pakistani military so inclined, to demolish that impression over the past dozen years. Its signal failure, however, to successfully combat the Taliban on home ground speaks volumes. An embittered Asfandyar Wali Khan, whose Awami National Party was decimated in this month’s polls, has jibed that Pakistan’s election commission was headed by Hakeemullah Mehsud rather than Fakhruddin Ebrahim; parties routinely described as secular mostly fared abysmally partly because of the Pakistani Taliban intimidation. But the very fact that the Taliban were in a position to influence the outcome of the election serves as an indictment of those tasked with minimising their influence. The distinction between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban can be nebulous. Kabul routinely complains that insurgents cross the border to escape retribution. The allegation is frequently reciprocated by Islamabad. At other times, lines are drawn between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Taliban. But these tags can mean different things to different people. The Taliban believed to be closest to the intelligence agencies are invariably the ones least likely to appeal to the Karzai regime. And vice versa. Based on opinion polls of dubious veracity, it has been reported that about 30pc of Afghans back the Taliban; the extent to which they do so because of the Taliban’s obscurantist agenda or their resistance to foreign occupation is rarely clarified. That occupation is scheduled to end next year, although Karzai earlier this month endorsed the idea of US troops remaining indefinitely in situ at nine bases. The suggestion from Washington is that those troops will be dedicated to training Afghan soldiers and combating Al Qaeda, rather than confronting the Taliban. The Taliban mission in Qatar, meanwhile, is said to have come under pressure from its hosts to formally dissociate itself from Al Qaeda. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem; sections of the Taliban were always uncomfortable with the hospitality Mullah Omar showed towards Osama bin Laden and his cohorts. But there have been other impediments to meaningful negotiations, notably the unfulfilled demand that a bunch of Taliban be freed from Guantanamo Bay. Following an embarrassing hunger strike among prisoners at Guantanamo, US president Barack Obama has revived his vow to shut down the incarceration facility there, and is expected to address that issue in a speech tomorrow. His rhetoric, though, usually does not match reality. Afghanistan is bound to be a crucial component of Pakistan’s foreign policy in the years ahead, and it must be hoped the incoming Nawaz Sharif administration will approach it with equanimity. It is not difficult to understand why Karzai would seek military assistance from India rather than Pakistan. He must realise, though, that a stable future for his country will depend on cooperation between all its neighbours. There’s little question that Pakistan has been a destabilising influence since the 1980s, and that has got to change. Whether Sharif, if he is so inclined, will be able to prevail over the military establishment is one of the primary questions. Failing that, his express wish for improved ties with New Delhi could also be thwarted. Afghanistan’s multiple woes, however, do not emanate exclusively from the Pakistani side of the border. If the US-led military occupation has served to reinforce armed resistance, the level of corruption Washington has helped to foster is another crucial factor. On his way to New Delhi this week, Karzai stopped over in Jallandhar to pick up a doctorate proffered by Lovely Professional University. One can only hope that the Mittal family-funded institution’s decision to confer it had been made before Karzai confessed at a press conference in Helsinki last month to receiving regular cash payments from the CIA, describing it as “an easy source of petty cash”. According to The New York Times, “some of it was used to pay off members of the political elite, a group dominated by warlords”, and the Taliban, too, have ended up with a proportion of the bounty. The CIA station chief in Kabul assured Karzai last Saturday that the dollars would keep on flowing — just as they once did to the mujahideen. Everyone knows where that led, but Karzai must find it conflicting for his administration to be accused of corruption by the same country that has been facilitating it. He was reportedly at the receiving end of similar generosity from Iran until 2010, when Tehran was miffed by a strategic deal with the US. Notwithstanding the nature of the Iranian regime, at least it abides by some principles. mahir.dawn@gmail.com
The cult of personality By Rafia Zakaria ARE people, or more specifically the voting public, attracted to leaders or to their ideas? In the aftermath of Pakistan’s tumultuous election season, the answer to the question is elusive. . The past few days have seen the rejection of previous leaders, the anointing of old ones, and the ascent of some new ones. Tigers have gone up against captains and lions have emerged from ballot boxes. In these days of expecting change and accepting realities, it is nevertheless useful to consider whether it is the personality of an individual or the substantive content of their ideas that appeals to voters determining the country’s future. According to experts on leadership, ‘charismatic leaders’ are those who are ‘essentially very skilled communicators, individuals who are both verbally eloquent but also able to communicate with followers on a deep emotional level’, able hence to ‘articulate a compelling or captivating image that arouses a strong emotional response in their followers’. Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi are often presented as historical examples of charismatic leaders, able by the strength of their personalities to inspire movements that produced seismic changes in the societies where they arose. Both leaders were, through unique interactions with their followers, able to gain trust and influence and, consequently, to convince them that their particular needs at that particular time called for taking the sort of action they prescribed. While Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi may be two of the best-known examples in studies of charismatic leadership, lesser politicians in less historic times have been able to use similar strategies to build a following and then convert that following into political power. One recent example would be the campaign of US President Barack Obama, who used the slogan of ‘change’ to mobilise a vast ground campaign of young American voters, which led ultimately to the election of the first African-American president in US history. History was made — but some would argue that little changed after its momentous making. Actual change, perhaps, is not the point of charismatic leadership. Lesser forms of charismatic leadership are also familiar to Pakistanis. In the late ’60s, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was able to mobilise in one half of the then two-part country, a leadership wrought on a similar strategy. The slogan of bread, clothing, and housing was central, and a cult of leadership developed around his image. The emotional identification grew even deeper roots when tragedy intervened; the leader’s execution made him immortal, seeping through generations to anoint others who bore his name and could hence stake a claim to a charisma now etched in the nation’s memory. In more recent times, Imran Khan, former cricket captain and now the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, has emerged as the nation’s latest charismatic leader. Through a slogan for change and a capitalisation on the vast stores of frustration, helplessness and hopelessness faced by the country’s youth, he has been able to mobilise the sentiments of many. As is the recipe for many charismatic leaders, he has been able to take the particular variables of a particular historical situation and turn them to his benefit. In Pakistan’s present case, these would be the trauma in a population facing unprecedented violence, extreme uncertainty and the perceived relentless meddling by foreign powers. Interweaving emotions with slogans, a credible strategy for hope has been erected on the glories of instances past: the victories of bygone cricket matches, the charitable impulses of a cancer hospital, expanded, highlighted and presented as a basis of legitimacy that has appealed to a wide variety of voters. As is the case with many examples of charismatic leadership, there are holes in the story. The PTI has promised education to voters in Karachi who crave a more literate country, and offered peace to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, who have bombed school after school. The party’s Peshawar declaration has announced that drone attacks will immediately stop and all agreements with foreign nations that permit such meddling be immediately revoked, without once addressing how a civilian government can wrest power from an establishment that seems larger than life. The questions and contradictions can continue endlessly, but to ask them would be to ignore the very core of charismatic leadership and to fail to recognise that its power centres on an emotional rather than a rational appeal. The discrepancies can be pointed out time and again, but the people who are converted remain so. They have chosen their positions not by argument but by a particular reaction between circumstances and emotion, all focused on the persona of a particular person. There is nothing inherently duplicitous about charismatic leadership, but as in the case of the PPP and numerous others that have relied on the identity of a single leader as their trademark, the challenge before this latest Pakistani specimen is to resist the temptation of making it a political party’s eternal script. It is precisely this reliance that could be blamed for the failure of Pakistan’s political parties to develop solid organisational structures that can go beyond the cult of personality and become effective machinery that can translate charismatic leadership into meaningful change. This failure in turn has meant that once the life of a charismatic leader ends, or his memory fades, the parties created around them follow a similar downward trajectory into irrelevance. After the demise of memory or man, the country is left simply waiting and wanting the next heady mix of emotion and passion and tragedy, while denied the practical translation into something longer-lasting, less dramatic and more real than just the illusion of greatness. The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy. rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
The issue is governance By I.A. Rehman AS the dust of electoral controversy settles down the focus of the national debate should now be not only on what needs to be done first but also on the best possible way to move forward, for the central issue in Pakistan is still the mode of governance.. The new prime minister may have to change his style of working and leading the government by realising that the parliamentary system does not envisage a prime minister with overriding powers, it means rule by the cabinet. The ultimate sanction for all government actions lies with the cabinet and the advice a prime minister gives to the head of the state must be backed by the authority of the cabinet. Also it is the cabinet that is collectively answerable to parliament. Strong prime ministers tend to treat the cabinet as a body that is good only for endorsing their own ideas and not as a vehicle for ensuring decision-making by consensus. A good cabinet can offer effective checks to political leaders’ impulsive actions, the adoption of untested schemes and the temptation to bend the rules for a populist enterprise. Any attempt to make decisions or policies at the urging of an informal caucus (consisting of friends, family members, bureaucratic aides, etc) will amount to an encroachment on the rights of the cabinet. Pakistan has paid a heavy price for the slow pace of the change-over from a secret government to a transparent one. A closed system of governance undermines one of the salutary gifts of democracy — that in a democratic set-up the doings of the rulers become instantly known to the people unlike dictatorships whose mischief becomes public when it is often too late. Thus, it is absolutely necessary to ensure as transparent governance as possible. A review of the right to information law appears to have become necessary so as to reduce the restrictions on disclosure and exemptions from the right to information to the absolute minimum. One is surprised at the absence of accountability from the list of priority tasks for the new government although it should be at the top of the agenda. A new, comprehensive and effective accountability mechanism must be put in place at the earliest. Without a system of across-the-board accountability good governance cannot be conceived; neither can the government enjoy due legitimacy nor will it be possible to relieve the courts of their unnecessary burden of going for the black sheep in the service of or among the politicians. One of the most encouraging observations made by Mian Nawaz Sharif during his predictably goodwill-laced address to his party’s newly elected parliamentarians related to his decision to take all parties along. This is in accord with the spirit of democracy which requires that once the electoral contest is over all parties in parliament become collaborators in ensuring governance in accordance with the will of the people. While the opposition parties ought to continue their role as public watchdogs they should also help the ruling party in moving away from majoritarian rule, sometimes by censuring it for its false steps and sometimes by supporting its fair initiatives. Despite its poor record in strengthening democratic conventions Pakistan has certainly taken, over the past few years, some significant steps in the direction of participatory democracy. These included, for instance, increasing the role of multiparty standing committees of parliament, assigning the chairmanship of these committees to members of different parties, and giving the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee to the main opposition party. These experiments are in their initial stages and need to be nursed with care and imagination before they can achieve the goal of broadening the democratic base of governance. Another significant development in the recent past, for which the outgoing government deserves due credit, has been the opening of greater opportunities for private members to contribute to parliament’s legislative work. Indeed, further and consistent encouragement to private members, especially the women among them, to undertake public-interest legislation will consolidate the democratic dispensation. This will also balance the government’s preoccupation with legislative work designed to increase the state’s coercive or regulatory powers. It is perhaps time to take a critical look at the Rules of Business (Article 99 of the Constitution) for regulating the conduct of the federal government. These rules, originally framed by the viceroy in the colonial period, were revised by the government in 1973 and may have become due for changes required to strengthen the cabinet’s role in decision-making, to streamline intra-government consultation, to increase interaction with the public, and to remove loopholes and anomalies that cause matters to be taken to the courts. The importance of the rules can be judged from the fact that Farooq Leghari, the then president, created a National Security Council by simply amending the rules. One wonders whether in a parliamentary system the prerogative to lay down the rules for the conduct of the federal authority should continue to vest in the head of state. The grand objective of taking everybody along is not realised by only making coalitions and giving ministries and parliamentary offices to persons outside the core ruling group. It demands the creation of mechanisms not only for parliament’s effective oversight of the executive’s functioning but also for guaranteeing all state organs’ regular and meaningful interaction with civil society. The sights must clearly be set on evolving a system that satisfies the ordinary women and men of Pakistan that their participation in governance does not start and end with the casting of ballots and that on everything that the government does or avoids doing their opinion matters. In fact, it is sought and considered or at least heard.
If Malala were an Indian By Jawed Naqvi SO what are we going to tell Malala Yousafzai? How shall we break the news to her? . The elections in Pakistan are over. It was a historical event all right, not least because of the enormity of the opposition to it. One elected government handing over power to another set of elected politicians is a rare event for Pakistan. Now the question is: how should the young Malala see the incoming prime minister’s reaching out to the Taliban? They are her tormentors but he wants to mend fences with them. Much of the foreign invasion of Afghanistan was advertised as a measure to liberate the Malalas from the patriarchal country’s hand-reared mediaeval rulers. Are we looking at a U-turn ahead, on both sides of the Durand Line? It was one of them, or one with their mindset that shot the Yousafzai girl in the head. Why is it laughable, which it is, to think they would be punished? The world celebrated the braveheart’s heroic work in Swat, where she was spreading education in the tiny spaces spared by bomb shelters and religious atavism. She has recovered miraculously from the near-fatal wound. Resolute Malala. But there’s the other larger business to be transacted too. Should we tell her that exigency of statecraft, restoring peace in the country, in the region, reviving the economy and so forth warrant the embracing of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Taliban with both hands, much as we abhor their agenda? The story is not terribly unique to Pakistan. In fact, the cusp of the moment looks quite similar to the day in India in 1991-92 when the government in New Delhi secretly began dating the IMF to avert loudly announced fears of defaulting. The opposition helpfully trotted off to Ayodhya to move the focus from the undisclosed deal. There is an invisible link between the Taliban and the IMF. They are both equipped to subvert democracy; one does it frontally, the other by the backdoor. They are both self-righteously obsessed with corruption in their own ways claiming it is possible to eradicate chronic pelf and acute plunder without fixing the inequities that breed it. Be it the zealous private militias eyeing their chance to collar dissent or the private carpetbaggers drooling at the crumbling economy, symbolised by the failing power grid and its distribution system in Pakistan — they can go hand in hand. When they do, the ‘good Taliban’ become a reality. Hindutva leaders in India’s Gujarat state have showcased a smooth blending of right-wing religious street power with corporate interests. ‘Taliban’ is clearly not a Muslim thing. And it is not the only example to have succeeded in bludgeoning the people, election or no election. The privatisation of power hasn’t worked in Delhi. But it’s looming in Pakistan. That’s only one example of the remedy that people in distress will be entitled to. Malala was shot during the celebrated rule of a supposedly secular dispensation. Shias, Hazaras, eclectic Sunnis and, of course, the ubiquitous urban minorities — Hindus, Christians, Ahmadis were at the receiving end during five years of PPPs largely unremarkable rule. The party didn’t carry out the crimes but can be blamed for the rise of the forces that did. The lot of the terrorised minorities in this case was not different from the fate inflicted on Malala’s many unsung comrades who have either fallen or are battling on against the daunting odds. What if the girl from Swat were raised in India? She would be in the ranks of some seriously iconic women who are leading the fight on issues that are not too dissimilar to the ones confronting Pakistan. Gender justice, honour killing, protection of constitutional guarantees to the minorities, communalism and mob violence, depredation of the environment, corporate land grab, cornering of water and mineral resources by the ruling elite, criminal neglect of education and the transfer of healthcare budgets towards a militarised police state. Malala would have loved working with INSAF (not the Pakistani party), which stands for Indian Social Action Forum. In the absence of a robust social democratic forum or even a remotely thriving left movement, many of the well-meaning potential cadres have become NGO activists. INSAF is working with some 700 Indian NGOs, ranging from the protesters against a nuclear power plant in Koodunkulam in Tamil Nadu to a campaign to quash the Armed Forces Special Powers Act used by the army to inflict unbridled brutality in Kashmir and Manipur. INSAF works among Indian women, Adivasis, Dalits and Muslims with a secular and progressive agenda. Recently India’s home ministry sealed the group’s accounts, saying its foreign funds were against India’s public interest. For a state that craves foreign funding to carry out its well-documented anti-poor agenda this was not a surprising move. Malala would notice the similarities between the Taliban and a notionally working democracy. A rule thrown at the NGOs reads like the future of any Third World country. According to the rule, the government arrogates to itself the power to take action against any group that “habitually indulges in bandhs, hartals, rasta roko, rail roko, or jail bharo” — all non-violent and democratic forms of protest, a tactic that emerged from India’s freedom struggle and which is recognised around the world as a legitimate form of protest. Malala Yousafzai may find it tricky to choose between the frontal assault of the Taliban, and the sleight of hand of a widely lauded democracy. The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi. jawednaqvi@gmail.com
No numbers game By Khurram Husain SOME perplexing challenges await the incoming government. It’ll need every ounce of patience, every penny’s worth of wisdom scrapped from past experience to tackle things. . For one, the system that is about to be sworn in, with a PML-N government in the centre flanked by a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in KP and a PPP one in Sindh is inherently unstable. Everyone has a stake in the other’s failure, and everyone has a platform from where to hold the other’s stake hostage. Consider for instance, the question of the National Finance Commission award and the Eighteenth Amendment. The provincial government machinery that the PTI and PPP will be assuming charge of is the most empowered and resource-rich that the country has ever seen. The electorate has basically told these two parties to first prove their governance credentials in the province before asking for a national mandate. For the PPP, there is irony here: the same provincial government that they did so much to empower has now become their proving ground if they want to regain their stature as a national party. For the PTI, the province of KP is the staging ground from where they need to launch their next bid for a national mandate. If they can make a difference to things in that province, and they have all the tools they need to do exactly that, then their bid for a national mandate in 2018 will carry some credibility. But the biggest challenge belongs to Nawaz Sharif at the centre. For one, the politics of this new electoral map will be tricky, especially given the diminished fiscal space left for the government. Ironically, it will become Nawaz Sharif’s job to educate and wean Imran Khan into politics. If early reports are to be believed, they’re struggling with the question of fiscal deficit already. The good news is that due attention is being given to the matter. The bad news is that they’re unlikely to find much of a solution in the near term unless they drastically cut down the size of the federal government (which means few ministers) and aggressively get the provinces to live up to their obligations to deliver governance outcomes. Raising tax rates will help only marginally, because less than half the revenue thus generated will stay with the federal government after provincial shares have been deducted. It’s possible they’ll eventually start to rely on non-tax measures to help bridge the deficit, but in the first year of their rule, the new government will struggle with the question of the deficit and the attendant borrowing and growth of the domestic debt. We’ll know they’re failing when we hear the finance minister complain about the NFC award and what it has done to the government’s fiscal situation. The power crisis presents similar challenges. Like the fiscal deficit, it cannot be addressed without changing the structure of government. Merging ministries can take time, but they can start by giving the ministries of petroleum, water and power to the same individual. We’ll know they’re failing to tackle the power crisis when we see them getting together to arrange emergency liquidity for PSO to pay for its next consignment of furnace oil. We’ll also know that failure is imminent when we see them announce conservation measures like early closure of shops and no air-conditioning in government offices — then fail to implement them. A changed landscape awaits the new government. Previously, most banks were publicly owned and their assets were the government’s assets. Now most of the country’s banks are in private hands, and given the enormous stakes that the banks have in the government’s fiscal affairs by virtue of being such massive lenders to the government means that the relationship between Islamabad and Chundrigar Road is a delicate one. Of course it helps when some of the biggest banks are owned by people who are squarely in the party’s corner, but such relationships also bring reciprocal obligations that will constrain the government’s room for manoeuvre. We’ll know they’re failing in their dealings with their creditors if we see interest rate cuts without fiscal reforms. There is little or no excuse for not moving forward expeditiously with granting India MFN trading status. A fuller liberalisation of trade can follow; let’s remember that the grant of MFN status is the beginning, not the end point, of normalising trade ties. Some within the PML-N are talking about ‘frameworks’ for peace and ‘non-tariff barriers’ which translated means they want to renegotiate some things before moving ahead with the MFN. Fair enough, that’s their prerogative; but we should look for an expeditious approach to the Indian leadership at the highest levels. We’ll know they’re failing in their efforts to normalise things with India if the grant of MFN status is not made before end 2013. The falling reserves are another important consideration. Now that the party has gone public with its intentions to avoid approaching the IMF at the outset, all eyes will need to be on their plans for arranging inflows. A few positives on the external front: the outlook on oil prices is favourable to Pakistan, and only one year of heavy debt repayments is in the offing. Since debt repayments is the main reason why the country’s external position is weakening, we can look ahead to how things will fare after the two bulky payments due in August and November. We’ll know they’re failing in their efforts to control the external account if they go asking Saudi Arabia for help. A tough set of challenges awaits the new government, which in some cases requires fundamental structural reform. The good news is that this party has a track record of advancing reform. The bad news is that the political set-up in which they’ll be operating is a little more unstable than the parliamentary arithmetic would have you believe. The writer is a Karachi-based journalist covering business and economic policy. khurram.husain@gmail.com Twitter: @khurramhusain
The IMF dilemma By Ishrat Husain ONE of the challenges the new government will face immediately is to make a decision on whether or not to approach the IMF for financial relief. . Pakistan borrowed nearly $8 billion from the IMF under its standby facility during 2008 and began repayments in 2011. The amount together with interest must be repaid by end 2014 — almost $5bn must be paid between March 2013 and end 2014. A debate is raging between those who believe there is no alternative to entering a fresh programme with the Fund — standby or the Extended Fund Facility — and others who want to shun the IMF. To the former, the short-term liquidity situation leaves little choice. Others believe the new government’s room for manoeuvrability will be constricted by the terms of agreement. To them, burdening the new government so heavily from the start seems unfair, as the price of the economy’s neglect is seen as being extracted from those who were not responsible. As someone who is familiar with the IMF from both the lender’s and borrower’s side one can advise a dispassionate and objective analysis and a realistic assessment of the options available before a decision is made. There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Pakistan’s overall balance of payments position has worsened during the last five years and foreign exchange reserves have fallen to levels that cover hardly six weeks of imports. The rupee-dollar parity has recorded cumulative depreciation of almost 66pc since 2008. As a firm believer in the stability of the exchange rate as an indicator of market confidence, one can say this rate of depreciation has not benefited our export performance either. Pakistan’s export growth during a period of relative exchange rate stability was higher than in the last five years of accelerated depreciation. Bangladesh, with a stronger currency than Pakistan’s, has overtaken us in textile exports. Meanwhile, foreign investors who were bringing in capital as they were assured that the returns on their investment in dollar terms remained remunerative because of a stable exchange rate have not been able to cross their hurdle rates of return. Pakistan witnessed a large inflow of foreign capital by the private sector in 2001-07 that led to the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves and a stable exchange rate. Pakistan did not choose to draw down the last few tranches of the IMF loan in 2004 because it didn’t need the borrowed liquidity. For the first time we had successfully met all the performance criteria. What does our past experience suggest for the current situation? The first question that must be answered is: what have we done with the $8bn borrowed from the Fund? Normally, a country facing a liquidity problem uses this amount to tide over temporary difficulties while undertaking adjustment and structural changes to ensure it will not face a similar situation in future. We have done little towards structural improvement in tax, tariffs, energy pricing or losses of public sector enterprises. We have used this money instead of undertaking tough measures and making hard choices. In other words, we have eased the burden for ourselves temporarily without building our internal capacity to repay this large amount and other debts. The next question is: if we are to approach the IMF again, are we ready to implement the measures we had agreed to in the 2008 programme? It will insist upon the fulfillment of these conditions as prior actions by us or as part of the new programme. Are we prepared to impose general sales tax in value added tax mode with minimal exemptions on traders, services and other sub-sectors outside the tax net thus far? Will the Sindh government with a political configuration different from the federal government’s go along with this condition? Will this new government of whom the public has high expectations of relief from five years of hardship undertake such a large fiscal contraction i.e. 3.5pc of GDP from 7pc to 8pc currently? A 3.5pc adjustment particularly on the revenue account in such a short period would require harsh measures. Will the finance ministry be able to eliminate State Bank financing for meeting its budget deficit and at the same time eliminate electricity tariff differential subsidies in the programme period? Does the federal government have the authority to insist the provinces contribute towards fiscal consolidation by generating surpluses? Will it be able to settle the large inter-corporate debt and bridge the gap in flows into energy-sector accounts (circular debt) so that this problem does not arise again? Would the government have the capacity to manage its debt in a way that the ratio of public debt to GDP is brought down to 44pc from the current 62pc? The government had committed to accelerating the privatisation process. There has been little significant privatisation since the Pakistan Steel case. Is the new government willing to stick its neck out? The benefits to the economy would be enormous. Will the finance minister amend the law and provide operational independence to the State Bank? Only if the government is confident that it can implement these actions should it approach the IMF. Our credibility as a prolonged user of Fund resources is already quite low. We cannot afford another blow to our tarnished reputation. At the same time, domestic support of the IMF programme is weak. Thus, we are stuck between the devil and the deep sea. But if the answer to most of these questions is: ‘maybe’ or ‘not sure’ then we’ll be repeating the same mistake — borrow $5bn now, get off the track and then look for $5bn plus interest for repayment. An agreement with the IMF will no doubt stabilise the foreign exchange market and arrest the depletion of State Bank reserves but if we remain hesitant to make adjustments to our economic governance structure, price-setting mechanism and policy responses, IMF borrowing will never prove successful. The writer is a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Rethinking development By Qazi Isa Daudpota GOOD development experts have failed to get across a basic truth to Pakistan’s politicians and economic planners: if you are on a dirt road, fill the ruts — don’t dream of bullet trains and flyovers. . One has to get the basics right before anything else can work. This obvious fact failed to register with the government and the Election Commission of Pakistan as it set in motion the recent ballot-box democracy exercise, allowing some alleged lawbreakers a free hand in returning to parliament. They overlooked the fact which every cook knows: clean the pans before preparing fresh meals. For those undaunted by this recent failure and blessed with an optimistic spirit, a potpourri of home truths is laid out. A poor country like Pakistan cannot have sustainable development without reducing its population significantly through enlightened family planning. (It is best not to use the euphemism ‘developing country’, which we were in the 1960s when an attempt was made at population control.) How can we get back on track? A global perspective will help. About three million children in poor countries die every year of diseases that can be prevented by basic healthcare and vaccination. The cost of providing a package of basic vaccines to a child is about Rs3000 — the price of a good meal in a luxury hotel. Pakistan has about 3pc of the world’s population of seven billion. Therefore roughly 250 kids die here every day. What’s the cost of avoiding these deaths? Just the price of one lavish wedding reception daily! And as for the basic healthcare for all, nothing is more important than providing potable water through community outlets, which are easily affordable. Enlightened education, particularly of females, that encourages critical thinking is another key area needing urgent attention. Attempts at improving higher education levels over a decade have been overlooking the more critical lower levels where irreversible damage is presently done to impressionable minds. Education when viewed holistically should integrate all levels of education, including informal education, which brings the adult population up to par and encourages lifelong learning. But who is going to do this? The standard of pedagogy at all levels is poor. This failing can be corrected by a nationwide programme of teachers’ training, principally in English communication skills. The world’s knowledge will continue its exponential growth in this language and we need to build on our advantage in English from the colonial era. Shortage of master trainers will require importing talent and where better to find it economically than India. Even more important is the provision of fast internet access nationally in neighbourhood community cybercafés — that double as cultural centres. Large-scale provision of inexpensive multi-media projectors in institutions would allow students to view off-line programmes of the best teachers globally with the local teacher acting as a facilitator. Our teachers and professors should use them as role models, while weaving the knowledge from the net into the Pakistani context for their students. Above all we need a rethinking of the curriculum across the board, cognisant of the amazing range and quality of knowledge now on the net. Pakistan’s radio and TV are largely news and entertainment outlets that need redirection towards worthier goals of enlightening, lifelong learning. The models of the BBC in the UK and PBS and National Public Radio in the US — live and on the net — can show us how this can be achieved. Such tools of the new media will help achieve full literacy in the country faster than the mere five years that it took some South American countries to do so using the ideas of Paulo Freire. I conclude with brief reference to three commonly voiced concerns: energy, human and environmental security. Instead of lurching forward into dangerous technologies such as nuclear and coal, we need to focus on our natural abundance of sunshine and hydropower (about which much has been written). While wind technology needs exploration, the area calling for immediate implementation is solar thermal, i.e. direct capture of heat energy from the sun’s rays to turn turbines for power generation — an option cheaper than wind energy. It has the advantage of our engineers accomplishing this largely themselves. At the other end, appropriate technologies such as green roofs (or simply oil painting or installing reflective high insulation tiling) could cool our homes and reduce cost, as can improving the efficiency of industry, vehicles and other energy guzzlers. Some complex problems have cheap, simple solutions. Human security issues require that we establish not just peace but cordial relations with India, Afghanistan and Iran and open our borders to free exchange of people and commerce. Let’s be honest and admit that Kashmir cannot be snatched from India — ask the experienced retired general under house-arrest in his farmhouse in Islamabad. Money for wasteful military gadgets can then be diverted towards human development. Human security would be best advanced by providing decent livelihood to the poor and disadvantaged — gimmicks such as the expensive income support programme will fail. What are needed are low-cost projects which provide employment and an honorable income for the multitudes of unskilled and uneducated, coupled with literacy and skills training. One such project ought to be for countrywide reforestation — green cover is well below 5pc of the land-area; it ought to be at least five times higher. Its environmental and social benefits would be enormous. Publicity-attracting expensive mega projects have been dear to our leaders. The real skill of wise leaders, though, lies in generating a sense of self-worth among the citizens. Ensuring self sufficiency through transforming the country from the bottom up is the way. The new government must take up this challenge. The writer is a physicist and environmentalist.
More than one ‘conservatism’ By S. Akbar Zaidi AN argument doing the rounds suggests that a ‘right-wing wave’ has swept Pakistan’s recent general elections. . The arithmetic based on the numbers of seats won and votes cast would suggest that conservative parties have won the election, and this in turn would suggest, at least at first glance, that Pakistanis have consciously shifted to, and chosen, conservative and right-wing candidates. Clearly, such analysis simplifies electoral choices and does not fully explain Pakistan’s apparent, and differentiated, turn to the right. By all accounts, the numbers are persuasive and do support the conclusions above. At the national level, Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N has received 35pc of votes and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) 17.8pc. If we add some of the Islamist parties such as the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), and not counting the minor parties, then the total votes received by parties which are conservative — and there ought to be no two views about them being conservative — would be greater: at least 57pc of the votes cast went to such parties, whether overtly Islamist or conservative of a different kind. If one wants to distinguish non-conservative parties, and include the PPP, the Awami National Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in this group — for argument’s sake as it is clearly a highly problematic proposition to call them ‘liberal’ and ‘secular’ given the nature of the politics of one among this group — then these three parties received merely 23pc of the popular vote. Such analysis ignores many of the nuances which have had an effect on Pakistan’s elections. One needs to examine the votes cast in the light of broader factors. Take the case of the PML-N. It won in Punjab, perhaps not because there was a sudden lurch towards conservatism, but perhaps because the previous PML-N government in the province was seen by voters as a party of choice, and worthy of being invested in again. Re-electing a political party is not an ideological swing, it just reaffirms faith in that party. The PML-N was re-elected in Punjab because the perception of the electorate of Punjab was that the party had delivered whatever they felt was necessary. Of course, there was also a strong anti-PPP sentiment for its failure to govern at the federal level, which added to the PML-N getting more votes overall. The PPP in Punjab was also a leaderless party, which didn’t help its cause much. The bastion of the PPP, southern Punjab, also collapsed on account of poor politics and poor governance. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the PTI made extraordinary inroads, it is again difficult to sustain the argument that these were consciously political choices in favour of an Islamic conservatism. Having dismissed both of the last two elected governments in 2002 and 2008, the Pakhtunkhwa electorate has only shown its commitment to addressing problems of Islamic militancy in the province by choosing the party it feels will be best able to do so. The fact that their choice is the conservative PTI, is a reflection of how the PTI has promised to deal with drones, the Taliban and other militant factors. To suggest that this is also an ideological ‘right-wing’ choice, is only partially correct. A distinction needs to be made about the different types of conservatisms in Pakistan and the electorate’s choice of such politics. For instance, there is no doubt that Islamic political parties, such as the JUI-F and the JI, are conservative because of their understanding and politics based on religion. About the PML-N, one would probably not be wrong in comparing it to a European Christian Democratic party or one closer to Turkey’s AKP (Justice and Development Party) rather than to the Muslim Brotherhood. The PTI, most of the time, exudes the worst forms of conservatism and in many ways is seen as an English-speaking Jamaat-i-Islami, but also talks about issues not very dissimilar to those of the PML-N. In terms of administrative reform and governance, it sounds more like World Bank right-wing technocratic crusaders, rather than Islamist ideologues, although by joining its twin to form a government in KP, perhaps its real colours will be revealed. The corporate, so-called ‘good governance’ conservative agenda of both the PML-N and the PTI — which none of the so-called liberal parties had — distinguishes them from Islamist political conservatism, and may have been the choice of the electorate in terms of service delivery. It is different from what is normally called conservatist politics in Muslim majoritarian countries. Moreover, specific and local issues of politics may have also had a strong impact on how voters voted. The argument that Pakistan has moved to the right politically, or that the elections show a rise of politically conscious conservatism, needs be differentiated for its layered distinctiveness. However, even if voters have not made a conscious choice of conservatism, whether Islamic or of the ‘good governance’ kind, such choices bring numerous unintended consequences which have far-reaching ramifications on society and politics. The writer is a political economist.
Diplomacy and force By A.G. Noorani THE United States is just beginning to realise some age-old truths on the exercise of diplomacy and the use of force. . While diplomacy without the sanction of force is impotent, force used without a valid cause is destructive. It is the task of statesmanship to blend the two and promote a result that will endure because it entails no loss of face for either side. None other than the then chairman, joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen said on Jan 12, 2009: “The use of military means to achieve political ends is a thread of a rich discussion, one that reaches back through the ages. It was certainly so even in the winter of 1775, as Edmund Burke spoke on the floor of parliament at a time when England decided to send an army and a navy to put down the American rebellion. … “Had Burke’s contemporaries listened to him, perhaps things might be a bit different on this side of the ocean. But what about today?” He would not have spoken thus unless he felt strongly about that basic flaw in US policy. Edmund Burke’s speech in the House of Commons on March 22, 1775 is strikingly relevant today: “The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again: and a nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered. My next objection is its uncertainty. Terror is not always the effect of force; and an armament is not a victory. If you do not succeed, you are without resource; for, conciliation failing, force remains; but, force failing, no further hope of reconciliation is left. … “A further objection to force is that you impair the object by your very endeavours to preserve it. …” This is not an unfair description of the results of the US-led wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Another hard-headed realist, the director general of MI5 Stella Remington, said in 2008 after retirement, that the response to 9/11 was “a huge overreaction”. It was, she explained, “another terrorist incident”. Zbigniew Brzezinski also said it was not an act of war by Afghanistan. Britain’s former ambassador in Kabul Sherard Cowper-Coles recalls “the surprise and horror with which the Taliban and many Afghans greeted the news of the attacks on New York and Washington. An Afghan patriot told him of the shuras (assemblies of elders) in Kandahar which debated American demands. He was convinced that the tide in those discussions was moving in favour of expelling Osama bin Laden, on grounds both of expediency (survival of the Taliban government) and of justice (in that Bin Laden had abused the precepts of hospitality). But turning that tide into a majority would have taken more time than Western governments thirsting for violent revenge were prepared to give. Hence a ruinous war. This is borne out by the documents published by the National Security Archive in The Taliban File. Mullah Omar always sought negotiations, even after 9/11. He was rebuffed. In 2013 the US has desperately sought his cooperation for a decent exit from Afghanistan. It was the same story in Iraq with its non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Nor was Libya a success. The distinguished scholar, Vali Nasr, who recently left the State Department, told Michael Crowley of Time. “We forget that Libya didn’t turn out well”. The tragedy is being repeated in Syria at a colossal loss to human lives and the destruction of property, including heritage structures in a great and historic land. Only last month the US ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, publicly warned that “there needs to be a negotiated political settlement, because our sense is that regime supporters, fearing death, would fight to the death”. He was testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 11. On the same day the director of intelligence gave his assessment. James R. Clapper, Jr, warned that even if President Bashar al-Assad fell, sectarian fighting would most likely engulf the country for a year or more. Radical forces too would join in the fray. Syria would be wrecked totally. Common to all the four countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria — was preference for force over conciliation. The reason is simple. In all the cases it is regime change which the US sought. “Qadhafi must go”, President Barack Obama arrogantly proclaimed. Iran is a regional player whose cooperation is essential for a settlement in Afghanistan or Syria. Had its comprehensive proposals for a “grand bargain”, made in 2005, not been ignored, the dispute over its nuclear programme would have been solved. The Swiss ambassador who transmitted the proposals was insulted by secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for his pains. The pattern is repeated in the Far East. Like Iran, North Korea justifiably demands lifting of US sanctions, sponsored by the US, as a pre-condition for starting a dialogue. In this process the United Nations has suffered badly because it has been used cynically to promote American policies. International law has been flouted systematically as a leading international lawyer, Philippe Sands, Q.C. and professor of law at University College, London has documented in his work Lawless World: America and the Making and Breaking of Rules. Recourse to or support of force as the prime instrument of policy entails sheer destruction; in the last decade and more, of four nation-states. The famous Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski’s remarks 30 years ago sum up the devastation we have witnessed now. “When thinking about the fall of any dictatorship, one should have no illusions that the whole system comes to an end like a bad dream. … A dictatorship … leaves behind itself an empty, sour field on which the tree of thought won’t grow quickly. It is not always the best people who emerge from hiding.” The writer is an author and a lawyer.
Unhappy marriage in Sindh By Irfan Husain A NUMBER of senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leaders have died of violent causes in a city which in the last two decades has seen frequent bouts of bloodshed. . Whether or not these assassinations were carried out by outside agencies, the violence at the heart of the party cannot be ignored. So when Altaf Hussain issued a barely-veiled threat to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf supporters protesting the conduct of the elections in Karachi, his words were taken seriously. And when Zahra Shahid was gunned down by an unknown killer the day before the re-polling in certain areas of Karachi’s NA-250 constituency, many voters decided to stay at home. This understandable fear plus the boycott by the MQM and some other parties resulted in the low turnout of 10pc. But the low turnout and suspicions of rigging in a handful of constituencies should not detract from a largely free and fair election. According to neutral observers, the May 11 polls were the cleanest we have had in many years. Zardari’s accusations of massive rigging by the bureaucracy and the ‘foreign hand’ in Punjab should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. While the results have transformed the political landscape, in Sindh the status quo remains largely unchanged. With the PPP sweeping the rural areas and the MQM dominant in the major cities, the two parties seem set to form another coalition government, minus the Awami National Party (ANP). So while the PML-N will rule the federation and Punjab, the other provinces will be governed by parties that have little national presence. And now that many of the centre’s powers have been hived off to the provinces, Islamabad’s ability to help or hinder the federating units is much circumscribed. Another big difference is that Nawaz Sharif does not need any coalition partners, and this will make a bigger difference to the MQM than to the PPP. At the height of the anti-Musharraf agitation in 2007, I asked a senior MQM member why they were sticking with the dictator. His answer was very revealing: “We need to have powerful friends in Islamabad.” But the PML-N is no friend of the MQM’s. The fraught history of relations between the two parties is full of antagonism and mistrust. In the early days of Musharraf’s government, the MQM was invited to join the cabinet. When I asked Tariq Aziz, Musharraf’s principal civilian advisor, why he had helped induct this party into the government, he was pretty blunt: “We know the MQM has a stranglehold on Karachi, so we would rather have them with us than have them closing down the city every few days.” This brings us to the source of the MQM’s power: the party that can shut down a city controls it. Despite its steady decline over the last three decades, Karachi remains Pakistan’s jugular vein. Each time the MQM announces one of its frequent days of protest or mourning, billions are lost. So it’s not the number of seats it wins in the national and provincial assemblies, but the effectiveness of its muscle power to bring Karachi to a standstill that gives the party its clout. And while the PML-N can distance itself from the MQM, the PPP has come to terms with the reality of the ethnic party. Whatever its nationalist elements might feel, the leadership realises that both Sindhis and Mohajirs have to share the province. Another factor driving the need to cooperate is the steady influx of the Taliban into Karachi. These religious extremists threaten to displace the ANP as the representatives of the huge Pakhtun community in the metropolis. Thus far, the government has proved ineffective in confronting them, and it appears that only the MQM has the manpower and firepower to take them on. But as recent events have shown, the MQM is not the monolithic entity it once was. Apart from the recent erosion of its once-solid vote bank, there are signs of cracks in its discipline. Its leader’s bizarre statements from London reveal a person increasingly out of touch with reality. These last five years while the MQM was a coalition member in both Islamabad and Karachi, it often acted as though it was in the opposition. Instead of sharing the blame, it was critical of decisions it had been party to. Thus it had the best of both worlds. Even when the coalition partners quarrelled bitterly over the local councils, for instance, and the MQM conveniently quit the coalition just before the elections, its governor has continued to hang on in office. And while it could exploit the PPP’s weakness and its lack of a parliamentary majority in the National Assembly, its bargaining power is much reduced now. But it is threatened on a more fundamental level by demographics: while the numbers of the Mohajir community in urban Sindh grow by natural reproduction, the ranks of Sindhis and Pakhtuns swell through migration as well. Each time there are floods in Sindh or army operations in the tribal areas, the number of non-Mohajirs in Karachi grows. Given these factors, the coming years do not hold out much promise for peace and prosperity in Karachi. Nawaz Sharif will be happy to see the MQM and the PPP self-destruct over the next five years. Tailpiece: I was pained and shocked at Zahra Shahid’s murder. She was a friend for years, and although we didn’t meet as often as I would have wished, I greatly admired her courage and activism. She urged me to travel to Balochistan and visit an educational project she was involved with. Sadly, the trip never materialised, and now probably never will. irfan.husain@gmail.com
Now for some soul-searching By Abbas Nasir ONCE the froth has settled, substantive soul-searching must take place both among those who lost and those victorious in the 2013 general election. . Surely, the biggest loser (not merely in aspirational terms) is the PPP. The party (whose leader was rightly described as the chain or zanjeer holding together the four provinces) has been all but obliterated from everywhere except Sindh. The party leadership blames a hostile judiciary, media and now even ‘international and domestic institutions’ for its spectacular debacle. One hopes for the sake of one of the most vibrant and people-oriented parties in the country that its leaders don’t believe these reasons to be factual. All the factors PPP leaders have cited from time to time may have a degree of truth to them. The foremost, however, is the party’s utter lack of interest in anything called governance and in trying to run a clean ship. If this wasn’t enough, look what happened to the party worker. The post-Benazir Bhutto leaders completely alienated the jiyala who kept the party alive through two periods of military rule. These periods saw the founding leader’s judicial murder, the incarceration/exile of most of the remaining leadership and untold attempts to divide the party. Ironically, Benazir Bhutto died courting this worker as she had no other reason to emerge from her armoured vehicle on that tragic day in Rawalpindi except for a rush of supporters seeking a glimpse of their leader and a few words from her at close quarters. In the last election, the security threat was justifiably cited as a reason by the PPP for not staging public meetings. But the workers’ alienation had long happened by the time electioneering began. Whether it was load-shedding or general disinterest in constituency-level contact is immaterial. What is significant is that many PPP candidates themselves privately say that in the 2013 elections the party ticket, particularly in Punjab, seemed more like a millstone around the neck rather than a much sought-after buoy that kept them afloat in the past. It is not rocket science that the PPP would need to get its act together and run the tightest, cleanest of ships in Sindh if it has any hope of maintaining its support in the province let alone reviving its fortunes for the rich harvest of seats that elections in Punjab represent. It’ll have to move beyond token resignations by newly installed party officials who have made no effort to revive support at the grassroots level and spent all their time in backroom deals with the so-called electables. These electables fell like ninepins on May 11 this year. The other major loser, given its aspirations, was the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). Once the party has exorcised the ‘rigging’ ghost from its narrative and discourse, it’ll be able to move on to issues which will need to be addressed if its future has to be guaranteed. Imran Khan’s track record (not in politics though), personality, energetic campaigning and commitment meant a rainbow of support that bridged the class divide. Popular belief may hold that only the educated urban elite, disparagingly called ‘burger’ by some, were the PTI’s mainstay. A cursory look at the percentage share of the party in the total votes cast dispels this impression. If it were so, true affluence would be far more pervasive in Pakistan than it is. The PTI secured votes from different socio-economic groups and also from people with diverse lifestyles and ideologies. One would only need to look at the composition of the PTI jalsas in KP and rural parts of Punjab and compare them with its public meetings say in Lahore, (or pre-election campaign Karachi) and Islamabad. One point of comparison would be the presence and attire of women for example. Balancing the aspirations of this diverse support base is a tall order nonetheless. The social media debate when it was first suggested that the PTI was allocating the education portfolio to its provincial coalition partner, the Jamaat-i-Islami, is a case in point. Although the PTI central leadership denied the report, it wasn’t before a number of usually diehard and unflinching supporters, admittedly judging from no wider a sample than social media, expressed horror at the prospect. So, the party will not only have to play to please its diverse support and run an exemplary provincial administration but also have to appease and keep onside allies vital to keeping its nominee in the provincial chief executive’s office. As a senior partner in a coalition government which the PTI will be keen to present as a showcase of good governance, Imran Khan has the most determination of any other leader and will likely hold his ground on points of principle. At the same time, negotiating with coalition partners, listening to their demands and deciding what is fair and what isn’t on an on-going basis will also mean that observers will see a humbler Imran Khan who is less severe about the shortcomings of the political class in Pakistan. This can only be good for a country long polarised on different lines. There are other players too whose role will dictate whether the political environment remains civil or vitiated at the drop of a hat – among them the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and PML-N, to whom has gone the biggest prize. Perhaps for the first time in many decades the military appears to have supported the transition to more meaningful civilian rule. It is now up to all the political parties, not just those in power, to wrest more control from GHQ. How else to ensure that foreign and security policies vital to the country’s existence represent a national consensus; not the will of a few wise men? Only then we’ll talk of Balochistan as a part of us and not just a land whose sons continue to disappear and reappear as tortured, broken corpses. The writer is a former editor of Dawn. abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this mailing list, please fill the form located at: http://www.dawn.com/alerts
DAWN Media Group, Haroon House, Karachi 74200, Pakistan	Copyright © 2013 Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.)Ltd.