DWS, Sunday 9th June to Saturday 15th June 2013

The neo-liberal hoax

	DWS, Sunday 9th June to Saturday 15th June 2013
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NATIONAL NEWS
Dr Baloch elected CM of Balochistan unopposed By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, June 8: Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, chief of the National Party (NP), was elected unopposed as the chief minister of Balochistan on Saturday. . Dr Baloch was the joint candidate of three parties — the NP, PML-N and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party — but after the support extended to him by the JUI-Fazl he became a consensus candidate of all parties in the Balochistan Assembly. Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had nominated him for the post after meeting leaders of allied parties in Murree last week. Dr Malik was the only one to have filed his nomination papers in the assembly secretariat for the chief minister’s election. Although Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran of the JUI-F had collected nomination forms, he did not file it, apparently after an understanding between Dr Baloch and Maulana Abdul Wasey, the party’s parliamentary leader. Dr Baloch had met the Maulana at his home. “Dr Baloch is our joint candidate to head the next provincial government,” Maulana Wasey said after the meeting. Balochistan Assembly Speaker Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali declared after 2pm that Dr Baloch had been elected unopposed. His candidature was proposed by Nawab Mohammad Khan Shahwani and seconded by Rehmat Baloch of the National Party. Dr Baloch will take oath of his office at 6pm on Sunday at the Governor House. Talking to reporters, Dr Baloch said his coalition government would adopt all possible measures for improving law and order and providing basic facilities to the people of the province. “I am very thankful to all political parties who have nominated me for the office of chief minister.” He said he would take along all parties in running the affairs of the province. “I will play my role for taking the province out of the morass. MY government will give priority to addressing the issues of missing persons, dumping of mutilated bodies and targeted killings.” The incoming chief minister told journalists the prime minister had assured him of help and cooperation for solving the problems and he was “serious to resolve the Balochistan tangle”. About negotiations with estranged Baloch leaders, the NP chief said a strategy had been worked out for resolution of the problem with the help of coalition partners and other parties in the assembly. “It is my desire to see pen and book in the hands of our youth instead of weapons,” he said, adding that restoring law and order would be his top priority. Dr Baloch said his government would seek the services of experts for preparing the budget.
Iran gas project can’t be set aside: Iqbal By Kalbe Ali ISLAMABAD, June 8: The new government moved to smother speculation about the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline on Saturday, with a minister asserting that the country needed to lap up the commodity from “wherever it comes, whether from Iran or the Arabian Sea”. . “We will continue the work at the gas pipeline because such a vital project cannot be set aside in hard times like the present,” Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister for Planning, said. Certain quarters had expressed fears about the fate of the pipeline because of the ruling PML-N’s close ties with the Saudis. Talking to journalists after a meeting with officials of the Planning Commission, Mr Iqbal said: “Energy is our first, second and third top priority. Electricity is no longer a mere commodity now; it is a necessity and lifeline.” Taking charge of the same department after 14 years, Mr Iqbal said the PML-N government had presented a “vision 2010” in 1998, but this time it would be limiting its goals to five years. A “vision 2018” will be launched soon after presentation of the federal budget, the minister added. As the Planning Commission has been upgraded by the new government, Mr Iqbal said the planning division would also be monitoring projects to ensure their completion within the stipulated time and budget. “As the government machinery is rusty and worthless, it is imperative to have a department to oversee the execution of projects.” Regarding his own ministry, he said the planning and development division would be made a model for other ministries. “We will implement e-government here and within one year the planning division will move to paperless working, while efficient human resource will be rewarded,” he said. Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the priority areas of the government — improving tax collection by plugging loopholes and broadening the tax base. “We want to raise the tax-to-GDP ratio from 9.5 per cent to 14 per cent before the term of our government ends.” He said the government would encourage local as well as foreign investment. “We do not want foreign grants from friendly countries, but we want them to invest here.” The minister played down the importance of remittances as a reliable source of money, saying that it was an unproductive venture. “The inflows from this sector would stop if Pakistanis started returning home in droves or stopped sending money back home.” Mr Iqbal said the PML-N government had a zero tolerance policy for corruption and efforts would be made to strengthen NAB, FIA, Public Accounts Committee and other departments supposed to fight white-collar crime. “The most unfortunate part of the previous government was that corrupt officials were assigned key posts in these crime fighting departments, but we will ensure that officers with good track record are given the right posting,” he said. Ministers take charge: Although Saturday was a weekly holiday, a number of new ministers took charge on the directive of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the morning by arriving at their offices at around 8am. Many officials were seen rushing to their offices a few minutes after 8am, asking security personnel if the minister had arrived. Some of the ministers held a brief chat with newsmen before going to their offices. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that terrorism was the greatest challenge the nation had been facing and the new government would take steps to improve law and order to provide relief to people. He declared that his working would be different from the previous minister and he would not poke his nose in every matter. Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif brushed aside high hopes regarding elimination of loadshedding that many had pinned with the arrival of new government. “It will take many years to overcome this menace — but we will surely bring it to bearable limits,” he said. Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said as the new government had taken charge, now people would feel a positive change. “After domestic and commercial users the power sector is the top most priority as long as gas supply is concerned.
NEC to set new targets, guidelines tomorrow By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 8: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has convened a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) on Monday to review the state of the economy, while the first budget of the new government, for 2013-14, will be presented in the National Assembly on June 12. . This was disclosed by Minister for Finance, Revenue and Privatisation Senator Ishaq Dar while talking to reporters outside his office where he had gone to assume his charge. The four chief ministers and their representatives will attend the NEC meeting in which the federal and provincial governments will formulate financial, commercial, social and economic policies in accordance with Article 156 of the constitution. The NEC will approve funding for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the next financial year. The minister said a team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was scheduled to visit Pakistan in the third week of this month. Presenting a very dismal picture of economy, Mr Dar said the burden of loans on the country had reached Rs14 trillion. The finance minister said the government had prepared a strategy to overcome the energy crisis. He said Rs500 billion was needed to clear the circular debt to eliminate loadshedding. Mr Dar said the budget would mainly focus on revival of the economy with concentration on overcoming circular debt to resolve the energy crisis. He said the prime minister had approved the budget and an approval from the federal cabinet was required before its presentation. The minister said that although the country was facing a number of serious challenges, the PML-N government would try its best to overcome them.
US envoy summoned over drone strike By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 8: Pakistan reminded the United States on Saturday that drone strikes had complicated bilateral relations and adversely affected peace and stability in the region. . “Drone strikes have a negative impact on the desire of both countries to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region,” Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, told US Charge d’ Affaires, Ambassador Richard Hoagland. The charge d’ affaires had been summoned to the Foreign Office on the instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to receive protest on the latest drone strike in which nine people were killed in North Waziristan on Friday. The identity of those killed in the attack hasn’t been revealed as yet. Mr Sharif, in his speech in the National Assembly immediately after his election as the Leader of the House (prime minister), had called for an end to drone strikes. But in a subsequent letter written to Pakistani envoys posted abroad, Mr Sharif had skipped drone attacks while enumerating his foreign policy priorities and just called for minimising the points of divergence with Washington. Friday’s was the first drone attack since Mr Sharif was sworn in as prime minister and the second one after President Obama’s policy speech on counter-terrorism strategy last month in which he announced tighter oversight of the drone programme. Mr Fatemi, talking to the charge d’ affaires, emphasised the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone attacks as they were unpopular in this country. Pakistani officials have rarely asked Washington publicly to end drone attacks. They have instead kept harping on legal and political implications of the strikes. Mr Fatemi said: “The government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The last time the Foreign Office categorically asked the US for cessation of drone attacks was on April 15 after an attack in North Waziristan. “The government of Pakistan calls upon the US government to stop such attacks based on mutual respect and established international norms,” the statement had then said. However, in reaction to an attack on May 29 in which TTP deputy chief Waliur Rehman was killed, Islamabad’s anger was reduced to mere “expression of concern”. The latest attack was the 16th of this year. The frequency of attacks has significantly dropped as compared to the past few years. The drone war saw a sudden spike in 2008 and the highest number of attacks took place in 2010 when 117 strikes were recorded. Out of the almost 350 attacks since 2004, majority of them have taken place in North Waziristan, targeting militant facilities linked to the Haqqani network and loyalists of Hafiz Gul Bahadur. AP adds: The move bolstered expectations that Mr Sharif’s government would, at least publicly, take a much harder line against such strikes than its predecessor. A US Embassy official confirmed the meeting between Mr Fatemi and Ambassador Hoagland, but did not provide details. While the previous government did, on occasion, summon US envoys to protest killings by drones, for the most part it stuck to routine press releases denouncing the strikes.
Germany pledges 93.5m euros for energy, health By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 8: Germany pledged 93.5 million euros in assistance for Pakistan on Saturday and announced several measures to increase trade between the two countries as it found a “new momentum” in the bilateral relationship.. “93.5m euros assistance would be provided for 2013-14 to support new energy, health, and good governance projects,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told a news briefing at the Foreign Office along with PM’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz. Mr Westerwelle had earlier met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discussed with him various proposals for expanding political and trade ties. Referring to the successful holding of elections and the new government’s commitment to economic revival, he said: “Germany is ready to stand by the new government in making the right choices.” Mr Westerwelle was the first foreign leader that the PML-N government hosted after assuming office earlier this week. Germany, the foreign minister said, considered Pakistan as “a pivotal partner in South Asia” and intended to deepen its strategic dialogue with it in addition to increasing volume of trade. Germany and Pakistan last September signed an agreement for a ‘strategic dialogue’ on bilateral issues as well as Afghanistan. The agreement set out a “roadmap” of future meetings between the two countries so they could benefit from enhanced cooperation. Germany is also Pakistan’s largest trading partner in Europe and a major source of investment in the country. The two sides are also looking at having visits of business delegations, an investment conference in Pakistan and upgrading Pak-German forum into a bilateral chamber of commerce. Mr Westerwelle signalled Germany’s continued support to Pakistan’s request for preferential trade (GSP Plus) status in the European Union. The foreign minister said he was glad to hear the PML-N government’s commitment to reform and would make best use of the “new momentum” in the ties. Mr Aziz said the government’s economic vision was aimed at economic revival. He said tackling extremism was important for economic revival and would therefore remain government’s priority. Mr Aziz said the government would shortly be unveiling its counter-terrorism strategy. Prime Minister Sharif during his meeting with Mr Westerwelle sought German investment in Pakistan’s ailing power sector. He offered German investors to set up thermal power plants that could be run both on coal and gas. He said investors would be facilitated in setting up plants near coalmines in Pakistan. Mr Sharif said: “We have a tough situation at hand, but we have a team and the determination to turn around the economy. There is a positive sentiment in the Pakistani business community which looks towards my government for good economic policies and encouraging the business sector.”
Fazl meets Nawaz; JUI-F to sit on treasury benches in NA, Senate By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 8: Without a formal agreement with the ruling PML-N, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) announced on Saturday unilaterally that its members would sit on treasury benches in the National Assembly and Senate. . The announcement followed a meeting between JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Though the official handout issued by the Prime Minister’s House after the meeting was silent on the JUI-F’s support for the government, a spokesman for the party said it had decided to sit on treasury benches since the prime minister had “agreed in principle on JUI-F’s priorities”. The spokesman, Jan Achakzai, said in a statement that the Maulana had presented in writing “all priorities” of the JUI-F to the prime minister at their meeting. He said the two parties would “mutually decide about other responsibilities, including cabinet berths and committees’ posts through consultation”. Soon after the May 11 elections, the JUI-F and the PML-N started discussing a power sharing formula and the two parties had constituted committees to finalise it. Despite having the simple majority required to form government on its own, the PML-N had taken an initiative by inviting the JUI-F to become a coalition partner with the sole purpose of getting the latter’s support in the Senate to carry out legislative business smoothly. Media reports claimed that the JUI-F had sought chairmanship of the parliamentary committee on Kashmir, besides ministries of housing and religious affairs. The JUI-F, according to some reports, had expressed its desire to have its man appointed as the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The JUI-F, on the other hand, has denied all such reports and claimed that the party had told the PML-N that it wants to know a clear stand of the government on key issues like militancy in Fata and legislative business on various controversial issues before agreeing to join the government. The two parties had had a number of meetings at the committee level last month, but there had been no progress in the talks. Later, the JUI-F had announced its support to PML-N candidates for the offices of the National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker as a goodwill gesture. After meeting a delegation of the PML-N, the JUI-F announced its support also for Nawaz Sharif in the elections for the prime minister. Our Staff Reporter from Lahore adds: JUI-F information secretary Maulana Mohammad Amjad Khan said that the party might become part of the PML-N government if its charter of demands was met in true letter and spirit. He said the JUI-F’s agenda included introduction of an Islamic system based on Islamic laws in the light of Quran and Sunnah. Another important point of the JUI-F priority was to get the existing interior and foreign policies revised He said though the JUI-F had not pressed the government to give a timeframe for implementing its agenda of priority, it would keep observing the government’s action in this regard.
PPP takes exception to ‘threats’ of governor’s rule in Sindh By M. Hussain Khan HYDERABAD, June 8: Reacting sharply to reported threats of placing Sindh under governor’s rule, provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon issued on Saturday a warning against such a move, saying it would be accordingly responded to if anyone tried to bulldoze the mandate of Peoples Party. . Talking to journalists at the Hatri bypass on his way to his constituency in Tandojam, Mr Memon criticised PML-N leader Mumtaz Bhutto for his reported statement in which he had hinted at imposition of governor’s rule in Sindh. Mr Memon said Mr Bhutto lacked capacity to become governor. He said it was regrettable to note that while the process of government formation in the province was not yet over, Mr Bhutto had started talking about the governor’s rule in Sindh. He said if anyone tried to bulldoze the mandate of PPP it would be resisted by people. “We are not wearing bangles.” Mr Memon expressed reservations over a statement by Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain who had described the new Sindh government as only being the representative of rural areas of Sindh. He said the matter would be taken up with the Sindh governor. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad belongs to the MQM.
Cooperation of PM, army and militants sought: Dr Malik vows to restore peace, end corruption By Amanullah Kasi QUETTA, June 9: Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has called upon the prime minister, the army top brass and militants on the mountains to cooperate with him in resolving the issues of missing persons, dumping of mutilated bodies and corruption in Balochistan. . The province is burning and the situation required everyone to work earnestly in view of the seriousness of the situation, he said while addressing the Balochistan Assembly here on Sunday after his unanimous election as chief minister. “Enough is enough,” he said while referring to the malaise of corruption. He announced that there would be no secret and discretionary funds at his disposal and the expenses of his secretariat would be curtailed. Dr Malik was the only candidate for the post and 55 of the 65 members of the assembly who attended the session on Sunday praised him and reposed confidence in him. Besides his own National Party, Dr Malik was supported by his coalition partners, the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and the PML-Nawaz, and also members of JUI-Fazl, Awami National Party and Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen. The new chief minister paid tribute to Nawab Yousuf Magsi, Mir Aziz Kurd, Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan for their struggle during the independence movement against the British rule and for democratic movement in the country. He said Balochistan faced serious issues like missing persons, targeted killings, dumping of mutilated bodies, kidnappings for ransom and religious extremism and, therefore, the prime minister, the army leadership and armed groups on the mountains should realise the gravity of the situation and come to the negotiating table to steer the province out of the crisis. He urged the centre to fulfil the quota of Balochistan in the federal and foreign services and in autonomous bodies to accommodate the jobless youth and help overcome unemployment. Dr Baloch announced that his government would not accept illegal distribution of land in Gwadar and Pasni and allotments made in violation of the law would be cancelled. He said the government would foil a conspiracy to create misunderstanding among the Baloch, Pakhtuns, Hazaras and settlers. The chief minister said the society could change only if the 65 members of the house ensured that they would oppose unlawful measures to the benefit of the corrupt. Dr Baloch said he would not accept the recommendation of any legislator for transfer and posting of government officials, including doctors and teachers. He warned officials of disciplinary action if they declined to work in rural areas. “The VIP culture has badly affected our behaviour and we will have to abandon it if we want to improve things,” he said. “We should strictly adopt austerity, overcome economic mismanagement and use the government resources in a transparent manner to the benefit of the common people.” He said the provinces had received adequate autonomy in the 18th Amendment and “it is our responsibility to solve the problems in education, health, mining and agriculture sectors”. He said his government would fully protect the rights of women and of Christian and Hindu communities. He said efforts would be made to bring back Hindus who had shifted to other places for the sake of security. Dr Baloch assured the house that all steps would be taken to resolve tribal feuds and organise the Levies force on modern lines to enable them to play an effective role. APP adds: “I pledge that I will not take even a single paisa from secret and discretionary funds and I also announce abolition of all secret and discretionary funds on a permanent basis.” Referring to the problems of the province, especially of law and order, he said: “I am optimistic that the federal government and the military leadership will also play their role in resolving these issues.” Dr Baloch said he was ready to meet the Baloch youths living on mountains to bring them into the mainstream. He said the culture of using social connections for postings had damaged the structure of the law-enforcement agencies and resulted in an increase in crimes. The chief minister said he was determined to solve the problems of the citizens of Quetta, especially the shortage of potable water. Parliamentary leaders of different parties, including Sardar Sanaullah Zehri of the PML-N, Maulana Abdul Wasey of JUI-F, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal of PKMAP, Zamark Piralizai of ANP and Sheikh Jaffar Mandokhel of PML-Q, felicitated Dr Baloch and expressed the hope that he would pay special attention to the issue of law and order.
Five bullet-riddled bodies found By Saleem Shahid QUETTA: Five bullet-riddled bodies were found in different areas of Kalat and Khuzdar on Sunday. . Sources said that police found two bodies on the outskirts of Khuzdar after being informed about them by local people. Both the bodies had multiple bullet wounds, said police. One of them was identified as that of Dost Mohammad of Nushki district from a paper found in his clothes. The other body remained unidentified. The Kalat Levies recovered bodies of three people belonging to the Kolhoi tribe. Levies officials said the deceased had been killed in a tribal clash in the Narmuk area of Kalat about two weeks ago. They were identified as Raja Khan, Mohammad Anwar and Mehrab. They said the bodies were found in an orchard. Meanwhile, two people were gunned down in the Pathan Kot area of Loralai. Police said gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire, killing the two men on the spot and injuring two others. The deceased were identified as Nasrullah and Abdullah. The motive was old enmity.
Resignation of Punjab, Balochistan governors accepted Dawn Report ISLAMABAD / QUETTA, June 9: President Asif Ali Zardari accepted on Sunday the resignation of the governors of Punjab and Balochistan submitted after the victory of the PML-N in the general elections.. Presidency’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar confirmed to Dawn that the president had accepted the resignation of Punjab Governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood and Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi on Sunday night, paving the way for the appointment of their replacements by the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Setting an example, the Punjab governor held a news conference on May 13 and announced that he had sent his resignation to President Zardari. Mr Mahmood said the public had chosen the PML-N and that the mandate should be accepted. He also announced that he would no longer participate in parliamentary politics, but would continue to serve Pakistan in his own capacity. Mr Mahmood, a PML-F leader from south Punjab, had taken oath as Punjab governor on Dec 25 last year, following the resignation of Latif Khosa of the PPP. Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi had tendered his resignation on June 2 soon after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had nominated Dr Abdul Malik as chief minister of the province and announced that the new governor would be from the Pakhtunkhawa Milli Awami Party. Mr Magsi sent his resignation to President Zardari and said it was the right of PML-N government to nominate his successor. In his resignation letter, he said: “It is my considered opinion that upon change in the federal government it is the right of the newly-elected prime minister to recommend his own nominee for appointment to the position of the governor of the province. “Accordingly, in the spirit of discernment, I have decided to resign as the Governor of Balochistan province effective upon the swearing in of new Prime Minister.” On a personal note, Mr Magsi wrote to President Zardari: “It has been a pleasure to work with you and your government, thank you Mr President for your friendship and cooperation which was always forthcoming.” The Balochistan governor remained in office for about five years and three months.
Meeting today: NEC may raise PSDP to Rs1.1tr By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 9: The newly reconstituted National Economic Council (NEC) is likely to approve on Monday a record Rs1.13 trillion Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for next fiscal year (2013-14), about Rs262 billion or 30 per cent higher than current year’s allocation of Rs873bn. . To be presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a hurriedly called meeting of the country’s highest economic decision-making body is also expected to set an economic growth target of 4.4 per cent against current year’s estimated real GDP growth rate of 3.6 per cent. The budget strategy paper finalised in March this year had put the next year’s growth rate at 4.5 per cent which has been revised downwards slightly because of lower than expected growth rate during the current year. A notification for the reconstitution of the NEC was issued on Sunday evening, but provincial leaderships had already been called to Islamabad to attend the meeting for mandatory approval of the next year’s development programme and the macroeconomic framework before their inclusion in the federal budget to be announced on June 12. The NEC reconstituted by the president on the advice of the prime minister includes three federal ministers from Punjab and one from Sindh. The four federal members nominated by the prime minister include three of his close aides from Punjab (Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif and Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal) and Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi, who belongs to Sindh. The prime minister did not nominate NEC members from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa contrary to the tradition under which four federal members are nominated to the NEC from the four provinces. Article 156(1) of the constitution says the NEC shall be constituted by the president and will comprise the prime minister as the chairman of the council, the chief ministers and one member from each province, to be nominated by chief ministers, and four other members as the prime minister may nominate from time to time. As required under article 156(1) of the constitution, the four chief ministers are members of the NEC. Provincial members of the NEC nominated by the four chief ministers include Punjab’s finance minister (yet to be nominated), Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser on Finance Syed Murad Ali Shah, KP’s Senior Minister for Finance Siraj-ul-Haq and Balochistan MPA Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal. According to the notification, the KP governor, AJK prime minister, Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and federal secretaries of the finance, economic affairs and planning departments will attend the NEC meeting on special invitation. Of the total development programme of Rs1.13tr, allocations for the federal PSDP have been proposed at Rs540bn against the current year’s Rs360bn, according to a summary sent to the NEC. An official said the prime minister could enhance the overall allocation by Rs15-20bn to accommodate some special programmes for Balochistan. The provincial annual development plans (ADPs) for next year have been estimated at Rs595bn against Rs513bn allocated for the current year, showing an increase of 16 per cent or Rs82bn. The NEC will also approve rebasing of national accounts from 1999-2000 to 2005-06. The sources said the Planning Commission and the finance ministry had earlier finalised a federal development programme of about Rs450bn. A block allocation of about Rs115bn has been included in the PSDP to accommodate some unapproved projects — like Metro Bus Services for Islamabad and Karachi — on the desire of the new government. An official said that under the development plan the emphasis would continue to be on completion of the schemes already at advanced stages of implementation while some of the new government’s projects would also be given priority. The target for the next year’s inflation rate has been set at 8 per cent. The target for the year’s national savings rate has been set at 13 per cent, up from the current year’s 12 per cent. The national investment rate has been estimated at 13.6 per cent against 12.6 per cent this year.
Troops take over strategic heights in Tirah LANDI KOTAL, June 9: Security forces regained control of some strategic heights in Tirah valley after a fresh offensive in which 35 militants were killed, said a statement issued by the ISPR on Sunday. . One soldier lost his life and five others suffered injuries during the operation which started on June 6 and continued till Saturday. The ISPR said that security forces had taken control of the centrally located Dary Stana ridge overlooking most areas of Maidan and Kukikhel. “Security forces have successfully flushed out Taliban from their stronghold of Darwazgai Kandao,” it said. Fighting was more intense in Karna Khel, Barani and Zarkanai areas. According to sources, during the recent offensive the soldiers were backed by tribal lashkars of Malikdin Khel and Shalobar. They said that after taking control in February of Bagh Maidan, the headquarters of the pro-government Ansarul Islam group, militants had set fire to about 300 houses belonging to the tribesmen of Malikdin Khel, Bar Qambar Khel, Shalobar and Zakhakhel. They said that while the army had descended on the Maidan from Angori Sangar and Kala Woch hilltops, a large number of volunteers of Malikdin Khel and Shalibar lashkars reached Warsak area of Shalobar and Umarkhel of Malikdin Khel from the Dabori side of Orakzai Agency after the troops had cleared the areas of militants. They said the entire Maidan valley would be under the control of the security forces within days since they were already in control of more than 50 per cent areas of Bar Qambar Khel, Zakhakhel and Malikdin Khel. The troops have taken the areas of Haider Kandao, Qismat Sangar and Tirah Sangar and their control is now being handed over to the volunteers of peace committees headed by Hani Naseeb and Haji Kaptan—Correspondent
Will Zardari relish the record he sets today? By Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD, June 9: Although his political clout has been much diminished by his party’s electoral defeat a month ago, President Asif Ali Zardari will yet make another history with what seems to be his swansong to parliament on Monday.. It will be his record sixth address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate to open a new parliamentary year, as mandated by the constitution, though the fifth one last year too was a record because no other president had addressed so many joint sittings before him. And it will be his last such address as he runs out his five-year presidential term in September. In his last speech to a joint sitting on March 17, 2012, Mr Zardari had talked proudly about four years’ achievements of the coalition government of then-prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, led by his PPP, and about what must be done in the last and fifth year of that government’s term, disregarding some protest shouting and a walkout by then-opposition PML-N and JUI-F. He might do somewhat similar this time as well though he was not expected so say much about the plans of the new PML-N government, whose prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, took over only on Wednesday and formed a cabinet on Friday. However, a political source close to the presidency told Dawn that while the speech would be authored by the president himself, its text would be shown to people concerned in the new government before its delivery in the joint sitting, which is due to begin at the Parliament House at 4.30pm. But whatever its contents, the president’s address would hardly carry the force of his joint sitting speeches in the past when his word weighed over everybody else in the government and he also held the key office of PPP co-chairman, despite the transfer of most of presidential executive powers to parliament, or prime minister, through the landmark Eighteenth Amendment to the constitution that he had helped to come about. He gave up the party office this year after court challenges and the PPP too has been reduced to a distant second position in the National Assembly, from first in the previous house, after its rout in the May 11 elections in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan —though retaining its hold in Sindh. And contrary to last year’s protests, mainly over power cuts and law and order, the sitting this time is expected to be a much calmer affair. The PML-N and its allied parties, some of which had also been PPP allies in the previous government, would be expected to ensure a smooth sitting, which has been convened at the new prime minister’s own advice. While the PPP is now the main opposition party in both houses, the PTI, thrown up as the second largest opposition party in the National Assembly in the May 11 vote, is unlikely to cause any problem, though its chairman Imran Khan, who is yet to come the new lower house because he is still convalescing from some serious injuries suffered during a campaign accident, had vowed before the elections that if he were elected prime minister he would not take oath of office from President Zardari and would find some alternative route. PTI vice-chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who had been foreign minister in the PPP government before resigning in February 2011, said his party’s lawmakers would listen to the president’s “point of view in accordance with parliamentary etiquette” and comment on it afterwards. The PML-N chief, whose party was the main rival to the PPP, expressed no such reservations and took oath from Mr Zardari at an unusually cordial ceremony on Wednesday after praising, in his first speech to the new National Assembly, a smooth transition from one elected government to another. It was some abhorrence of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf for the National Assembly that gave Mr Zardari an extra sixth chance, instead of five, to address a joint sitting. Gen Musharraf, now detained at his farmhouse in Islamabad facing criminal charges, including responsibility in the Dec 27, 2007, assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and detention of superior court judges after he declared a controversial emergency in November 2007, addressed a joint sitting as president only once in 2004, in the face of strong opposition protests, and never came to parliament again. He did not call a joint sitting even after the February 2008 elections and that constitutional requirement was fulfilled by President Zardari.
KP may seek army pullout from Swat: JI leader By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 9: The PTI-led coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is about to formally demand that the centre should withdraw army from Swat and Malakand in a phased manner because it believes it to be an important step for establishing peace in the province and adjacent tribal areas.. The Amir of the KP chapter of Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), Prof Mohammad Ibrahim, disclosed on Sunday that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had already raised the issue during a recent meeting with Peshawar’s Corps Commander Lt-Gen Khalid Rabbani. Talking to Dawn, Prof Ibrahim, whose party is a coalition partner with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the province, said the provincial government was preparing a plan to hold talks with all stakeholders, including the Taliban, in an effort to restore peace in the country. “The PTI, JI, Qaumi Watan Party and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad, all coalition partners in the KP government, have decided to first consult all provincial political and religious parties and tribal elders about the peace process,” he said. They have also decided in principle that after consultations at the provincial level they will hold talks with the federal government and the army. The JI leader said his party wanted a “national policy” to establish peace in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Three security men killed in blasts By Our Correspondent MIRAMSHAH, June 9: Three security personnel were killed and another three injured in two explosions and a third bomb was defused in North Waziristan tribal region on Sunday.. A convoy was passing through the Razmak-Bannu road when a remote-controlled explosive device ripped through it, killing three security men and leaving two others wounded. The convoy was going from Razmak Fort to Bannu. Security forces launched a search operation in the area after the blast. However, no arrest was reported till late into night. Bodies and the injured were airlifted to a hospital in Bannu. Later, the bodies were sent to native towns of soldiers. Another convoy was hit by a remote-controlled blast near the Qamar checkpost on the Miramshah-Mirali road, injuring a security man. Meanwhile, security forces defused a bomb placed by militants on the Ghulam Khan road. Later, the political administration imposed a curfew in North Waziristan for an indefinite period.
Hashmi forced to retract his ‘accolade’ for Nawaz By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, June 9: Under pressure from the party leadership, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) president Javed Hashmi retracted on Sunday his controversial statement in which he had said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was his leader and continued to be his leader and offered apologies to those who had been hurt by it. . “My voters and supporters did not like my statement and I withdraw it in respect of people’s opinion,” Mr Hashmi, who earned the title ‘Baghi’ (rebel), said at a press conference in Multan. After the election of Mr Sharif as prime minister, he said in the National Assembly on June 5 that “Nawaz Sharif was and is my leader”. Mr Hashmi said he had stated so out of respect for the chief of PML-N — the party he had been associated with since 1988 before joining Imran Khan’s PTI in December 2011. His statement enraged PTI supporters and they launched a campaign against him on social media. The party sought an explanation when he met Imran Khan at his Lahore residence on Saturday. Mr Hashmi accused some TV anchorpersons of fuelling the controversy which led him to offer apology under pressure from the PTI leadership as well as his own family. He clarified that Imran Khan was his leader and he admired him for trying to introduce a new political culture in the country. Earlier Mr Hashmi had made unexpected statements at least on two occasions. During a speech in the previous National Assembly he surprised many when he praised the political astuteness of President Asif Ali Zardari by saying that one needed to be a PhD (in political science) to understand his politics. During the Musharraf regime, he had bewildered the exiled PML-N leadership and local activists by demanding that the Sharifs must explain their exile deal. At the press conference in Multan, Mr Hashmi accused the PML-N of stuffing the federal cabinet with its men from Punjab and ignoring other provinces. Answering a question, he said new federating units should be created in the country.
Imran Khan threatens protest against rigging By Our Staff Reporter LAHORE, June 10: Showing his distrust in the institutions of judiciary and Election Commission, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has threatened to launch a protest campaign after Eid if its reservations about the election results are not removed. . “We’ll take to the streets after Eid if poll rigging is not investigated in a transparent manner,” Imran Khan said at a press conference on Monday. The PTI chief, who has yet to take oath as MNA, said he would raise the issue in his maiden speech in the National Assembly. He said it was baffling that the PML-N, which had obtained only 6.8 million votes when it was at the peak of its popularity (in 1997), managed to secure 10.4 million votes in the May 11 elections. Mr Khan, who had been a staunch supporter of the judiciary and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, said both the judiciary and the Election Commission had disappointed him. “The ‘umpires’ did not remain neutral and impartial in the electoral match.” Admitting that his party lost the elections because it could not make an appropriate polling day plan, he said benefiting from the access to information law under the 18th Amendment, the PTI would obtain the count of ballot paper counterfoils to expose rigging. Mr Khan claimed that a conspiracy had been hatched to assassinate him on the GT Road during an election rally. In reply to a question, he said the PML-N would have to devolve powers for good governance and make police and bureaucracy independent. About US drone attacks, he alleged that these were targeting the same group of people who were being killed in army operations, giving an impression that Pakistan was fighting the American war. He pledged to tackle the cancer of terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sixth address to joint session of parliament: Zardari calls for ‘wise policy’ on constitution’s subversion By Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD, June 10: With the election defeat of his party so fresh and just three months of his term left, President Asif Ali Zardari spoke to parliament on Monday like the new government’s own president, and advised them to devise an “appropriate and wise policy” about punishing those who subverted the constitution.. Making a record sixth address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate since taking office in September 2008, his prepared speech seemed aimed at avoiding any comment that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif or his PML-N would not stomach, though he did talk of unspecified “reservations” while referring to the general acceptance of the results of the May 11 elections by all political parties, and was often cheered by desk thumping from both the treasury benches and his own PPP. Even the Benazir Income Support Programme launched by the previous government, which some PML-N officials have said would be renamed — was not named, with the president referring to it only as a “programme of poverty alleviation and women empowerment”, which he said the poor women wanted to be continued and strengthened further. Unlike a protest walkout by the then opposition PML-N and JUI-F from the last joint sitting in April last year, it was a very smooth affair this time, as the event came just about three months before the president will run out his five-year term and the results of May 11 elections, which reduced his PPP to a distant second position in the 342-seat National Assembly, ruled out any chance for him to run for a second term. A presidential aide said the new government, which came into being only five days ago with the election of Mr Sharif by the National Assembly as prime minister and his oath-taking on Wednesday, had no input in drafting the president’s speech. Mr Zardari raised the issue of subversion of the constitution twice while recalling the July 5, 1977 army coup that toppled PPP prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the Oct 12, 1999 coup that deposed Mr Sharif and regretted that the abrogation, or suspension of the constitution, which he called “high treason”, was “endorsed by the pillars of the state”. “That must come to end,” he said in an obvious reference to the superior judiciary’s endorsement of the 1977 coup by General Ziaul Haq and the one in 1999 by General Pervez Musharraf due to which, he said, “for decades we have been reeling under the forces of decay”. The previous PPP-led coalition government had often come under fire from then opposition PML-N for allowing a safe passage to General Musharraf when he went abroad after resigning in 2008 and for not seeking his trial under Article 6 of the constitution for treason, which is punishable with death, for allegedly subverting the constitution, by suspending it and declaring a controversial emergency in November 2007, while his 1999 coup had been upheld on May 12, 2000 by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court bench of which the present chief justice, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, was a member. Now that a PML-N government has come into being, Mr Zardari seemed to be throwing the ball in its court by choosing the occasion to refer to some recent calls, through public statements and petitions before the Supreme Court, for punishing General Musharraf and his former colleagues for subverting the constitution. He said: “It is for this august parliament and the government to devise an appropriate and wise policy.” And he promised PPP’s support in what could be a tricky business as none of Pakistan’s four military dictators, who ruled for more than half of its 65-year life, was punished so far for abrogating or suspending the country’s constitution. “I assure you of my support in this,” Mr Zardari said. While a substantial part of the president’s speech was devoted to recalling the achievements of parliament during the five-year government of his party, including landmark amendments to the constitution that transferred some arbitrary presidential powers to parliament and restored provincial autonomy, the president urged the new government to give high priority to what he called “peace and reconciliation” in the troubled Balochistan province and address the issue of the so-called “missing persons”, who, according to human rights activists, have mostly been picked up by intelligence agencies. Noting what he called “some progress” made by the government-appointed Commission on Missing Persons, he said “a lot more needs to be done”, and that “it can be done”. He also spoke of the dire domestic problems such as power shortages and economic hardships and, while citing the launch of Bhasha dam in the north on the River Indus, with a capacity to generate 4,500 megawatts of electricity, and stressing the need to step up energy projects like one to be based on Thar coal, voiced his confidence that “the present government will overcome the challenges”. Some domestic issues that he cited for action included “a cycle of poverty” that he said must be broken, further strengthening interfaith harmony, need to take measures to prevent misuse of the controversial blasphemy law for settling personal and political scores, integrating the disabled and “special people” in the mainstream of national life, and the need to form a “truth and reconciliation commission” to learn about mistakes of the past. READY FOR BOTH PEACE AND FIGHT: Apparently as a response to demands from some parties for peace talks with militants mainly operating from hideouts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and causing havoc across the country through suicide attacks, the president restated the policy pursued by the previous government, saying: “We are ready to make peace with those willing to give up violence. But we should also be ready to use force against those who challenge the writ of the state.” Reiterating the government policy not to allow use of Pakistan’s soil for terrorist activities against another country or violation of “our sovereignty”, he condemned US drone attacks in Fata as a “serious violation of sovereignty and international law” – which are also “counterproductive and are not acceptable” – while speaking of Pakistan’s desire for better ties with the United States and Europe. His brief observations on foreign policy included comments as a desire to seek “a conducive and stable regional environment” and improve relations with all countries in the region, wishing success to the Afghan-led reconciliation and reconstruction process in Afghanistan, relationship with China to remain “a cornerstone of our foreign policy”, Pakistan “greatly” valuing and to strive to further improve ties with the Muslim world, improving relations with India with peaceful settlement of water disputes and the Kashmir issue “in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people”. “We also value partnership with the United States and Europe,” the president said, adding: “We need to further strengthen it on the basis of mutual trust, mutual benefit and respect for sovereignty.”
Militants torch 3 Nato vehicles; 4 drivers burnt alive By Ibrahim Shinwari LANDI KOTAL, June 10: Four drivers were burnt alive when trucks carrying supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan caught fire after militants attacked them with rockets in Jamrud on Monday.. Jamrud Assistant Political Agent Jahangir Azam Wazir said the incident took place near Shagai Fort on the main Peshawar-Torkham road at around 10am. “The attackers were camouflaged in Khasadar force uniform and they were 20 to 25 in number,” Mr Wazir said. “The attack was so sudden and quick that drivers could do nothing to save their lives as all the vehicles caught fire after being struck by rockets,” he added. Three trucks were destroyed. However, two drivers were able to jump out of the burning vehicles and take refuge in a nearby security checkpost. Nek Mohammad, an eyewitness, said he saw two vehicles engulfed in flames with the entire area cordoned off by security forces. It took the fire fighters four hours to bring the fire under control. The dead were identified as Tikka Khan, Wajid Ali and Irfan, who belonged to Zakhakhel area. The fourth driver, Yar Alam, was a resident of Afghanistan. The drivers who survived the attack were Marwat Khan and Khiyal Badin. The vehicles were carrying military jeeps to Afghanistan. Mr Wazir said four of the Khasadar officials posted at the checkposts in the area were suspended and one of them was detained. He the incident was being thoroughly investigated, adding that security for Nato vehicles would be strengthened. At least 15 drivers and cleaners have lost their lives in recent weeks in similar attacks that have taken place in and around Jamrud tehsil. AFP adds: Six people were killed in the attack, officials said. “At least three Nato vehicles caught fire, four people died on the spot and two wounded…expired later in hospital,” Mr Azam Wazir said. Another official, Asmatullah Wazir, said four Nato vehicles were hit and three of them caught fire in the attack in the Shagai area, 20km southeast of Landi Kotal. A military official in Peshawar confirmed the militants had used rockets and automatic weapons.
You have to deliver, Nawaz warns his ministers By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 10: Presiding over the first meeting of his cabinet on Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave his ministers a tough talk, asking them to deliver on promises made by the PMLN in its election manifesto, set priorities and targets within two weeks, reduce non-development expenditure by 30 per cent, put the economy back on track, eradicate poverty and minimise loadshedding. He also warned them against failure. . There was pin drop silence as Mr Sharif made the opening remarks at the meeting. He encouraged the ministers to work hard and warned of strict action against anyone found wanting, according to a source privy to the meeting. The source said although it was an introductory sitting, the prime minister used the occasion to candidly put across the message of how he expected the new cabinet to work. He asked them to set priorities and targets within two weeks and said: “I will review your performance and I will not like you to fail.” He particularly advised them to study the party’s manifesto and see “what are the commitments the PMLN has made to the people”. He asked them to reduce all non-development expenditures by at least 30 per cent. Talking about the challenges his government is facing at the moment, Mr Sharif said: “We need to put the economy back on track, eradicate poverty, eliminate intolerance and reduce loadshedding, inflation and, above all, isolation at the international level.” The prime minister repeatedly warned his cabinet colleagues against what he called the culture of lethargy and personal whims and wishes. He said corruption and corrupt practices had severely affected the affairs of the state, adding that his government could meet the challenges if it remained corruption-free. On the peaceful democratic transition, the prime minister said the people deserved best possible compliments because they had rejected all rumours about delays in elections and participated in the electoral process with great zeal. He underscored the importance of a government with undiluted mandate and said: “Governments with fractured mandate cannot solve any problem. Such governments have to compromise on principles and ideologies and the current state of affairs has no room for making such compromises. People have pinned high hopes on us, so we have to deliver accordingly.” Mr Sharif also spoke on the massive circular debt and said it was the most immediate challenge which his government would like to address sooner rather than later. He said circular debt had reached the enormous level of Rs503 billion. “Even if we retire this debt there is no guarantee that this will not reappear unless we put in place a comprehensive plan to avert future problems,” he added. About loadshedding, the prime minister said his government would have to see whether it could set up new plants because thermal power was extremely expensive. At the same time, he said, the government would try to remove line losses and end pilferage. “We will punish all those responsible for this crisis which is causing great discomfort to the people.” Since the victory of his party in the elections, Mr Sharif has been holding meetings to find a sustainable solution to the power crisis. He said public sector entities such as PIA and Steel Mills had been haemorrhaging the national economy, adding that his government was exploring the possibility of privatisation and public-private partnerships under the stewardship of competent chief executive officers appointed on merit. The prime minister didn’t say much about the issue of extremism, militancy and sectarianism. “All efforts will be made to rid the country of these ills.” Similarly on the issue of drone attacks, he said the government had already taken notice of these and registered its strong protest at an appropriate level. “Drone attacks are a violation of national sovereignty and will never be tolerated.”
Economic Survey to be launched today ISLAMABAD, June 10: The Economic Survey of Pakistan for the outgoing fiscal year 2012-13 will be launched on Tuesday.. Federal Minister for Finance Senator Ishaq Dar would release the pre-budget document, highlighting the overall performance of economy during the outgoing fiscal year, providing a realistic feedback and basis for planning. The survey covers development of all important sectors of economy, including growth and investment, agriculture, manufacture, mining, fiscal development, money and credit, capital markets and inflation and debt and liabilities. It also highlights the performance of education, health and nutrition, besides showing details about population, labour force and employment, poverty, transport and communication. The survey also assesses the issues of environment, contingent liabilities, tax expenditure and economic and social indicators.—APP
Power cuts don’t match shortfall: CJ By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 10: The Supreme Court expressed disappointment on Monday over power cuts disproportionate to the generation shortfall and felt that given the total electricity production at over 12,700MW, loadshedding should not have crossed seven hours, while the duration now ranged between 10 and 12 hours.. Heading a three-judge bench, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said the system was generating 12,710MW, in addition to 670MW by the Karachi Electric Supply Company, and the demand was 17,800MW. The court had taken up a suo motu case on the unprecedented loadshedding. This comes to 30 per cent shortfall of electricity, but the current duration of 10 to 12 hours of loadshedding for both domestic and industrial sectors suggests that the deficit must have touched 50 per cent, the court observed. On June 1, the managing director of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), Zargham Ishaq Khan, had assured the court that the heads of distribution companies had been asked to implement fair, just and equitable loadshedding across the board, irrespective of the status of consumers, besides improving their vigilance and monitoring of the electricity system. When the court was informed on Monday that the defence and strategic installations came under the highest priority, followed by hospitals and schools, where minimum loadshedding was carried out, the chief justice said the consumer should be the first priority because the generation companies ran on their taxes. Zargham Khan assured the court that the duration of loadshedding had been reduced in villages under an equitable distribution formula, although, he admitted, the industries had been hurt badly because of nine to 10 hours of loadshedding. Because of tariff disputes, three independent generation companies — Saba Electric Company, Southern Electric Power Company and Japan Power Generation — had gone to Singapore to invoke international arbitration. This had taken away 300MW off the grid, he said. He admitted that there was no stay by any court, but the companies were not producing electricity because of another dispute of Rs2.5 billion. Mohammad Raziuddin, a power expert, said a loss of Rs21bn had been caused in a day when one of the units of the Guddu Thermal Power Plant was destroyed because of a fire on the night between May 22 and 23. As a result the nation was deprived of another 210MW of electricity, but no one paid any heed. Zargham Khan contested the figure and said the rehabilitation cost would be Rs220 million. The preliminary report suggested that a circuit breaker malfunction had resulted in the fire at the generation unit 4. The entire shift on duty that night had been removed and the machine would be rehabilitated in one-and-a-half months, he said, admitting that the generation units at Guddu were not insured because many of them were going to be retired soon. “This is negligence and mismanagement,” the chief justice said. Mr Khan said Rs384bn electricity bills had to be recovered and the highest percentages of defaulters were from Sukkur, Hyderabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. “When we disconnect electricity because of non-payment of bills, our grid stations are attacked for which we have requisitioned the services of the Frontier Corps both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.” The official informed the court that the Asian Development Bank had approved a tranche for the installation of prepaid meters in those areas. A private member of the board of directors of the Peshawar Electric Company said it had recovered arrears of Rs5bn by enforcing more loadshedding in areas where bills were not paid. Advocate Salman Akram Raja, representing the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, said about 500,000 daily wage earners had been laid off by the industry as it was reeling under shortages of natural gas and electricity. The court asked Attorney General Munir A. Malik to convene a meeting of all stakeholders and submit a comprehensive report, suggesting solutions, by June 18.
NEC approves Rs1.1 trillion development plan By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 10: While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed serious displeasure over widespread slippages on economic front this year, the National Economic Council (NEC) approved on Monday a record Rs1.155 trillion for next year’s development programme, including Rs115 billion block allocation for new initiatives based on PML-N’s manifesto.. Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal told journalists after the meeting that the size of the federal public sector development programme (PSDP) would be Rs540 billion and of provincial developments plans Rs615bn. The highest priority has been given to energy sector with an allocation of Rs225bn, including federal financing of Rs107bn worth of projects and another Rs118bn to be arranged by Wapda from its own resources. He said the projects like the Karachi and Islamabad metro bus services would be taken up under Rs115bn block allocation for “New Development Initiatives”. He declined to give details of the new initiatives which he said would be a major part of the finance minister’s budget speech. He said the Peoples Works Programme-II under which Rs42bn was spent on schemes on the discretion of the prime minister, had been abolished and a fresh allocation of Rs5bn made for Tameer-i-Pakistan Programme. “The prime minister has abolished all discretionary funds for development schemes,” he said. He said the planning commission had recommended Rs1.135 trillion for next year’s development plan but the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif enhanced his province’s development budget by Rs20bn to be met from provincial resources. As a result, the total PSDP was increased to Rs1.155tr. Asked about the additional fiscal space under which the PSDP had been increased to Rs540bn from Rs450bn, Mr Iqbal said a cushion would be created with new revenue mobilisation and revenue generation. He said if the fiscal space failed to go up as envisaged, the strategic PSDP would remain protected and re-appropriation would be made for new initiatives. Since the public sector investment has declined in recent years, the government has decided to increase allocations for development to stimulate investment and growth. He said the government would cut back on non-development expenditures to save Rs30bn. The NEC set an economic growth rate target of 4.4 per cent for the next year to be contributed by 3.8 per cent growth in agriculture, 4.5 per cent in manufacturing and 4.6 per cent in services sector. The target for exports has been set at $26.6bn and for imports at $43.3bn, remittances at $16bn and rate of inflation at 8 per cent. The overall allocation of Rs1.155tr for the development plan is about Rs282bn or 32 per cent more than the current year’s allocation of Rs873bn. The federal development budget at Rs540 billion is about 50 per cent more than the current year’s allocation of Rs360bn which, according to the prime minister, reflected poorly on a nation of 180 million. The federal PSDP includes a foreign exchange component of Rs109bn. The provincial annual development plans (ADPs) at Rs615bn is Rs102bn or 20 per cent more than the current year’s Rs513bn. Mr Iqbal said some provinces, particularly Sindh, complained that they had not been properly consulted or given time to prepare for the NEC, but appreciated the tight schedule because the new government had taken charge only a few days ago. The NEC constituted a special committee led by federal minister for planning and comprising provincial chief ministers to review the PSDP projects including those under the Peoples Works Programme to get rid of bogus schemes, cap low priority projects and accelerate work on high priority projects. He said the current fiscal year was “the worst year” in terms of the country’s economic performance as all economic targets had been missed. Of particular concern to the prime minister and the NEC, he said, was a massive shortfall on revenue front. The annual revenue target of Rs2.381tr budgeted by the federal board of revenue was revised down to Rs2.050tr but “they (FBR team) are now talking about Rs2.020tr collection” by end of the current year. “The prime minister expressed serious displeasure over a massive shortfall in revenue collection and missing of other economic targets and asked the finance minister to hold accountable all those responsible for the dismal performance.” He said the government would introduce new development paradigm by involving foreign investments and Public-Private-Partnership instruments because the federation’s capability of financing development had been overly exhausted after the 7th National Finance Commission Award. To achieve this, the government would need to build confidence of the private sector by introducing transparency and merit-based decision making and ending corruption. Instead of seeking help from friendly countries, the government would encourage them to take up major development projects. Of the Rs107bn allocation for water and power sector, about Rs59bn had been earmarked for hydropower projects and Rs52bn for water, power and nuclear energy projects. An allocation of Rs25bn was made for the Diamer-Bhasha dam, including Rs17bn for land acquisition and Rs8.2bn for construction works. Another Rs25bn would be provided to 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project and Rs14bn to the Tarbela 4th Extension Project. An amount of Rs52bn would be spent on three nuclear power projects including Rs42bn for two 1100MW Chashma Nuclear project and Rs10bn for a nuclear power project in Karachi. The transport sector was allocated Rs105bn — Rs63bn for National Highway Authority and Rs31bn for Pakistan Railways to purchase locomotives and develop and maintain tracks. This would be primarily utilised for improving infrastructure and connecting Gawadar Port with upcountry in an integrated initiative. Population and Health sector would be given Rs25bn next year while another Rs25bn was earmarked for education sector, including Rs18.4bn for Higher Education Commission. About Rs43bn was set aside for development schemes in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Sindh chief minister’s adviser on finance Syed Murad Ali Shah separately told journalists that Sindh protested against exclusion of four major federal funded provincial projects like Lyari Expressway Resettlement, Larkana Draining project, Rehabilitation of Qalandar Shahbaz shrine and K-4 Water scheme and were assured that these would be adjusted while remaining within overall allocations.
Attorney general vows to uphold rights of citizens By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 10: Newly appointed Attorney General Munir A. Malik assured the Supreme Court on Monday that he would never defend any state action that might be in conflict with his endeavour to uphold citizens’ fundamental rights.. Mr Malik made the commitment when Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry warmly welcomed him on his first appearance in Courtroom No. 1 as attorney general and said the court expected a lot from a person of his calibre to show the same commitment as demonstrated by him in the past to the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution. The attorney general said his endeavour would be to uphold the fundamental rights of citizens and would never defend any action of the state if it was in conflict with this goal. “Article 184(3) of the constitution (which provides the apex court the authority to enforce the fundamental rights), is not an adversarial jurisdiction of the Supreme Court,” he said, adding that he was truly humbled by the gesture shown by the court. “I am not certain whether I was the best man for the job,” Mr Malik said, but assured the court of his commitment to the rule of law, the constitution and independence of judiciary. He recalled that when he was offered the position he was told that the lasting relationship was built on adherence to the law. “But I interjected by saying that the lasting relationship is built on adherence to the constitutional norms.” Mr Malik said when justice was done by the courts it was always the state that won. “We have all the expectation from your office,” the chief justice said. “We all have to follow the mandate and dictates of the constitution and if we were on the same page for upholding the rule of the law, it would be the executive, the parliament and the judiciary which would be strengthened day-by-day in the end.” Mr Malik said: “We share the same venture and sail in the common boat,” adding that the judiciary and the executive would sail and sink together. Later in the evening, Mr Malik called on the chief justice.
Re-evaluation of secret agencies’ role sought ISLAMABAD, June 10: An ex-serviceman, who had been picked up and brutally tortured, moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an order for the constitution of a parliamentary committee for reassessing the role of secret agencies, including the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence.. The re-evaluation by the parliamentary committee will help avoid crippling of young soldiers and end the recovery of mutilated dead bodies, Naik Mohammad Iqbal said in his application filed in the court through Advocate Inamul Raheem. Mr Iqbal was taken into custody by intelligence agencies on Nov 27, 2004, when his battalion was deployed on the Leepa Front in Azad Kashmir but, according to his counsel, he was never informed about the charges. Mr Iqbal claimed in the application that his detention was kept so secret that even his family was not informed about his sudden disappearance. The family members were made to believe that he had disappeared without the knowledge and notice of his unit. He said he was thrown in front of his house in 2008 at midnight, half dead and almost blind. Mr Iqbal has also requested for a high-level inquiry to determine legality and the mandate of the treatment meted out to him by secret agencies during his captivity. He requested the court to hold responsible the entire chain of command, including the corps commanders, directors general of ISI and the MI and former president Pervez Musharraf, for illegally allowing the intelligence agencies to use draconian methods to suppress others for personal gains. Mr Iqbal pleaded that initially he was kept in Muzaffarabad Fort in solitary confinement for about two years and he was subjected to inhuman and brutal torture and coerced to confess the crimes which he had never committed. And finally he was taken to a torture cell in Rawalpindi within the vicinity of GHQ. “The petitioner was totally crippled and became disabled and instead of any treatment he was thrown in a black hole type dungeon to die without any treatment and care,” the application claimed. Mr Iqbal pleaded that he was entitled to get his full pay along with allowances during the trial and medical attention, but due to authoritative role of secret agencies, his unit wrote him off and brigade commander and the general officer commanding never felt that it was their responsibility to look after his wife. He requested for free medical treatment.—Staff Reporter
S. Africa beat Pakistan by 67 runs BIRMINGHAM (England), June 10: South Africa’s weakened bowling attack revived the team’s Champions Trophy hopes on Monday, running through Pakistan for 167 to clinch a 67-run win at Edgbaston.. The Pakistanis’ second loss in Group B leaves them on the brink of elimination, with their flimsy batting line-up collapsing despite South Africa being without injured strike bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel and protecting a meagre 234-9 on a good pitch. In front of raucous support from the large Pakistani community in Birmingham, Misbahul Haq (55) was the only batsman to provide any resistance as Ryan McLaren grabbed 4-19 and Chris Morris took 2-25 on his ODI debut. Pakistan must now beat India on Saturday to have any chance of making the semi-finals.—AP
Shahbaz in cabinet’s energy committee By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 11: The ‘talented brother’, Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif, is the only provincial chief executive included in the newly constituted high-powered Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE). . The decision was made on Tuesday at yet another special meeting held to review the energy situation. The meeting, according to the media wing of the prime minister’s office, lasted three hours. The government also decided to keep the former caretaker minister for water and power, Dr Musadiq Malik, as adviser in the ministry, a press release said. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will himself head the CCE. In addition to the Punjab chief minister, federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Mohammad Asif and Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will be its members. The CCE will meet fortnightly and take decisions on matters relating to the entire power chain, including generation and distribution. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervez Rashid, Adviser Musadiq Malik, representatives of the private sector, experts and senior officials also attended Tuesday’s meeting. With the CCE in place, the prime minister will himself be in charge of the power sector. During the election campaign the younger Sharif had aggressively criticised the PPP government for mismanaging the power sector and promised to address the issue of loadshedding on a war footing. On various occasions, he gave different deadlines to resolve the electricity crisis — ranging from six months to three years, but soon after taking over the government the elder brother dismissed the dates as mere rhetoric. Some in the PML-N say Shahbaz Sharif had expressed his desire to become the federal minister for water and power but the party leadership decided to keep him in Punjab. “Despite his selection as Punjab chief minister, he had kept on insisting for a role in the federal ministry,” a senior PML-N leader told Dawn. “Performance in the power sector is the sole criterion on the basis of which the PML-N government will be judged in coming months. Hence the Sharif brothers don’t want to take any risk on this front,” the party leader said. He said Dr Malik had impressed the prime minister during recent meetings, so he had been asked to serve as an adviser. When asked if the decisions to appoint the adviser and include the chief minister in the CCE could be interpreted as a result of lack of trust in Khawaja Asif, the minister in charge, the PML-N leader said: “It was the magnitude of the problem which forced the prime minister to constitute the committee.”
Economic Survey 2012-13: Most sectors performed below par: •Circular debt stands at Rs500bn •Highest-ever deficit recorded •Growth rate stagnates at 3.6pc •Rs350bn shortfall in revenue By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 11: The current financial year has been a bad one and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar only confirmed widespread slippages on economic targets.. Launching the Economic Survey of 2012-13 here on Tuesday, the minister hinted at a difficult road ahead, including a gradual increase in electricity tariff to bridge a gap of Rs6 per unit between cost and its billing and promised to eradicate Rs500 billion circular debt before June 30 or in two months at worst. “Unless we do it, reduction in loadshedding is not possible,” he said. “The state of economy is facing severe macroeconomic challenges and will have to be brought back on the right direction through a series of policies, including structural reforms, stabilisation measures and painful actions,” Mr Dar said. These policies would be reflected in the national budget on Wednesday in light of the PML-N’s election manifesto. He said the revival of the economy was the top priority of the new government and the next year’s growth target had been set at 4.4 per cent. “We will be more aggressive to restore investment in the infrastructure sector and hence the development programme had been pitched at Rs1.155 trillion for the next year. Starting off with an affirmation of 80pc higher fiscal deficit than the target of 4.7pc, Senator Dar said the deficit would end up at about 8.5pc of GDP, or about Rs2trn, at the end of the year, the highest in Pakistan’s history. He lamented that because of Pakistan’s cash accounting system even actual expenditures were not properly booked in papers and hence he would come up with a final deficit estimate in his budget speech. The minister took full ownership of next year’s budget, saying he had been informally engaged with the central bank, the Federal Board of Revenue and the finance ministry soon after the PML-N achieved a clear majority in the general elections. He said the government would try to put as little burden on people as possible, but there was a need to cover Rs2trn deficit, which should not be higher than 4 to 4.5pc of GDP.He said the fiscal deficit would be brought down to 4.5pc of GDP in the next three years from 8.5pc this year, with a major 2 to 2.5pc of GDP of fiscal adjustment in the next fiscal year by setting difficult targets and then make every effort to achieve them. The government expenses would also be curtailed by 30pc to take the country forward, he added. Mr Dar then listed a series of massive slippages. The GDP growth rate was targeted at 4.3pc, but estimates put it at 3.6pc of GDP. The revenue target was set at Rs2.381trn, but ‘unfortunately’ appeared facing a massive Rs350bn shortfall during the current year. He said that since the fiscal year was to end in a couple of weeks, the achievable figures were close to reality and taken as actual. Total investment was targeted at 14.9pc, but only 14.2pc was achievable, he said. The investment-to-GDP ratio was targeted at 13.3pc, but it stood at 12.6pc. “Without 20pc investment-to-GDP rate, the industry and economy cannot go on.” Foreign inflows were estimated at $1.8bn, but only $800 million were realised, leaving a shortfall of $1bn. National savings, he said, were on the higher side, standing out at 13.5pc of GDP against a target of 12.8pc. He said the agriculture sector was estimated to grow at 4.1pc, but it grew at 3.3pc while the services sector was targeted to grow by 4.3pc, but could achieve a growth rate of 3.7pc. He said industrial performance was the only saving grace. It grew at 2.8pc against a target of 2pc. Otherwise the overall economic growth rate may have been pathetic. External Front And Debt: On balance of payments, the minister said the government had set current account deficit of $2bn, but it had turned out to be $2.9bn, while foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan stood at a dismal $6.2bn. He said the public debt, which stood at Rs3trn in June 1999, had increased to Rs13.25trn in March this year and was expected to rise to Rs14trn at the end of the financial year, which was not sustainable at all. He said the public debt stood at about Rs6.5trn in 2008 and had been built since 1947, but surged to Rs7.5trn in five years.
More taxes, less subsidies in new budget likely Dawn Report ISLAMABAD, June 11: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is set to present on Wednesday in the National Assembly the PML-N government’s first budget with a difficult and ambitious fiscal adjustment of about Rs580 billion — 2.5 per cent of the GDP — by reducing subsidies and introducing additional revenue and administrative tax measures estimated to fetch Rs400bn. . According to sources, overall size of the federal budget is estimated at about Rs3.5 trillion, while the tax revenue target has been pitched at Rs2.75tr, including the FBR’s revenue target of Rs2.475tr. To restrict power sector losses, subsides are targeted to be brought down to about Rs150bn from the current year’s actual tariff differential subsidies of Rs380bn, against a budgeted allocation of Rs120bn. For this, the government plans to gradually increase electricity tariff for all consumers to bridge a whopping Rs6 per unit difference between rates approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and those notified. While providing direct subsides to consumers with monthly consumption of up to 300 units, the tariff for higher categories will be substantially increased with additional imposition of a tax on consumption of over 1,000 units per month. Total subsidies for the next year have been put at Rs300bn. It has been estimated that Rs1.15 trillion will be spent on interest payments. A federal Public Sector Development Programme of Rs540bn has already been approved by the National Economic Council, while the allocation for defence has been estimated at Rs627bn. The expenditure on running the civil government has been estimated at Rs278bn. The sources said a host of tax adjustments were being proposed, including increase in tax rates, withdrawal of exemptions, removal of distortions and doing away with Statutory Regulatory Orders, to generate about Rs400bn. The government would try to restrict fiscal deficit to about Rs1.4 trillion, about 5.9pc of the GDP, in line with Mr Dar’s desire to bring it down by 2.5pc of the GDP from the current year’s Rs2tr -- almost 8.5pc of the GDP, they said. The salaries of government employees have been proposed to be increased by 10pc, slightly higher than the expected inflation rate of eight per cent, and pensions by 15pc. However, the final decision in the regard will be taken by the prime minister during a cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday to approve the budget for presentation before the assembly. An official said the conveyance and medical allowances for government employees would also be increased. While the rate of tax on sugar has been proposed to be raised to 16pc from the current eight per cent, fresh taxation is also expected on sale of fertiliser and packed dairy items. The burden on income tax payers is expected to be increased through adjustments in rates and changes in exemption limits. A five per cent additional duty is expected on edible oil, special higher taxation on vehicles of 1,800cc and above. Unregistered industrial and commercial consumers of gas and electricity face a five per cent levy. Under directives of the finance minister, the taxation proposals have a focus of three main points -- facilitating local industrialists, broadening the tax base and bolstering revenue collection. Financial and political experts believe that the budget will focus on resolving the energy crisis by dealing with the circular debt of over Rs500bn. The finance minister claimed while launching the Economic Survey that the issue of circular debt would be resolved in two months.
Getting down to business By Khurram Husain TONIGHT’S budget announcement will be one of the most important in the country’s recent history. . After Mian Nawaz Sharif’s inaugural speech before parliament, this will be the next major event when the new government will speak and lay out its plans and priorities. Every word, every gesture of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar will be watched carefully to determine the seriousness of purpose that the newly inducted government of Prime Minister Sharif is bringing to its job. The most telling number to watch for will be, as it is with every budget announcement, the revenue target they set for themselves. The last government became well known for setting ambitious targets and then revising them downwards during the year. A revenue target that is too high will indicate that the government is finding it hard to find room for expenditure cuts, a sign of weakness. “The margin for expenditure increases is not there,” says Dr Hafiz Pasha, who served a brief stint as financial adviser for the last Nawaz Sharif government. “It’s good that the government sees the revival of growth as an important priority but gunning for growth through deficit financing can suffocate the private sector and choke off the growth process right at the start.” Doubling the size of the development budget is an example. The government made the announcement in the last National Economic Council meeting held last week, but today it must show us where the money will come from to pay for all the mega projects that Mr Sharif has always been so fond of. Two important yet contradictory priorities are hanging over this government. One is to restart the growth process, which has dipped to 3.6 per cent this fiscal year. The second priority is to stabilise government finances, where growing imbalances imperil any nascent economic recovery. With the cash deficit coming in around 7.5pc of GDP, the government has been pushed into an unprecedented borrowing binge, lifting a record Rs1 trillion from the banks this fiscal year alone. “The high level of these borrowings has kept an upward pressure on the system’s liquidity and thus market interest rates and is restraining growth in the private sector credit,” complained the State Bank of Pakistan back in April. So Mr Dar will have to balance his party’s campaign promises with the laws of economics. He doesn’t want to break either, but he also cannot have both. Stabilising government finances will mean scaling back expenditures and raising taxes, steps that will choke growth. But trying to revive growth without the revenues to pay for the growth-inducing measures will mean more borrowing, and inevitably more inflation, and will also choke off the growth process. The conundrum has many sceptical of the claims that this will be a growth-oriented government. Tonight’s budget speech will be the first glimpse we have of how the government intends to break this conundrum. Other growth-inducing measures that are in the pipelines include reforms of the public sector enterprises, including especially the power sector. But even here, deep conundrums haunt their efforts. Getting power generation going, for instance, will require increased imports of furnace oil. According to one study, for example, a 20-30pc increase in electricity generation can add another $2.5-3 billion to the country’s import bill — a difficult proposition, considering reserves are already in a precarious position. If the government’s only idea for reviving growth is mega projects, it’ll send a negative signal to the markets and the private investors. If there is no credible financing plan to pay for the expenditure increases, that negative signal will be amplified. Besides the laws of economics, the noise and chaos of democracy is another factor deterring investment. The argument that democracies are antithetical to development today rightly belongs in the garbage heap of history. But taming the wild impulses of Pakistan’s polity is an important priority. The Pakistan Economic Forum, a grouping of large investors, economists and policymakers, points to the “increased assertiveness of the parliamentary committees, media, civil society organisations and the judiciary” as a deterrent to investment.“The independence of these institutions is valued, and is fundamental to our democracy; but on occasion, technical understanding and knowledge of the subject matter, and an appreciation of the complex nature of issues, has not always accompanied their deliberations. This has, inadvertently, tended to generate inaction among economic actors,” wrote the authors in their report, prepared to be presented to members of the new assembly. Key projects remain stuck due to the blaring invective generated around them — an LNG import terminal and Thar coal being two examples. The authors of the report, and others like them, are allowing themselves a small measure of optimism that the new parliamentary arithmetic will mean a more stable government, and the new team of ministers will be more energetic in pursuing their responsibilities. The noise in the system might subside and an opening exists for a renewed focus on the work ahead. Those harbouring this optimism will watch tonight’s budget speech as keenly as the sceptics. They’ll all be looking for signs of how well the new finance minister understands the challenges before him. The words and the numbers will tell us how well he understands his situation. But it’s the body language that will tell us whether or not this government means business. And that’s no idle pun.
SC, police cannot investigate army personnel, says MI By Nasir Iqbal ISLAMABAD, June 11: The Military Intelligence (MI) said in the Supreme Court on Tuesday that an army man and a subject under the Army Act 1952 could not be investigated by any court, even the apex court, or police. . In its reply to an application filed by one Abida Malik requesting the Supreme Court to order production of her husband Tasif Ali alias Danish, the MI stated that neither the court or police had the jurisdiction to interfere in the matter and, therefore, the application should be dismissed. Tasif Ali, who went missing on Nov 23, 2011, was allegedly picked up by Major Haider of the MI. The matter was reported to the Sadiqabad police station on Dec 5 last year. The Lahore High Court heard the case on March 19 this year, but dismissed it. The MI reply filed by Advocate Raja Mohammad Ibrahim Satti rejected the allegations and said Tasif had neither been apprehended nor held by the MI. Major Haider was neither posted to the place concerned nor had any role in Tasif’s abduction. At the last hearing on May 20, the Supreme Court had ordered police to produce Tasif Ali, especially when the Sadiqabad police had also registered a case on May 7 on the statement of Abida Malik. The court had on May 29 also ordered former attorney general Irfan Qadir to get a report from the defence ministry and record the statement of Major Haider in one week. Subsequently, a team of Sadiqabad police led by SHO Tanveer Javed Warraich visited Mirpur in Azad Kashmir to arrest and record the statement of Major Haider. The commander of the unit concerned called the Superintendent Police Rawalpindi in the presence of the police team and informed him that no person with the name of Major Haider had ever been posted at the set-up (MI post) and that it had no link with the abduction of Tasif Ali. The SP was asked to approach through proper channel so that their queries could be addressed accordingly. The MI reply said the army act was a protected law under Article 8(3 a) of the constitution and none of its provisions could be declared void being inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights. “Therefore the application filed by Abida Malik is not maintainable under Article 184(3) of the constitution,” it argued. The reply cited a number of sections of the army act and said section 24 dealt with the offences committed by a person subject to the army act and section 59 dealt with the civil offences. Sections 73 to 76 envisage procedure regarding investigation, arrest, inquiry and proceedings before trial. Likewise chapter IX of the army act deals with the jurisdiction and power of the court martial whereas section 99 explains about the appellate revision power.
Two BNP-M leaders shot dead in Khuzdar By Our Staff Correspondent QUETTA, June 11: Two local leaders of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) were gunned down in two attacks in Khuzdar on Tuesday.. The BNP-M leaders condemned what they termed target killings of their leaders and announced three days of mourning in the province. Sources said the first incident took place in Khuzdar Bazaar where men on a motorcycle opened fire on Ali Akbar Mosiani, a district leader of the BNP-M. A senior police officer told Dawn that Mr Mosiani died on the spot, having suffered multiple bullet wounds. About half an hour later, Javed Baloch, another BNP-M leader, was attacked by gunmen on a motorbike. He suffered serious injuries. Police took him to hospital where he died after some time. Police said the assailants had escaped. They said no-one had claimed responsibility for the attack and they had no idea about the killers’ motive. Meanwhile, BNP-M’s senior vice president Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldani said the killings, taking place three days after the formation of a coalition government headed by Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, indicated that invisible forces were not ready to end their anti-Baloch actions. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, he said the Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies were neither sincere nor serious about addressing the issues faced by the people of Balochistan.
Brother of Achakzai is new governor By Syed Irfan Raza and Saleem Shahid ISLAMABAD/QUETTA, June 11: On the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari appointed on Tuesday Mohammad Khan Achakzai as governor of Balochistan, according to a notification issued by the Presidency.. Mohammad Achakzai is a nominee of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).He will be reaching Quetta from Islamabad on Wednesday and Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa would administer the oath of office to him on Thursday at a ceremony at the Governor’s House. According to a power-sharing formula finalised by leaders of three largest parties in the Balochistan Assembly — the PML-N, PkMAP and the National Party (NP) — at a meeting in Murree last week, the post of governor would be given to the PkMAP. Mohammad Achakzai is elder brother of PkMAP chairman Mehmood Khan Achakzai and the eldest son of Pashtun nationalist leader and freedom fighter Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. He was born in Inayatullah Karez village of Gulistan tehsil in Qila Abdullah in the 1930s. He obtained initial education in Gulistan and later studied at the Jamia Millia College, Delhi, when former Indian president Dr Zakir Hussain was its principal. He later joined the FC College, Lahore. He did his masters in economics from Harvard University and also studied at the Glasgow University. In 1960, Mohammad Achakzai joined the Government College, Quetta, as a lecturer and was later appointed assistant professor in the Balochistan University. After a few years, he joined the Planning Commission from where he retired as chief economist. Although born in a political family, Mohammad Achakzai never took part in politics and remained dedicated to his profession. But, when his father was in jail he wrote letters and communicated with many political leaders, including Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo and Mehmood Ali Kasuri. Mohammad Achakzai will be the 22nd governor of Balochistan which attained the status of a province in 1970. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch to initiate a process of reconciliation with estranged Baloch nationalists. He asked the chief minister to convey his desire for participation of nationalists in mainstream politics. The prime minister was talking to the chief minister who had called on him at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. Mr Sharif expressed the resolve of his government to usher in a new era in Balochistan and work for ending the bitterness of the past. According to a spokesman for the prime minister, he said: “We want to start a new page of everlasting love and affection in the province.”
Musharraf denied bail in Bugti case QUETTA, June 11: An anti-terrorism court rejected on Tuesday an application for pre-arrest bail filed by retired Gen Pervez Musharraf in the Nawab Akbar Bugti murder case. . Quetta ATC 1 judge Mohammad Ismail had reserved the judgment on Monday and issued ‘non-bailable’ arrest warrants of Gen Musharraf, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former governor of Balochistan Owais Ghani and former deputy commissioner of Dera Bugti Abdul Samad Lasi. Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti has nominated seven persons, including Gen Musharraf, in the FIR registered at Dera Bugti police station.—Amanullah Kasi
Airspace violation by IAF jets: FO protests to Indian HC By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 11: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) jets violated on Tuesday Pakistan’s airspace prompting the Foreign Office to summon Indian Deputy High Commissioner. . “Two high speed Indian aircraft violated Pakistani Airspace by 03 nautical miles at about 1040 hours in Attari, Fazilka sector. The aircraft stayed inside Pakistani airspace for about 02 minutes,” PAF spokesman said in a statement issued to media. The IAF jets were challenged by two PAF fighters after which the intruding aircraft exited Pakistani airspace. The Foreign Office protested with the Indian High Commission over the incident and called for respect of all existing agreements and ‘confidence building measures’ (CBMs). The Indian Deputy High Commissioner was summoned to the Foreign Office over the violation. “Pakistan considers today’s air space violation as a contravention of the ‘1991 Agreement between Pakistan and India on Prevention of Air Space Violations and for Permitting overflights and Landings by Military Aircraft’,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said. The accord concluded on 6 April 1991 between Pakistan and India enjoins both parties to ensure “that air violations of each other’s air space do not take place”. Moreover, the agreement clearly rules out the use of force even in case a violation is believed by either side to have taken place. Article 1 of the agreement also stipulates that “if any inadvertent violation does take place, the incident will be promptly investigated” and the other side’s headquarters informed of the results “without delay”. Indian authorities later informed their Pakistani counterparts that the violation was inadvertent and the jets were on routine training mission. “We were informed by the Indian side that it was a technical violation,” spokesman Chaudhry said. A statement from Indian air force said the “aircraft were on a routine flying training sortie and seem to have flown close to the border and it appears to be a technical violation.” A PAF official while explaining the protocols for missions close to international borders said all such sorties are formally communicated to the other side in advance to avoid any misunderstanding. However, in this case there was no such intimation made to Pakistan because of which there was a sharp reaction from the PAF and the Foreign Office.
Bid to grapple with economic mess • Plan to ‘settle’ Rs500bn circular debt in 60 days • Defence spending increased to Rs627bn • Growth target set at 4.4pc • Pensions up by 10pc • 2012-13 budget deficit put at 8.8pc of GDP By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 12: The PML-N government unveiled on Wednesday its first budget which tried to tackle the economic and energy mess the country is facing with ambitious moves on revenue expansion, expenditure cuts and populist incentives for the youth and business. . As a result, in one go it set an ambitious target of reducing fiscal deficit by 2.5 per cent of GDP or Rs375 billion — bringing down subsidies by Rs127bn, additional tax measures of Rs205bn and austerity measures of about Rs41bn — in the fiscal year 2013-14. Another Rs250bn in FBR tax is anticipated to automatically accrue because of 4.4pc growth in economy and 8pc inflation. As a result, the Federal Board of Revenue has been given a target of Rs2.475 trillion, an increase of 22.5pc from the current year’s expected collection of Rs2.020tr. In his budget speech, Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said fiscal deficit which is estimated at record 8.8pc of GDP this year translating into Rs2.024tr would be brought down to 6.3pc of GDP or Rs1.651tr during the next fiscal year and make a further gradual reduction to 4pc over the next three years. The deficit would be financed through Rs1.482tr of domestic financing, a major part of Rs975bn through borrowing from commercial banks and Rs169bn of external loans. A departure from traditional annual salary increases, the government did not offer any relief to government servants perhaps to absorb the impact of over 125pc jump over the past five years, but provided a 10pc increase in pension with minimum pension at Rs5,000 instead of Rs3,000 per month. The finance minister also announced a 30pc reduction in non-salary expenditure of all ministries and divisions, including reducing the number of federal ministries from 40 to 28. He announced a reduction in the Prime Minister Secretariat’s expenditure by 45pc to Rs396 million from Rs725m. All these measures would save about Rs40bn. The government slightly increased income tax rates. Those earning Rs30m a year would pay 5pc more. Besides other taxation measures like withdrawal of exemptions, the hallmark of the taxation side was a one per cent increase in general sales tax on all sales -- from 16 to 17pc. It will fetch over Rs50bn. Wealth tax has been revived. Mr Dar said the budget put before the nation an “economic vision” and its consistent implementation would take forward the country and regain its lost image and respect in the comity of nations. He said all indicators from economic development to prices and revenues to expenditure, public debt and circular debt, monetary expansion and exchange rate and balance of payment did not suggest the affairs were being run in the national interest and it appeared as if the economic system was on an “auto pilot mode”. He said the public debt which had stood at Rs5.6 trillion on March 31, 2008, was estimated to reach Rs14.3tr or 63.5pc of GDP. Likewise, the retirement of central bank debt at Rs1.4tr which was to be eradicated in eight years had in fact been increased to Rs2.3tr, making it difficult for the current government to retire it in six years with average Rs400bn per year. Confusion over budget size: The confusion over government’s figures emerged soon after the budget speech ended. The budget documents put the total outlay of the budget at Rs3.985 trillion, about 14.8pc higher than the current year’s revised estimate of Rs3.478tr. But the finance minister in his speech said the estimate for overall expenditure for the next year was estimated at Rs3.591tr, against the current year’s revised estimate of Rs3.577tr, showing a “negligible increase” of less than 0.4pc and a “first sign of austere budget in line with imperatives of the economy”. Similarly, the budget documents put the next year’s current expenditures at Rs3.196tr, compared to the current year’s revised expenditure of Rs2.907tr, up by 9.94pc. But Mr Dar said the current expenditure was “estimated at Rs2.829tr, against a revised estimate of Rs2.720tr for the current year, showing an increase of 4pc”. Despite repeated attempts, Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan and Adviser on Finance Rana Assad Amin were not taking calls to explain these glaring discrepancies. Total development expenditure for the next fiscal year has been pitched at Rs789bn against the current year’s Rs571bn, up by 38pc. Of this, federal PSDP has been put at Rs540bn against this year’s Rs388bn, up by 39pc. Another Rs171bn has been estimated for development for next year to be arranged by corporations like Wapda, against the current year’s Rs107bn. The defence budget for the next year has been estimated at Rs627bn, an increase of 10pc, against the current year’s revised expenditure of Rs570bn. An amount of Rs1.154 trillion has been allocated for interest payments. Pension budget has been estimated at Rs171bn. Subsidies and energy : The government has set aside Rs240bn for indirect subsidies, compared to this year’s Rs367 billion, showing a reduction of Rs127bn or about 35pc. The power sector will see a substantial reduction of 38pc in subsidies from Rs265bn to Rs165bn. Of this, inter-Disco (distribution companies) tariff differential subsidy has been brought down by 40pc to Rs150bn from Rs250bn. The tariff differential subsidy for KESC has also been reduced by 34.5pc to Rs55bn from Rs84bn. Although the finance minister said a comprehensive recovery plan for the energy sector would be separately announced by the prime minister soon, he reiterated to end the circular debt in 60 days, run all power plants at maximum possible capacity, reduce loadshedding and take steps to stop recurring of the circular debt. To this end, Mr Dar said the office of federal adjuster would be reorganised to recover unpaid bills by the provincial governments – a hint for at-source deduction of electricity bills out of provincial share in the federal divisible pool. Likewise, he said the 425MW Nandipur project would be revived in a few weeks. The project’s cost had increased from Rs23bn to Rs57bn because of “criminal negligence” of the previous government, he alleged. Separately, an amount of Rs228bn will be provided to the power sector through development budget. The estimates for total tax revenue for the next year have been set at Rs2.598tr, against this year’s Rs2.12tr. It includes direct taxes of Rs975bn and indirect taxes of Rs1.62tr. The estimates for non-tax revenue have been put at Rs822bn, compared to this year’s Rs711bn. The finance minister said the government would soon auction third generation telecom licences in a transparent manner and recover $800m from UAE’s Etisalat on account of PTCL privatisation proceeds held up for five years to become integral part of non-tax revenue besides entering into capital markets for additional resource mobilisation.
• GST raised by 1pc • Cut in corporate tax proposed: New taxes to yield Rs209bn By Mubarak Zeb Khan ISLAMABAD, June 12: Taxation proposals in the budget appear to have been dictated by political considerations.. The focus of tax proposals is to facilitate industrialists – one of the PML-N’s key support groups – rather than ordinary citizens. For instance, the increase in the rate of sales tax from 16 to 17 per cent will affect the poor the most because it will fuel inflation. The budget proposes to raise Rs209 billion through new taxes – direct and indirect. The government is expected to realise an additional amount of Rs63.5bn through sales tax, Rs18.5bn through federal excise duty (FED), Rs1bn through customs duty and Rs35bn through administrative measures such as plugging loopholes in income tax and sales tax. People in the low-income group will be hit by the measures the most. Most of income tax revenue measures worth Rs83bn are proposed in an effort to help documentation. A relief of more than Rs3bn in income tax has been given mostly to industrialists. The government hopes these measures will help achieve next year’s revenue target of Rs2,475bn. The revenue target for 20012-13 was Rs2,007bn. A 0.5pc Income Support levy on movable assets such as cash, gold and cars has been introduced to raise Rs6bn. Revenue measures: An increase has been envisaged in the number of slabs for salaried persons to 12 from six. The tax rate on those whose annual salary exceeds Rs7 million has been raised. The tax slabs on property income have been increased to six from three. A withholding tax has been proposed at a rate of 10pc on the profit/mark-up/interest earned on transactions of margin financing, trading financing and lending. The minimum tax is enhanced to 1pc from 0.5pc for companies, certain individuals and associations of persons in case of declared losses; a minimum tax proposed at a rate of Rs25 per sq ft of the constructed area sold and Rs50 per square yard of the area sold of the developed land by builders and developers. Distributors, manufacturers or commercial importers will withhold 0.5pc withholding tax from retailers. Tax on vehicles: The rate of tax on registration of motor vehicles will be Rs7,500 on a vehicle of engine capacity up to 1000cc, Rs12,500 on 1001cc to 1199cc, Rs17,500 on 1200cc to 1299cc, Rs30,000 on 1300cc to 1599cc, Rs40,000 on 1600cc to 1999cc and 2000cc and above Rs80,000. The proposed rate of tax on purchase of motor cars and jeeps is Rs10,000 up to 850cc, Rs20,000 on 851cc to 1000cc, Rs30,000 on 1001cc to 1300cc, Rs50,000 on 1301cc to 1600cc, Rs75,000 on 1601cc to 1800cc, Rs100,000 on 1801cc to 2000cc and Rs150,000 above 2000 cc. The withholding tax on payment of prize money on prize bonds is enhanced to 15pc from 10pc and initial depreciation for companies’ plant and machinery is reduced to 25pc from 50pc. The exemption limit for investment in national saving certificates is proposed to be withdrawn. Income tax exemptions to employees of airlines, teachers, researchers and university and educational institutions established for profit purposes are withdrawn. Customs duty on betel nuts is increased from 15pc to 20 pc and betel leaves from Rs200/kg to Rs300/kg. A tax at the rate of 2pc is imposed on taxable supplies for a person who has not obtained a sales tax registration number. The sales tax exemption is withdrawn on milk preparations obtained by replacing one or more constituent of milk by another substance and supplies against international tender. In addition to the existing 16pc, a 5pc sales tax is proposed on non-registered commercial and industrial consumers of electricity and gas having monthly bill in access of Rs15,000. The FED on aerated beverages is increased from 6pc to 9pc. The rate of FED on cigarettes is enhanced. The FED at the rate of 40 paisa per kg on imported seeds, Rs1 per kg on locally produced oil and 10pc ad valorem on motor vehicles of cylinder capacity of 1800cc or above is imposed. The FED exemption on hydraulics, cement and services is withdrawn. The number of items subject to sales tax at retail level is increased. The concessions available to 13 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and Pata on the pattern of Income Tax exemptions are withdrawn.
Presidency, PM Secretariat expenses cut By Syed Irfan Raza ISLAMABAD, June 12: In line with the government’s austerity measures, expenses of President House and Prime Minister’s Secretariat (PMS) have been reduced drastically while discretionary funds of ministers have been withdrawn.. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said in his budget speech that expenses of the PMS had been slashed down from Rs725 million to Rs396m. “We are passing through difficult times and it is incumbent on us that we reduce our expenditures as much as possible,” the minister said. “The budget of Prime Minister’s Office was Rs725m during 2012-13 and now it is estimated Rs396m for 2013-14, showing a decrease of 45 per cent,” he said. Mr Dar said other than the obligatory expenditures of debt servicing, defence, pay and allowances of civil servants and grants, there will be a 30 per cent cut in all other expenditures in accordance with the prime minister’s announcement. “This will save Rs40 billion,” he said. He said that with the exception of operational vehicles of law-enforcement agencies and critical development projects, no car would be purchased. “The discretionary grant of federal ministers has been removed,” he said. PRIME MINISTER’S SECRETARIAT: The budget document said discretionary grants, subsides and loan write-off facility of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat had been reduced to Rs54m from Rs363m. PRESIDENT HOUSE: Similarly annual expenditures of the President’s House has been reduced and now the Presidency will get Rs689m, compared with the last year’s Rs798m.Under the head of discretionary grants, subsides and loan write-off, the Presidency will get Rs82m compared to Rs170m spent last year. Under the head of staff and household, the Presidency will get Rs137m in the current fiscal year against Rs152m spent in 2012-13. The operating expenses of the Presidency this year will be Rs111m against Rs122m of the last year.
A budget and a wish By Khurram Husain SOMETHING strange happened in the budget announcement on Wednesday evening.. Where everybody was expecting the government to announce a deficit of 7.5 per cent of GDP for the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar instead announced the deficit at 8.8pc. This is no minor difference. A 1.3pc discrepancy means almost Rs300 billion. So the government appears to have announced a deficit number that is Rs300bn in excess of where it stands now, which can only mean they’re planning to spend that kind of money before the end of June. “Is a large subvention in the works for the power sector?” asks Dr Hafiz Pasha, former financial adviser and chair of the Revenue Advisory Council. Sources in the banking sector also agreed they were taken by surprise. Is the government preparing to lift a jaw-dropping amount in the next T-bill auction scheduled for the 27th of June, three days before the end of the fiscal year? If so, it would partially explain how it intends to ‘eliminate’ the circular debt in 60 days without disturbing their first fiscal year numbers too much. The budget speech, alas, carried too many reminders of the last Nawaz Sharif government. Those hoping for a change in mindset ought to brace for a disappointment. There were schemes whose purpose was unclear. The elimination of duties on hybrid cars, for instance, may sound good to somebody tired of waiting in CNG lines for fuel. But consider the numbers: “A hybrid car can cost $20,000,” says Ali Habib, chairman of Indus Motors which could benefit the most from the measure since Toyota manufactures the world’s most popular hybrid vehicle. “On the other hand, the fuel savings it enables are about $800 per year, per car.” But he cannot understand what the government is trying to do with this scheme. “You spend $20,000 to save $800?” he asks. “The revenue loss and the forex drain implied by the scheme is far larger than any savings that might come. So I don’t get what the intended outcome is.” It’s also hard to get what the intended outcome is with an expansion of roads and highway infrastructure at a time the government is struggling with a power crisis and a yawning fiscal deficit. Rs63bn have been allocated for this purpose. A raise in the GST rate by 1pc will hit the common man the hardest, whereas roads and hybrid vehicles will hardly compensate. Raising revenues from the GST is something the last Nawaz Sharif government also resorted to, doing it by Presidential Ordinance at that time. At the heart of the budget, though, is an unrealistic revenue target going beyond Rs3 trillion. It’s hard to see a credible financing plan to support a 23pc increase in tax revenues at a time when the tax machinery has struggled to bring about a 6pc increase in the current year. The increase in GST can net Rs60bn. And the 0.5pc tax on movable property has the potential to raise some money, considering many stock market transactions, time deposits in banks and other depository vehicles such as National Savings Schemes and Behbud certificates are in the line of fire. But other measures have run into opposition already. Minutes after the meeting ended, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry was up in arms about a measure to get unregistered individuals to pay 5pc more in sales tax. Shaukat Tarin tried this measure a few years ago, and had to retract it the very next day. Let’s see how Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s mandate holds up under the strong opposition that is inevitably brewing in the trader community against this measure. Of the Rs225bn announced to be spent on the power sector, funding is available for Rs107bn. The remaining, according to the speech, will be raised by distribution companies, an assumption that strains credulity. A bevy of small taxes have been announced — from builders to salaried individuals to hospitality services such as hotels and clubs and marriage halls. In addition, all income declared to federal authorities as agricultural income in order to avail an exemption from federal income taxes will need to be accompanied by certifications from provincial tax authorities that the income has been taxed by them. None of these add up to a credible financing plan for such a massive increase in the revenue target, and certainly do not create the fiscal space for a large roads and highways programme. Nothing was mentioned about tariff reform — whether gas or electricity — which is intimately linked to the budget since this is where the bulk of subsidies go, and must be a part of any plan to ‘eliminate’ the circular debt. How this elimination will be accomplished in the absence of price reforms is the big question. The old Nawaz Sharif government made another appearance in the “soft loans for youth” scheme, where it was announced that “banks will run this scheme, not the government. Banks will charge only an 8pc mark-up” and so on. But the banks are no longer government-owned, Mr Minister. So how do you intend to get them to run this scheme? But the news isn’t uniformly bad. “It’s a comprehensive budget,” says Dr Pasha. “It has outlined the challenges facing the country quite well.” But the silences in the budget, and the loudly announced schemes, are indications that the new government is struggling to find its feet in a fast-moving and highly challenging environment.
Army officer killed in Tirah valley blast By Ibrahim Shinwari LANDI KOTAL, June 12: A lieutenant colonel of Pakistan Army was killed when he stepped over an explosive device during a search operation in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency on Wednesday.. The ISPR (Inter-Services Public Relations) said in a statement that Lt Col Sajid Mushtaq was leading an operation to clear the Gulbai area of Maidan when an improvised explosive device exploded in a house. Lt Col Mushtaq died on the spot. The operation was launched after government forces had pushed militants out of the area. The body of Lt Col Mushtaq was airlifted to Peshawar from where it would be taken to Lahore for funeral to be held on Thursday. He is survived by his wife and two children. Meanwhile, Dawn has learnt from independent sources that the bodies of 23 militants were lying in the Dwa Thoe area. But it is not known when these militants were killed. The army on June 9 claimed to have killed 35 militants in three days of fighting. The ISPR said that government forces had cleansed about 50 per cent of the area of the Taliban.
Energy, roads to consume much of Rs1.15tr PSDP By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 12: The government on Wednesday announced the highest-ever development budget of Rs1.15 trillion for 2013-14 with major emphasis on the energy sector and a road network programme to implement its manifesto focusing on overcoming unprecedented electricity loadshedding and laying network of inter-provincial highways.. Of a total outlay of Rs1.15tr for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), the federal share is Rs540 billion and Rs615bn has been allocated for provincial uplift schemes. The first development budget of the PML-N government is 32 per cent higher than the Rs873bn PDSP announced by the PPP-led coalition government last year. The federal PSDP includes a foreign exchange component of Rs109bn. The record development budget includes Rs115bn block allocations for the new government’s manifesto based on unapproved new initiatives under which projects like metro bus services for Karachi and Islamabad and new motorways would be commissioned. In the PSDP, the highest priority has been given to energy sector with a total allocation of Rs225bn, including federal financing of Rs107bn while another Rs118bn is to be arranged by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) from its own kitty. “No doubt that development budget requires a further increase, but despite limited resources a sizable increase has been made this year,” said Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in his budget speech. He was of the view that the highest ever investment in the PSDP would bring more and more job opportunities. Earlier, the Planning Commission had recommended Rs1.135tr for the next year’s development plan, but Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif raised his province’s development budget by Rs20bn to be met from province’s own resources. As a result, the total PSDP has gone up to Rs1.15tr. WATER AND POWER: Of the Rs107bn allocation for the water and power sector, about Rs59bn had been earmarked for hydropower projects and Rs52bn for water, power and nuclear energy projects. A sum of Rs25bn has been allocated for the Diamer-Bhasha dam, including Rs17bn for land acquisition and Rs8.2bn for construction works. “We know the sufferings of the people due to loadshedding and that is why the PML-N leadership is working day and night to rid the nation of this problem. We have earmarked major chunk of PDSP (Rs225bn) for it,” he said. Some electricity related projects mentioned by the finance minister were the 969mw Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project (Rs25bn); Tarbela dam’s fourth extension project (Rs14bn); and three nuclear power projects (Rs52bn) — Rs42bn for two 1100mw Chashma nuclear projects and Rs10bn for nuclear power project in Karachi. The minister also mentioned 1410mw Thar Coal Project, 122mw Kheyal Khawar Project, 122mw Allai Khawar Project, 747mw upgradation of Guddu Power Project, conversion of 3120mw gas-based Muzaffarghar and Jamshoro plants into coal, upgradation and improvement of transmission lines, construction of grid stations and improvement of power distribution system. TRANSPORT SECTOR: The transport sector has been allocated Rs105bn, including Rs63bn for the National Highway Authority (NHA) and Rs31bn for Pakistan Railways to purchase locomotives and uplift and maintain tracks. This would be primarily utilised for improving infrastructure and connecting Gwadar Port with other parts of the country in an integrated initiative. “We believe network of roads and highways is a way to progress because it provides access to farmers to grain market and to consumers to get daily use items,” said Mr Dar. He said the government was making arrangements to link the Gwadar Port to Turbat, Baseema, Ratto Dero section and M-8 so that maximum benefit of the port could be availed.The minister mentioned in his speech that two new motorways — M-9 (Karachi-Hyderabad) and M-4 (Faisalabad-Khanewal-Multan) — would be constructed. Talking about the dilapidated Railway department, he said: “We have determined to bring the Pakistan Railways on track through its restructuring. The minister revealed that the Pakistan Railways for which Rs31bn have been earmarked in the PSDP would be converted into a corporation through legislation by the parliament. Under the block allocation to meet the PML-N manifesto of “new initiatives” the government has decided to launch Lahore Metro Bus like service in Karachi and Islamabad. HEALTH SECTOR: This sector would get a sum of Rs25bn. A sum of Rs18.4bn has been allocated for the Higher Education Commission. GILGIT-BALTISTAN, FATA, KASHMIR: About Rs43bn has been allocated for development schemes in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas). DEFENCE AND DEFENCE PRODUCTION: A significant increase has been made in the allocations for defence division and defence production — Rs5.84bn against Rs1.38bn of previous year. DECREASE IN FUND ALLOCATION: There are some ministries and heads whose development funds have been reduced in the PSDP. They are Housing and Works which will get Rs3.77bn against Rs7.33bn of previous year, Inter-Provincial Coordination Rs437 million against Rs3bn, Petroleum and National Resources Rs50m against Rs387m, Planning and Development Division Rs10bn against Rs21bn and special programmes Rs5bn against Rs42bn.
Provinces to get Rs1.5tr By Khawar Ghumman ISLAMABAD, June 12: The federal government will provide Rs1.5 trillion to the provinces during the next financial year as their share in the federal taxes, budget documents reveal. . This means a significant expansion in the federal divisible pool, from last year’s Rs1.2tr to Rs1.5tr, despite the poor economic indicators. Funds are distributed among the provinces as per a formula set by the National Finance Commission (NFC). According to the NFC formula, Punjab gets 51.7 per cent of the funds, followed by Sindh’s share of 24.5 per cent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 14.6 per cent and Balochistan’s 9 per cent. The distribution formula for the federal divisible pool has been worked out on the basis of population (assigned weightage of 82 per cent), poverty or backwardness (10.3 per cent), capability for revenue collection (5 per cent) and inverse population density (2.7 per cent). As population is the main factor, Punjab gets the lion’s share. Going by this formula, of the Rs1.503tr to be distributed among the provinces, Punjab will get Rs708.7bn, Sindh Rs400bn, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs251.5bn and Balochistan Rs141bn under this head.
Defence expenditure raised by 15pc By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 12: Defence expenditure in the next fiscal year will increase by over 15 per cent to Rs627 billion.. The budget documents for fiscal year 2013-14 placed before the National Assembly showed that a sum of Rs627bn had been allocated for the defence services as compared to Rs545bn originally allocated for the outgoing fiscal year, which ends on June 30. The Rs545bn figure was, however, revised to Rs570.18bn in the budget unveiled on Wednesday. The annual increments have been kept around 10 per cent over the past few years. However, the figures are revised at the conclusion of the fiscal year in an attempt to conceal the actual raise. Furthermore, expenditures on the nuclear programme and military acquisitions aren’t disclosed, making it difficult to know the real size of allocation for defence. The defence services allocation for 2013-14 is about 15.73 per cent of the total budgetary outlay of Rs3.985 trillion. It is 2.72 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a measure often used by analysts to assess military spending by different countries. While many other government expenditures were cut by 30 per cent, defence spending, much like debt servicing and pay and allowances of civil servants, was spared. The army got the biggest slice in the defence budget with an allocation of Rs301.54bn. The PAF and Navy got Rs120.1bn and Rs62.8bn, respectively. On the whole, the total budget for the Ministry of Defence was Rs637.59bn, which included allocations for Defence Division (bureaucracy at defence ministry), Airport Security Force, Met Department, Survey of Pakistan and educational institutions in cantonments and garrisons. The government also earmarked Rs3545.457m for projects of the Defence Division and Rs2300m for the Defence Production Division in the Public Sector Development Programme for 2013-14.
BISP renamed; allocation raised by 87pc By Imran Ali Teepu ISLAMABAD, June 12: The government has renamed the Benazir Income Support Programme as the Income Support Programme and increased its allocation by 87.5 per cent to Rs75 billion (from Rs40bn) for the fiscal year 2013-14. . Over the past few weeks there have been reports that the PML-N government will reduce the size of the programme and also rename it. Although the name of the programme has been changed, its size has been raised substantially. “I am happy to announce that I was the architect of the Income Support Programme in 2008 and introduced it as finance minister when we were part of the government for a brief period,” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said in his budget speech. He said he had designed the programme to identify the poor and needy who genuinely deserved social protection. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed us that social protection through income support programme should continue,” he said, adding that the programme had been designed to support the poor on a non-political basis, but it had lost its original essence because of political interference. Mr Dar said the government’s priority was to identify poor families and support them through the programme. “We will try to rectify problems in the programme and will further enhance the scope of social protection through it so that we can reach out to the poorest of poor in society. We will redesign the programme and bring in change to meet its original targets,” Mr Dar said. Largely dependent on donors’ money, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was launched in October 2008 with an initial allocation of Rs34bn to provide social security cover to families living below the poverty line. Its funding was increased to Rs70bn in 2011-12 to cover 5.5 million families across the country. According to an international donor agency’s official, the World Bank provided a loan of $150 million to the BISP in September last year. The British Department for International Development also provided a grant of £279 million for different BISP projects in November last year.
Omission of Benazir’s name sparks protest By Raja Asghar ISLAMABAD, June 12: In an apparent bias and legal deviation, new Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, in his budget speech on Wednesday, deleted the name of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto from the title of an income support programme for millions of poor, provoking the first protest in the new National Assembly by the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).. But the minister’s assurance that what he repeatedly described as the Income Support Programme – instead of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) launched by the previous PPP-led coalition government to give Rs1,000 monthly to a poor family – would be continued and expanded could not satisfy the protesters, who briefly interrupted his speech to insist that the programme be described by actual name, as given in an act of parliament. Shagufta Jumani, a PPP lawmaker from Sindh, was the first to interrupt the finance minister, saying “it is Benazir Income Support Programme” and she and Mir Munawar Ali Talpur, another party member from the same province – stood up in their seats to agitate their point while similar protest was heard also from several other PPP benches although party stalwarts like Khursheed Ahmed Shah, the new opposition leader, and former speaker Fehmida Mirza, sat quietly on their front benches. “It is the same programme,” retorted the finance minister in perhaps his only remark outside the nearly two hours’ prepared speech, which otherwise passed off smoothly, with repeated cheers by desk-thumping from the ruling PML-N. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appeared undisturbed by this contrast from unusual cordiality seen over the past few days between him and the PPP leadership during a smooth transition from one elected government to another, as he went through the budget speech at his desk, often marking some points with a ball-point pen, as the finance minister read it out. This was far cry from a noisy PML-N protest at the presentation of the PPP government’s last budget last year when the protesters virtually besieged then finance minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, with one of them, Tehmina Daultana, hurling glass bangles at him as an insult while another, Ahsan Iqbal, the new minister for planning and development, unsuccessfully tried to deliver a loaf to him to highlight the high cost of food. In another apparent dig at the PPP, the finance minister cited what he called a “historic decision” by the new prime minister in announcing the renaming of one part of the People’s Works Programme, or PWP-I – under which equal amount are sanctioned for all parliamentarians for public works schemes recommended by them – as Tameer-i-Watan Programme while abolishing its second part, PWP-II, which he said had no structure and depended on a prime minister’s discretion. Though there was no immediate protest at this, the move to rename the BISP, which can be done only by amending the existing act of parliament, is likely to produce some fireworks during the debate on the budget for fiscal 2013-14 beginning on Saturday. The PML-N won simple majority in the 342-seat National Assembly in the May 11 elections, and its allies can easily get an amendment bill passed by the lower house, but such a passage seems unlikely in the 104-seat Senate, where the PPP and its allies in the previous government had a two-thirds majority. Mr Dar claimed credit for designing what he called an “income support fund” as finance minister in the days of the PPP government before his party left the coalition, and, apparently referring to naming it Benazir Income Support Programme, said its “purity” was compromised and it was politicised. The PPP says the programme was given that name to honour the memory of Ms Bhutto, who was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007, after she had addressed a campaign rally at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh park. Mr Dar said the prime minister had decided that the “Income Support Programme would continue and would also be expanded” by raising its size to Rs75bn compared to Rs40bn spent last year (though the BISP website put its 2012-13 allocation at Rs70bn to help 5.5 million families) and the monthly grant to Rs1,200.
Govt official kidnapped By Our Staff Correspondent QUETTA, June 12: Armed men kidnapped a senior official of food department at gunpoint in Dera Murad Jamali on Wednesday. . Police said the armed men barged into the house of Faiz Mohammad, a district food controller, and took him away at gunpoint. Sources said Mr Mohammad was responsible for procurement of wheat for his department. “We are investigating the incident and have sent teams to various places for tracing the whereabouts of the kidnapped official,” a police officer said. The sources said no one immediately claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. No one had approached the family of Mr Mohammad either, they said.
PPP, MQM, PTI to speak with one voice By Amir Wasim ISLAMABAD, June 13: In a significant political development, three opposition parties in the National Assembly on Thursday decided to adopt a joint strategy during the ongoing budget session to give a tough time to the ruling PML-N, which enjoys more than simple majority in the house.. The decision was taken at a meeting of the representatives of the PPP, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) at the Parliament House. Talking to Dawn after the meeting, Leader of opposition Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah said there was unanimity in the views of the three opposition parties on the federal budget presented by the government on Wednesday. Mr Shah presided over the meeting. The PTI was represented by its vice-chairman Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi and information secretary Dr Shireen Mazari and the MQM by the party’s deputy parliamentary leader Rashid Godail. A senior PPP leader, Mr Shah said the opposition fully realised its responsibilities towards the people and would play a constructive role in parliament. He said budget had nothing for the poor and the middle class. He said the meeting had removed apprehensions about disunity in the ranks of opposition parties and expressed the hope that this cooperation would continue even after the budget session. Mr Shah said the opposition had decided to move cut-motions on eight ministries, including defence, water and power, foreign affairs, petroleum and natural resources, railways and industries and production.
•Expenditure cuts to yield Rs41bn •Fiscal adjustment in phases •Prices of oil, CNG, gas go up: Plan to seek IMF loan for settling debt By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 13: As the prices of petroleum products, CNG, electricity, natural gas and other consumer items went up with immediate effect after the announcement of one per cent increase in general sales tax, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Thursday the budget for fiscal year 2013-14 entailed Rs202 billion worth of additional tax measures and Rs41bn expenditure cuts. . Addressing a post-budget press conference, he said another 2.3 per cent of GDP adjustment would be carried out before June 2016 in two phases for fiscal consolidation and debt burden would be reduced from the current 63.5pc of GDP to 61.3pc next year and to 55.2pc by June 30, 2016. The finance minister said that coupled with the envisaged increase in taxes as a result of growth, the government decided to “introduce 2.5pc of fiscal adjustment in one-shot this year to make it easier for another 1.3pc adjustment next year, followed by another one per cent in the third year (a total of 4.8 to 5pc) and share the additional space to provide relief”. He said the government would hold talks with the International Monetary Fund next week for a new loan to repay the existing loans, but at Pakistan’s terms which should be in the national interest and not dictated by anyone. “Our predecessors have left behind a huge debt stock. We have not taken these loans, but we will pay it back. We will borrow to repay instead of adding to the debt stock. “They (IMF mission) will have to come to Pakistan for post-programme monitoring on June 19 and remain here until July 3. We will provide them full security and I will not go to Dubai or Abu Dhabi for talks. I don’t have time for foreign visits,” Mr Dar said, adding that neither had he been assisted in budget making by any outsider nor was the budget prepared on anyone’s desire. He said he would try to make sure that Pakistan got $1.2bn disbursement from the United States under the Coalition Support Fund. It was ironic that despite a difficult financial position, the previous government could not recover $800 million from Etisalat against PTCL proceeds, he observed. Complaints against Etisalat about grey traffic were genuine and very influential people were involved in it. “We will address these issues, use our friendly relations and also take action to recover this amount within the next fiscal year.” The finance minister said the auction of 3G telecom licences would fetch about Rs1.3bn. Fuel, utility price hike: As Mr Dar spoke to media about coming into force of Finance Bill 2013-14 on July 1, the petroleum ministry, in compliance with an order of the Federal Board of Revenue, notified with immediate effect the passing on of one per cent increase in GST from 16 to 17pc to consumers of petroleum products and CNG. Oil marketing companies took no time to increase the price of petrol by 86 paisa per litre, high speed diesel by 90 paisa, kerosene by 80 paisa, light diesel by 77 paisa and high octane blending component by Rs1.35. The price of CNG was raised by 47 paisa per kg in zone-I and 40 paisa in zone-II. Similar notifications were also sent to the agencies dealing with utility prices like natural gas and electricity. Next month’s gas and electricity bills will show one per cent increase in GST — from 16 to 17pc. Circular debt: In reply to a question, the finance minister said the issue of Rs503bn circular debt in the energy sector would be resolved in two months. It was one of the major causes of current year’s fiscal deficit of 8.8pc, he said, adding that he had tried to be transparent in pitching a part of the circular debt in this year’s books because the expenditure had already accrued, instead of continuing with highly objectionable cash accounting procedure to postpone payments to next year. “This will be unfair to park this year’s accruals into the next year.” Without going into specific details, Mr Dar threw some light on plans to resolve the issue of circular debt, which would perhaps involve issuance of treasury bills and other bonds at improved rates and conditions and also recovery of outstanding dues from provincial governments. For example, he talked about clearing all cash constraints of the entire supply chain of the energy sector upfront, including smoothening of PSO’s credit lines which had been choked up. He said he would meet representatives of financial institutions next week to thrash out measures for improving financial terms of circular debt because the existing lending rate of Kibor plus 4pc being charged to them was too expensive in the given circumstances. “I will ask them to bring it down to Kibor plus 2pc because these loans were backed by sovereign guarantees and hence a secured financing.” Likewise, 60 to 70pc of provincial electricity receivables would be recovered against proceeds of the divisible pool by activating the federal adjuster office. Mr Dar said the prime minister was taking keen interest in the matter and would chair another meeting on Friday to “set the stage for resolution of circular debt”. The way forward: Talking about the future, the finance minister said the current GDP growth rate of 3.6pc would be increased to 4.4pc next year, 5.5pc in 2014-15 and to 7-8pc by 2016. Similarly, the current investment-to-GDP ratio of 14.2pc would be increased to 14.9pc next year and to 19.6pc by June 2016. Mr Dar said remittances at present stood at $14.1bn and his government planned to take these to $15bn next year and $20bn in 2016. He criticised an alleged campaign against the increase in income tax rates for people earning more than Rs7 million a year and said he would not be blackmailed by a handful of 3,114 people who were subjected to 30pc tax but wanted to play with the destiny of 180 million people. “Being affluent, they should also sacrifice as we put together every drop as with one per cent increase in GST to build Pakistan,” he said. Mr Dar said another group of 843 people in non-corporate association of persons and individuals earning more than Rs6m a year had been subjected to 35pc tax and they also were making hue and cry. This was done to encourage corporate culture. About two figures of the budget outlay quoted in his speech and budget documents, the finance minister said both the figures were correct as repayment of principle debt worth Rs366bn had also been taken into account while putting the total outlay at Rs3.985 trillion in budget books. He said a hidden reform had been introduced under which the filers of income tax returns would have to provide proof of agricultural tax they had paid to the provinces. Relief and austerity: The finance minister briefly talked about the relief measures he had announced in the budget. These include a 10pc increase in pensions with minimum pension at Rs5,000 instead of Rs3,000 per month, a Rs2bn Ramazan package through Utility Stores and an increase of Rs200 per month in the income support programme for beneficiaries from Rs1,000 to 1,200.
Explanation sought on US surveillance By Baqir Sajjad Syed ISLAMABAD, June 13: Pakistan has sought explanation from the United States over reports that its citizens have been a major target of intelligence surveillance and asked the latter to respect the privacy of its citizens. . The apprehensions were conveyed to US Chargé d’Affaires Richard Hoagland by senior Foreign Office officials at a recent meeting. “We have taken up the matter with the US to ascertain veracity of the news and obtain facts of the matter. We are awaiting their response,” Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said at the weekly briefing on Thursday. A Guardian report earlier this week claimed that information obtained from the US National Security Agency’s data-mapping tool ‘Boundless Informant’ had shown that Pakistan was second among the countries most subjected to US intelligence surveillance with almost 13.5 billion reports in just one month — March. `Boundless Informant’ catalogues the volume of intelligence being collected from different countries. Most of the intelligence has been gathered from computer and telephone networks. The tool, however, did not detail what intelligence had been collected by the NSA. The country subject to more intense watch was Iran where 14 billion reports were obtained during the same period. A senior official told Dawn that the Foreign Office, though unsure about the authenticity of the leak, was concerned about the intelligence, if any, being used against the Pakistanis living in the US and about violation of their privacy. The official said Pakistan considered the intelligence scam to be an internal matter of the United States. Washington is facing growing international pressure to explain the previously undisclosed surveillance programme identified in the documents leaked by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden as ‘Prism’. The disclosure is also likely to complicate relations with the US as the new government tries to build a working relationship with Washington. Pakistani intelligence agencies, a source said, were particularly upset over the revelation about the intensity of the surveillance. When US Secretary of State John Kerry visits Pakistan this month, he will be confronted with tough questions over drone war and the paranoid snooping programme.
Tethyan plans to seek damages over Reko Diq By Saleem Shahid QUETTA, June 13: The Tethyan Copper Company, previously involved in exploring gold and copper deposits in Reko Diq area of Balochistan, has decided to seek damages for what it sees as breach of contract allegedly committed by the federal and provincial governments. . It will no longer seek grant of a mining lease, it has emerged. The company has announced that it had withdrawn the case it had filed against the country and the province for “specific performance” in the international forums meant for arbitration. “As a result… Tethyan would no longer seek the grant of a mining lease at Reko Diq,” said a statement issued recently by the company in London. In the statement, the chief executive officer of the company, Tim Livesey, said: “Recent developments have regrettably compelled Tethyan to withdraw its request for specific performance. “Tethyan invested enormous time, effort and capital in the Chagai district. Through that investment, we took a small copper exploration target in a previously unexplored segment of the Tethyan belt and developed it into a world-class mining project at Reko Diq. “While we have long hoped to mine Reko Diq, as is Tethyan’s right, the conduct of Pakistan and Balochistan has made that goal impracticable.” The federal and provincial governments, he said, had not responded to attempts to engage, had prevented Tethyan from participating in the development of a new mining sector in the province, and had denied both the company and the people of Balochistan the enormous benefits that the project would have brought to the country. “We will pursue our claims for monetary damages, including lost profits for the mining operations, in the international arbitration,” the statement quoted Mr Livesey as saying. The statement made no mention of the amount to be claimed as compensation.
Turf war poses serious foreign policy challenge to PM By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 13: Days after assuming the office Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is grappling with his greatest foreign policy challenge coming from within the Foreign Office where a turf war has erupted between two of his foreign policy aides.. While constituting his cabinet last week, Mr Sharif appointed Sartaj Aziz as adviser on foreign affairs and national security and Tariq Fatemi, a retired diplomat, as special assistant on foreign affairs. The two could hardly get along for a day, an insider claimed. The differences reached a point when Mr Aziz, who had also served as the foreign minister during Mr Sharif’s last tenure, reportedly conveyed to the prime minister that the state of affairs could not be allowed to continue any further. Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry, when asked, tried to play down reports of a rift. “They are both working as a team in their respective positions,” Mr Chaudhry said. The row was, nevertheless, apparent from the subtext of two press releases issued by the Foreign Office over the past few days. In a statement on summoning the US Charge d’Affaires over drone attacks on June 8, Mr Fatemi’s designation was mentioned as Special Assistant to Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. The title ‘Minister of State’ was however later omitted from the statement currently on the ministry’s website. Mr Fatemi’s profile later circulated among the media by the spokesman’s office said he enjoyed the rank of “Federal Minister of State” — a designation hitherto unknown in the government hierarchy. The notifications of appointment of Mr Aziz and Mr Fatemi issued by the cabinet division, however, clarify that the former has the status of a federal minister and the latter would serve as the minister of state. The rift is not just about who holds what rank it’s also about wielding control over the Foreign Office. Mr Aziz was uneasy with the manner in which Mr Fatemi handled the protest over drones by summoning the US Charge d’Affaires. Such matters are routinely handled at the Foreign Secretary’s level but it was one rare occasion that the US diplomat was summoned by the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister. Mr Aziz was also of the opinion that the hard line being pursued by Mr Fatemi would not suit efforts by the PML-N government to develop relations with the Obama administration. This showed a disconnect between the two over policy issues. “They hardly coordinate with each other,” a source in the PML-N said, adding that Mr Fatemi’s appointment was also resented within the party. Similarly, there was a dispute over who would lead the delegation to a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle at the Foreign Office. Mr Fatemi had reportedly made the Foreign Office to convey to Berlin that he would be Mr Westerwelle’s counterpart.
Govt to raise power tariff by Rs2.5 per unit By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 13: The government has decided in principle to increase electricity tariff by an average Rs2.5 per unit from next month to offset power subsidies by about Rs100 billion.. A finance ministry official told Dawn that authorities in the power sector had been asked to work out a tariff increase which would not affect domestic sector consumers using 100 units a month, put a low burden on those using up to 300 units and gradually increase rates for higher-slab residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural consumers. “The guiding principle for tariff adjustment is to raise average tariff by about Rs2.5 per unit from the current average applicable rate of Rs8.81 per unit to reduce the gap,” said the official. According to him, the current gap stood at about Rs5.9 per unit after a recent tariff determination by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) that put the average tariff at Rs14.7 per unit. A Nepra official said the annual impact of about Rs6 per unit difference between applicable tariff and Nepra-determined tariff meant was Rs250 billion. He agreed that the Rs2.5 per unit average tariff increase would translate into Rs100bn. He said that Nepra had determined a tariff increase but had nothing to do with its recovery. “It is within the jurisdiction of the government to notify any tariff adjustment as it may deem fit keeping in mind its socio-political objectives,” he said. The detailed tariff schedule would be prepared by the power ministry to be cleared by the prime minister. The consumer category and slab-wise changes in tariff would need a couple of weeks to be finalised. The tariff for high-consumption consumers would be kept on the higher side, not only to discourage consumption as a demand side management but also to cross subsidise lower segments. The federal cabinet has already approved scaling down inter-Disco tariff differential to Rs150bn next year from its current year level of Rs250bn. Likewise, the subsidy for agricultural tubewells in Balochistan would also be reduced from Rs5bn to Rs3.1bn. On the same pattern, the tariff differential subsidy would also be reduced by about 34.5 per cent to Rs55bn next year from its current year revised estimate of Rs84.3bn. This would also be achieved by increasing consumer tariff in line with tariff increase for Wapda consumers. The overall tariff subsidies have been proposed to be brought down to Rs220bn next year from the revised estimate of Rs350bn for the current year. The government had originally budgeted power subsidies for Wapda consumers at Rs185bn, including Rs120bn as tariff differential, Rs10bn for Fata and Rs5bn for Balochistan agriculture. The previous government had originally estimated KESC tariff differential subsidy at Rs50bn which later surged to Rs84bn owing to a freeze on tariff during the last year of the PPP government. A power ministry official said Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif was working out various proposals and scenarios but it was yet unclear when the tariff adjustment would be notified and in what shape.
PPP steps up efforts to get MQM into Sindh govt By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, June 13: The PPP has expedited ‘efforts’ to bring the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) into the ruling fold in Sindh as key leaders of the former held crucial meetings on Thursday to bridge the trust gap between the two past coalition partners. . PPP Senator Rehman Malik talked about his “close contacts” with the MQM leadership hours after Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah held a meeting with Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan and reportedly discussed with him prospects for a renewed partnership in Sindh. “We definitely want the MQM to join the government in Sindh,” Mr Malik said while talking to reporters at the Karachi airport. “I am in touch with MQM leaders and hope that contacts would help resolve issues. The two parties have been enjoying very good understanding and relations for five years.” Mr Malik later held a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari at his camp office in Bilawal House. They were also joined by the Sindh chief minister. A source privy to the meeting said the president had been briefed on the progress in contacts between the PPP and MQM. “Senator Malik and Mr Shah informed the president about their talks with the MQM leadership,” the source said, adding that the meeting decided to continue efforts to bring the MQM to the treasury benches. “There is no deadline but things are moving in the right direction,” the source said. During their meeting at the Governor’s House, Mr Shah and Dr Ibad discussed the provincial budget, to be presented next week, and matters related to PPP-MQM relations. “The back-to-back meetings are seen as crucial against the backdrop of recent contacts between the two parties. Though nothing is final yet, the PPP is making every effort to persuade the MQM to strengthen its position in Sindh,” the source said.
12 KP ministers take oath Bureau Report PESHAWAR, June 13: Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shaukatullah administered oath of office to 12 ministers of the provincial government on Thursday.. The names of ministers were finalised at a meeting on Wednesday night. Their portfolios were not announced. According to sources, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was still in consultation with coalition partners. Of the 12 ministers sworn in on Thursday, seven are from Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) — Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, Israrullah Gandapur, Yousuf Ayub, Shah Farman, Ali Amin Gandapur, Atif Khan and Mehmood Khan. They are expected to get the portfolios of health and information, law, communication and works, public health engineering, revenue, elementary education and excise and taxation, respectively. Two of the ministers are from Jamaat-i-Isalami (JI) — Inayatullah Khan and Habibur Rehman. Their expected portfolios are local government and Zakat & Usher. Two ministers are from Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) — Bakht Baidar and Ibrar Hussan Kamoli. They are expected to get the portfolios of manpower & industry and environment. One minister, Shahram Khan Taraki, is from Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan and he is expected to get agriculture. Two senior ministers — Sirajul Haq of JI and Sikandar Khan Sherpao of QWP — earlier took oath as senior ministers. Mr Haq has been assigned the portfolio of finance and Mr Sherpao energy, power and irrigation. Shaukat Yousafzai told reporters that five advisers and five special assistants to the chief minister would also be appointed in a few days. The advisers would have the status of minister. According to the sources, some women may be included in the cabinet as advisers. Talking to reporters after the ceremony, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak denied that he had held any discussion with the Corps Commander of Peshawar, Lt-Gen Khalid Rabbani, about the withdrawal of troops from Swat. Answering a question, he said the issue of withdrawal of troops from Swat would be discussed with relevant authorities after consultation with elected representatives and notables of the area. He said his government would present a balanced but people-friendly budget for fiscal year 2013-2014.
Pakistani charged with killing US pastor in Malaysia KUALA LUMPUR, June 13: A Malaysian court on Thursday charged a Pakistani security guard with the murder of a US pastor found strangled at his home in Kuala Lumpur last month, a report said. . David James Ginter, 62, was found dead in his home on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital in May, his hands and feet bound and a mobile phone charger cable wrapped around his neck. A Kuala Lumpur district court charged Shahbaz, 25, with the murder, carrying a mandatory death penalty by hanging, Bernama news agency reported, adding that four accomplices were believed to be still at large. It said the defendant was recorded as having only one name and that no plea was recorded. The next court hearing was set for July 18. The report gave no details, such as a possible motive. Court officials and prosecutors could not be reached for comments. Ginter had been a senior pastor at the Bridge International Church in Kuala Lumpur for three years. Police previously cited robbery as a possible motive, noting that the pastor’s car was missing from his house. Reports of burglaries and violent crime have surged in recent years in the country. Police say statistics show they have managed to reduce crime, but anecdotes of break-ins, bag-snatching and violent crimes abound in the press and social media, fuelling widespread doubt about official crime figures. —AFP
Army and air force chiefs meet Nawaz ISLAMABAD, June 13: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called on Prime Minster Mian Nawaz Sharif on Thursday and discussed with him the overall situation in the country and matters relating to national security. The meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office. . Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt also met the prime minister separately and briefed him on professional matters relating to the Pakistan Air Force. —APP
Move to set ailing PIA back on track By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 14: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif constituted a four-member committee on Friday to prepare proposals for restructuring the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). . The committee has been tasked to propose reforms to set on the right course the national flag carrier which has devoured billions of rupees in subsidy over the years but continues to be in dire financial straits. The committee members include Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Captain Shujaat Azeem, adviser to the prime minister on aviation, former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and technocrat Navaied Malik. The decision to form the committee was taken after the prime minister was briefed on PIA’s financial state. Prime Minister Sharif directed members of the committee to present at the next meeting proposals to solve problems the PIA was facing and ways of making it a viable entity. Besides Mr Dar, the meeting on Friday was attended by Petroleum Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Mr Tarin and Mr Malik. According to a participant, the committee has also been tasked to prepare a future business plan for the airline which at this stage needs more than Rs20 billion to buy new aircraft and overhaul those under use.
Countrywide ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy’ rain forecast By Intikhab Hanif LAHORE, June 14: Widespread rain, which may be heavy to very heavy at some places, is likely to hit different parts of the country and catchments over the next two days, according to a forecast issued by the Met office on Friday evening.. The forecast attributed the expected showers to the pre-monsoon system that has gripped the entire country and is expected to intensify over the next 36 to 48 hours. The Meteorological department expects normal monsoon rains this year and says that at present the country is receiving pre-monsoon rains. The rainy season will start on July 1. The pre-monsoon showers are expected to raise river flows and may inundate low-lying areas in cities like Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Lahore. River Kabul and its tributaries which are already in medium to low flood, are expected to further swell after the rain. In its latest advisory, the department has predicted widespread thundershowers in upper parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar and Kohat divisions) and scattered rains in southern parts of the province (Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions). Widespread rains are likely in upper and central parts of Punjab (Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Lahore, Gujranwala and Sahiwal divisions) and Islamabad while scattered showers have been forecast for southern Punjab (Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur divisions). Heavy to very heavy thundershowers are expected at isolated places in Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha and Sahiwal divisions. The possibility of flash flooding over the hills of Koh-i-Suleman range and urban flooding in the above-mentioned cities cannot be ruled out, the advisory warns. Widespread rain is expected in Kashmir, heavy at places and moderate at others. Scattered rain is likely in Gilgit-Baltistan. Rain at some places is expected in central and south-eastern parts of Sindh (Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad and Karachi divisions) and isolated places in Larkana division. Scattered rain of moderate intensity is expected in Kalat, Zhob and Sibi divisions of Balochistan. On Friday, the sky was covered with clouds in Lahore, where maximum temperature was recorded at 36 degrees Celsius and the minimum at 24 degrees, with 70 per cent humidity in the morning and 49 per cent in the evening. Dera Ismail Khan received 72mm of showers, Bhakkar 60, Garhi Dupatta 42, Rawalakot 37, Saidu Sharif 31, Bannu 26, Balakot 23, Muzaffarabad 21, Zhob 20, Bahawalnagar 16, Murree 12, Drosh 11, Toba Tek Singh 10, Mirkhani 8, Islamabad airport and Kalam 6 and Lower Dir, Mithi and Bunji 5.
Rs503bn debt to be settled in two months: Plan ready to ease power crisis By Khaleeq Kiani ISLAMABAD, June 14: The government has worked out a three-pronged strategy to clear the entire circular debt of Rs503 billion within two months and to bring into the system before Ramazan 1,500MW to be generated by independent power producers (IPPs). . Presiding over a meeting on energy on Friday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed the ministries and agencies concerned to reduce electricity theft, rationalise tariff and minimise line losses. He will hold meetings every Friday to ensure implementation of the energy revival plan. Under the strategy, the government will provide Rs326bn to settle circular debt and dues of the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) before June 30. Of this, Rs200bn would be provided from the federal budget to make cash settlements mostly with the IPPs and the Pakistan State Oil which they had borrowed from banks but were facing difficulty to repay, a senior official told Dawn. Another Rs126bn will be settled through bonds to be issued on behalf of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited and Pakistan Petroleum Limited. The two companies with no bank borrowing record at present will get market-based interest on the bonds. The remaining Rs177bn of the circular debt relates to public sector corporations like Wapda, Government Holdings Private Limited, Mari Gas and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission having counter liabilities with the government. It will be settled through a book adjustment mechanism in July. About Rs100bn will be generated by increasing electricity tariff by 28 per cent or about Rs2.5 per unit from the next fiscal year beginning on July 1. The government will immediately “embark upon a new plan of cascaded elimination of untargeted subsidies which will significantly reduce the financial burden of the federal government over the medium-term and create fiscal space for affirmative interventions to benefit the deprived segments of society”, the energy revival plan reads. Meeting with IPPs: Against this background, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar held a meeting with heads – both domestic and foreign – of 28 IPPs on Friday. The IPPs were assured that they would be paid about Rs230bn within July, with a major chunk of Rs200bn to be cleared before June 30. According to an official, the IPPs claimed they had outstanding receivables of about Rs250bn. The government wanted them to bring down interest rate on credit to less than Kibor plus two per cent because they had obtained the loans from banks at 2-3pc but were charging the government and power companies at Kibor plus 4pc which was too expensive even though the government provided them sovereign guarantee. The finance minister also asked the IPPs to increase the credit period from 45 to 60 days to ease cash flows of Pepco in view of the government’s goodwill gesture to clear their Rs230bn upfront. The IPPs delegation led by former federal secretary Abdullah Yousaf committed to producing additional 1,300 to 1,500MW before Ramazan, which would considerably reduce power shortage. This capacity is currently lying idle because of circular debt and resultant fuel constraints and minor disputes with gas and power companies. The finance minister constituted a sub-committee to work on payment of Rs230bn to the IPPs, reduction in interest rate or late payment surcharge, increase in credit period and inclusion of about 1,500MW of additional capacity in the system and submit a report in a week. An official said tariff rationalisation had become a complicated issue and the government was finding it difficult to pass on the increase to consumers because it wanted to provide direct subsidies only to domestic consumers consuming less than 200 units per month. A team of the tariff department of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has been asked to work out different tariff increase proposals keeping in mind the expected fuel price changes over the next 12 months so that power subsidies could be limited within the budgeted amount of Rs150bn for the next fiscal year, down from Rs250bn this year. The Nepra team was involved in the process on the desire of the prime minister who wanted special care and maximum relief for lowest categories at the time of tariff rationalisation.
SC concerned over abrupt increase in oil prices By Malik Asad ISLAMABAD, June 14: The Supreme Court expressed concern on Friday over a sudden increase in prices of oil and other petroleum products soon after the budget speech and asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to explain whether prices could be raised on the basis of a budgetary proposal and without its approval by parliament. . A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has taken suo motu notice of the price rise resulting from an increase in General Sales Tax (GST) from 16 to 17 per cent in the budget for 2013-2014. The court action is based on a note of the SC registrar attributing the abrupt increase to a proposal about the GST raise made by the federal finance minister in his budget speech. “Budgetary proposals are merely proposals, yet to be debated/discussed and approved by the National Assembly and signed by the president. The budget/finance bill usually comes into force from the new financial year i.e. July 1, 2013,” it said. “The sufferers are consumers including operators of public transport who in turn will pass on the escalation in prices to the commuter meaning the general public,” the note observed. During the hearing, Attorney General Munir A. Malik argued that the government could increase GST on any product under “Provisional Collection of Taxes Act-1931”. Defending the increase in GST on petroleum products, he said under Article 77 of the constitution, the government could impose or increase the tax through an act of parliament. Advocate Salman Akram Raja, representing the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, said the notification allowing the increase in the GST on petroleum products had not been issued so far but a declaration had been issued by the finance ministry in accordance with the law. He said the sudden increase in GST was aimed at preventing ‘hoarding’ of petroleum products which could cause imbalance in the market and panic among consumers. Chief Justice Chaudhry said a budget proposal became effective after its approval by the legislature and asked what would be the mechanism for refund of overcharged amount if the increase was not approved by parliament. Advocate Raja said the act provided for a mechanism for the refund. After hearing the arguments, the court decided not to suspend the increase at this stage and adjourned the matter till June 18 when it would examine the reply to be submitted by the FBR.
Challenges faced by Dr Malik By Mahvish Ahmad AS the newly-elected chief minister, Dr Abdul Malik, ends his first week in office amid cheers about his middle class roots — making him an anomaly in an office that has been the exclusive domain of Sardars or tribal chieftains — he faces pressures from Baloch who feel increasingly alienated from the provincial government in Quetta, and the federal power-holders in Islamabad. . According to BBC Urdu, 12 bodies were dumped in the first week after election day on May 11, and another five bodies were found in Balochistan the day that Dr Abdul Malik took his oath in front of the provincial assembly. Reports tell tales of additional mutilated corpses discarded across the province, including district Kech, where the new chief minister was elected to his PB-48 Balochistan Assembly seat. An exclusive data analysis carried out by Dawn also shows historically low voter turnouts in Balochistan, particularly southern districts like Awaran, Panjgur, Lasbela, Kharan, Kech and Gwadar that are dominated by the non-tribal, Baloch middle class and parts of the separatist uprising. Only four of 14 provincial assembly seats from these parts of the province saw an increase in the percentage of voter turnouts compared to the last two elections. Ten districts experienced percentage point drops as high as 42 per cent, with Dr Malik’s own constituency seeing a mere 12 per cent show out to vote, compared to 41 per cent in 2008. Tahir Mehdi of Punjab Lok Sujag, a research and advocacy group, says that low voter turnouts are only part of the story: National Identity Card requirements and large distances to polling booths means most Baloch have not even been registered. As for the voter turnouts, Mehdi says they are, at best, a reflection of inadequate arrangements for a safe and secure election in Balochistan, and, at worst, a sign of discontent with the Pakistani state. Separatists go further, saying that it is a clear signal that the Baloch want out of Pakistan. “I am facing some enormous challenges in the months and years ahead. The Baloch did not turn out to vote. And, the kill-and-dump atrocities that have been the norm rather than the exception continue, along with the general deprivation among the people of Balochistan,” says Dr Malik in an interview with Dawn. In an attempt to address the fissures among the Baloch — where a significant number, if not a majority, could be sympathetic towards political parties or groups that propagate the full-fledged separation of Balochistan from Pakistan—Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have attempted to promote a conciliatory policy that aims to “mainstream” Baloch leaders. On Wednesday, the prime minister directed Dr Malik to initiate a broad-based reconciliation process in the province — one that includes bringing more marginalised groups into the conversation. Dr Malik has promised to pursue “confidence-building measures” in his first 100 days in office, which include asking security forces to return missing persons home, before approaching three major separatist groups: Dr Allah Nazar’s primarily middle-class Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), Brahamdagh Bugti’s Baloch Republican Party (BRP) and Harbiyar Marri’s Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). However, Dr Malik is accused of either “[lacking] the capability [to diagnose Balochistan’s problem]” or “intentionally trying to cover it up”, according to one separatist leader, Dr Allah Nazar. Other leaders agree, adding that he does not have the grit to stand up to the primary suspects behind Balochistan’s missing persons: the security establishment. Proponents of Dr Malik argue that Nawaz Sharif has a better chance than his predecessors of wresting back control of the policy currently being pursued in the province. They argue that the prime minister enjoys more respect within army ranks, despite being ousted by General Pervez Musharraf in 1999. Broad-based support from other parties within the Balochistan Assembly might also prove helpful to Dr Malik, as he tries to find a way forward. “We have been supporters of Dr Malik’s election as chief minister, because we believe that our two parties can bring about some real change in a province that needs healing,” says Muhammad Usman Kakar, the Balochistan head of the Pakthunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP). The primarily Pashtun PkMAP’s Muhammad Khan Achakzai was nominated as the governor, as the federal government attempted to move towards political parity between Balochistan’s Pashtun and Baloch populations. Unlike Balochistan’s Baloch areas south of Quetta, its Pashtun belt in the north saw historically large increases in voter turnout, with many of the seats going to the left-wing, secular PkMAP. Though Dr Malik might enjoy widespread political support from Islamabad and Quetta, Malik Siraj Akbar, the editor of The Baloch Hal, says that the mainstreaming of disillusioned Baloch and the integration of the province into Pakistan will prove to be a challenge. “Dr Abdul Malik’s nomination is a positive step forward. But it is primarily a shift in establishment policy, not a shift in the Baloch opinion. Dr Abdul Malik is definitely a Pakistan and Pashtun favourite — and his middle-class roots and history as a community leader means he presents a break in an office historically dominated by Sardars. But the truth is that the Baloch did not vote in this election. Though Dr Malik is a middle-class Baloch, neither the Baloch, nor its middle class, owns him,” says Akbar. In an interview to VSH TV, a Balochi TV channel, Dr Allah Nazar of the BLF said that the low voter turnouts were proof that the elections were a “referendum in favour of Balochistan’s liberation”. “You say we disturbed the elections, I say no. We didn’t disturb the electoral process, but the Baloch people supported our call by boycotting the elections,” said Dr Nazar. Separatist groups have not indicated a desire to take part in negotiations with the Pakistani government. They have also had little say in Pakistan’s mainstream debate, which looks at Dr Malik’s nomination with rose-tinted glasses rather than recognising the challenges he faces, says Akbar. “Dr Malik will most likely address corruption and socio-economic issues in Balochistan during his tenure. It is unlikely that he can face up to the security forces. Unfortunately, until the bodies stop falling, Baloch opinion will be hard to shift,” says Akbar.
Ogra puts gas supply projects on hold By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, June 14: Owing to serious gas shortage, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has placed a ban on Rs12.5 billion worth of new and ongoing schemes for supply of natural gas to villages and towns until the government takes a clear policy decision about the sector. . “The authority, however, keeping in view the shortfall of gas supply in the country, decides to [keep] pending all these gas infrastructure development schemes, subject to policy guidelines received in the matter from the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet,” said an order the regulator conveyed to the ministry of petroleum and natural resources and the two gas utilities — the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL). Under the previous government’s schemes for supply of gas to villages, the two companies had sought Rs12.5bn from the regulator. The SNGPL had sought over Rs10.4bn to complete about 4,035 kilometres of distribution pipelines while the SSGCL had sought more than Rs2bn to complete more than 1,000 kilometres of pipelines. The regulator said the SSGCL had projected an expenditure of Rs2bn for extension in distribution network in order to supply gas to towns and villages, including pre-moratorium and post-moratorium schemes. For the expenditure projected against the pre-moratorium schemes Rs297 million had earlier been allowed, while the expenses of Rs434m projected against post-moratorium schemes had been disallowed. The SSGCL had pleaded that under the Government of Sindh Loan Scheme Rs1,207m was finalised for supply of gas to towns and villages before imposition of the moratorium on October 4, 2011. The regulator, however, noted that only eight projects worth Rs18.5m were in accordance with the ECC-approved criteria and hence the other schemes could not be continued until a policy decision was taken by the new government. It, however, provisionally allowed Rs363m for expenditure on schemes meant for towns and villages in fiscal year 2011. In case of the SNGPL, the regulator said that of 4,630 kilometres of pipelines, it would allow expenditure on only 595 kilometres for rehabilitation. In case of other schemes, the regulator said the country was passing through an acute gas shortage, therefore “all new development schemes are pended till the receipt of policy guidelines from the federal government”. The regulator has also disallowed raising about Rs25bn from consumers for a 200km pipeline for supplies from LNG import project because the project had not taken off the ground. It said the proposals for the project were put forward previously by the SNGPL that showed a strong desire to complete the project. The regulator, however, observed that the federal government had imposed a gas infrastructure development cess on gas consumers to finance such projects in the national interest. But despite approvals and financial support for such projects, the petitioner had made no progress regarding additional gas supplies. A federal government-owned company was also established to complete such projects but neither had any investor developed an LNG terminal nor had the SNGPL laid a pipeline to extend the transmission and distribution network. Moreover, no project has reached financial close. The delay has contributed to the current energy crisis in the country. It said additional gas supply was important to revitalising every sector, particularly the industries. Therefore, it allowed in principal the capital expenditure for the financial year but said the final adjustment would be considered at the time of total revenue requirement keeping in view the pace of work executed at that time and mode of finance arranged for the same. It, however, said the regulator was of the “considered view that financing of such project should be met from the GIDC account which has been established exclusively for such purposes. Accordingly, this will not be added in rate base for return purposes since its inclusion in return base in fact invites double treatment at the cost of consumers.”
Editorial NEWS
Need for review: Focus on the CII FOLLOWING its ‘edict’ on DNA testing in cases of rape, sections of civil society have reacted strongly and challenged the very raison d’être of the Council of Islamic Ideology. In Karachi on Friday, speakers at a group discussion demanded the CII’s abolition, with some well-known crusaders for women’s rights accusing the council of hindering the work of other state institutions. Others claimed that various governments had exploited the body for political reasons, and demanded that it be given “improved scholarly shape”. Formed as a constitutional body under the basic law of 1962, the council went through a change in nomenclature in the 1973 Constitution and was tasked, under Article 230, to advise federal and provincial legislatures, besides the president and governors, on whether or not a given law was repugnant to Islam.. Since the council’s formation half a century ago, radical changes have occurred in state and society in Pakistan. The media and civil society today are far more vibrant and unorthodox in approach and content than ever before, and the people better informed and more conscious of their rights. Quite appropriately — because of the diversity of ideas they have access to, thanks to the greater reach of information technology and social media — the people think they do not necessarily need seminary advice to come to conclusions about matters that concern them. In fact, as the results of last month’s general elections show, the Pakistani people attach far more importance to those they can vote for rather than those that are nominated or wish to make pronouncements from claimed vantage points. It is true that the CII is an advisory body, but — because of its dictatorial baggage since the ’80s — its pronouncements tend to acquire an air of moral authority, as if its edicts constitute the ultimate in what Islamic dos and don’ts are. In this way, the CII has appropriated a role that rightly belongs to parliament. Today, almost all mainstream religious parties are represented in the federal and provincial assemblies. This equips the legislatures with the moral authority to make and unmake all laws. As Iqbal says in his Reconstruction, it is parliament which represents ijma in modern form. As regards the functions of the CII, if such a body is at all necessary, it would be far more suitable to create a parliamentary committee consisting of members already in the house. As a speaker pointed out in the Karachi seminar, the CII is today working virtually as an office of a religious party.
At the crossroads: Mutilated bodies in Balochistan IT appears that despite the holding of elections and formation of a new government in Balochistan, a parallel system — run by the security apparatus — is still calling the shots in the province. A strike was observed in several districts of Balochistan recently in protest against the dumping of bullet-riddled bodies in different areas. It is widely alleged that the security forces, and pro-establishment militias, are responsible for the kidnapping and killing of suspected separatists in most cases. It is a harbinger of the incredibly difficult challenges ahead that as a new elected government prepares to take the reins, mutilated bodies are still turning up in Balochistan. Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, who was elected chief minister on Saturday, has said that recovering missing persons and ending the practice of dumping corpses are amongst his priorities, while he also made overtures to separatists, urging them to adopt the path of dialogue. However, the new chief minister’s initiatives can only succeed if he is given the space by the establishment to pursue his policies.. What is required is for the people, especially in Baloch-dominated areas, to regain their confidence in the state and the political process. Heavy-handed tactics such as abducting, torturing and killing activists will do little to foster the spirit of reconciliation. Elections will not make a difference if such brutal methods continue to be used; such actions will only increase the level of alienation amongst the Baloch. If there is evidence that individuals are involved in militancy, separatism or violence, proof of such activities must be produced in court. Extra-legal methods of countering separatist sentiment will only be counter-productive. Balochistan today is at the crossroads. It can turn a new page if the elected government is given the freedom by the establishment to continue the political process and bring all elements to the negotiating table. Or, if the present style of managing the province’s security issues continues, we may cross the point of no return. The ball is in the establishment’s court.
Partial solution: Different colour for school buses THE fallout from the school van fire in Gujrat last month that cost the lives of 16 children and their teacher continues to make the news. And so it should; tragedies of such magnitude must generate policy changes so that they do not recur. It is in this vein that the five-member commission set up by the former caretaker chief minister of Punjab to look into the incident came up with the suggestion, among others, that vehicles that carry schoolchildren be painted a separate colour to distinguish them from vans used for public transport in general. This is presumably to ensure that such vehicles can be subjected to regular roadworthiness checks. To that end the proposed measure is a step in the right direction and should be adopted. In many Western countries, the mode of transport for schoolchildren is almost invariably the ubiquitous school bus, usually painted a distinctive yellow and equipped with legally mandated safety features such as higher seat backs with added cushioning, a rear emergency exit etc. In Pakistan, however, dedicated school buses are few and far between and differentiating such vehicles by colour, while useful, would not have as much impact as it would elsewhere in the world. To get to and from their schools, most students use private vans that, when not carrying students, double as transport for the general public as well.. At the same time, no one can deny that added safety measures for vehicles carrying schoolchildren are necessary. To that end, it may be more practical to issue special certificates for such dual-purpose vehicles to subject them to a more stringent regimen of roadworthiness, driving licence and other checks. That said, the real test as always will lie in implementation, the Achilles’ heel of officialdom in this country.
Owing the country: Missing the tax targets THE Federal Board of Revenue is going to miss the tax target — again. Reports suggest that it will not be able to collect even the revised target of Rs2tr, which is 86pc of the original tax estimates of Rs2.38tr for the current fiscal. The board has collected just Rs1.68tr in the first 11 months of the year to May. With an average monthly tax collection of Rs153 billion, the total is unlikely to cross the Rs1.90tr mark by the end of June. This will spell more problems for the new Nawaz Sharif government. The tax collection shortfall means the government will be forced to either borrow more from banks or print new money, or both, to bridge the widening budget deficit, which is feared to swell to 7-8pc of the size of the economy by the close of the year.. There are many factors responsible for the lower-than-estimated collection of taxes. The FBR blames a slowing economy for its inefficiencies. While this is one reason, the board could have done a much better job were it not plagued by rampant corruption at every level, and wrangling among its senior officers for lucrative posts. The board requires wide-ranging governance reform and the increased use of information technology in its functions to improve tax administration, plug loopholes for corruption and decrease the discretionary powers of tax collectors at every level. However, the unwillingness of successive governments to tax the untaxed and under-taxed incomes, and to extend exemptions to various lobbies either to retain or buy their political loyalties, is the most important factor responsible for the far lower-than-potential tax revenue generation. This has resulted in a substantial increase in the burden on existing taxpayers and led governments to resort to indirect taxation at the cost of higher inflation and taxing the poor, who shouldn’t be paying any at all. The PML-N manifesto promises to broaden the narrow tax base. Also, it promises to cut indirect taxation on the poor and increase direct taxation on the wealthy and powerful. The budget is just a few days away. Early signals on the new government’s tax policy are not very encouraging. With our tax-to-GDP ratio of just above nine per cent being one of the lowest in the world, the first real test of the Nawaz Sharif government will be its ability to collect the tax the wealthy and powerful owe. It will also determine the direction in which the government will want the economy to move — forwards or backwards.
Polio drive: Role for PTI, clerics IT is a real pity if some of us have to be convinced into supporting something as basic as the administration of polio drops to children. As the harbinger of a new Pakistan and with a state-of-the-art cancer hospital to his credit, Imran Khan should require no briefing from the Word Health Organisation chief about the threat of polio in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Yet, such a WHO briefing was given on Thursday just as, in another manifestation of the challenge posed by heartless elements that are resistant to polio vaccination, a gathering of Pakistani and international religious scholars in Islamabad issued an edict declaring the polio drops halal. On the day the two news stories appeared, a polio worker died in Peshawar of wounds she had sustained on the country’s polio front, as a dire reminder of just how critical the situation is, particularly in KP.. At a distance from where briefings take place and edicts are deemed necessary, both Mr Khan and the clerics are well placed to act where it really matters. The PTI’s support at the grass roots all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should enable it to make a much-needed contribution to the anti-polio drive. This is a statement the PTI chief must make in the interest of the people and his own reputation as a politician who does not like to complicate things and prefers to come up with direct, unambiguous responses. As simple issues go, there is none as straightforward as this one. The failure of the polio vaccination drive puts lives at grave risk and all have a role to play, including PTI workers, the edict-making clerics in Islamabad, and the ulema with considerable influence in KP and the rest of the country. These religious scholars must step up to the duty of taking their support of the anti-polio drive right down to the local level. The local mosque, connected to the people and as an institution seeking public good, should take anti-polio campaigners under its umbrella.
Death traps on wheels: Gas authority leads charge A STATE regulator swings belatedly into action to try and protect the public’s safety; the intended target, a well-organised and politically powerful special interest, pushes back; a few headlines are generated and slowly, after a while, the matter slips towards an inconclusive end. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s attempt to prevent CNG stations from servicing public passenger vehicles that have CNG kits installed inside the passenger compartment of the vehicles is facing stiff resistance from the CNG association and the usual problems of enforcement of state directives has reared its head. Laudable as the Ogra initiative appears and typically recalcitrant as the CNG association’s response has been, as usual the broader questions have been lost in the back-and-forth.. Most obviously, should Ogra be the body leading the charge against death traps on wheels or is this a matter for multiple agencies and government departments to pursue and coordinate action over? Ogra itself appears to understand the scale of the task in its letter addressed to the provincial chief secretaries and to police chiefs — without the help of the administrative and law-enforcement arms of the state, the ban will be largely ineffective. The gas regulator simply does not have the resources to check all CNG-powered public transport or to ensure CNG filling stations do not flout the ban. More importantly, however, has Ogra or any other regulator or administrative authority made any attempt to truly and scientifically understand the threats that CNG kits in vehicles pose and how to best mitigate them in a cost-efficient and urgent manner? The complex, time-consuming task itself suggests the answer: no. Safety measures that are truly effective and life-saving need to be well thought out and designed. Finally, the CNG lobby needs to be reined in, on this and many other matters.
Democratic continuity: The president’s speech A SIXTH, and final, speech by President Zardari to a joint session of parliament confirmed a pattern set early on in his presidential career: Mr Zardari isn’t a master orator and his speeches rarely contain anything substantive. But sometimes the substance can be in the procedure itself and here at long last is a civilian, genuinely elected president fulfilling his constitutional duty before two parliaments, one with a government led by his own party and the other with a government led by his party’s historical opponent. Rebuked by the electorate for his party’s dismal governance record, the country nevertheless owes a debt of gratitude to Mr Zardari for putting the democratic process on a firmer track. An unlikelier hero there rarely has been and Mr Zardari’s flaws are surely manifest and many, but in supporting the democratic process — regardless of the outcome for him and his party — the president is a unique figure in Pakistan’s political history.. Five years ago, Mr Zardari promised to relinquish the powers that Musharraf had arrogated to the presidency. He did. The president promised to respect the will of the electorate. Aside from the abortive power grab in Punjab in 2009, Mr Zardari abided by his promise. The president promised to hold credible and acceptable elections and to preside over a smooth transfer of power. He did. The woeful record of governance by his PPP over the last five years is undeniable and will remain a blot on his legacy regardless of what happens over the next five years and the election that will follow — but so will the contribution of a man who both grasped the importance of democratic continuity and de-livered when given the opportunity. Lightning rarely strikes twice but the country appears to have received a double stroke of luck in that the man who takes over responsibility for democratic continuity, the prime minister of the house Mr Zardari addressed yesterday, appears to be as committed to the democratic project as Mr Zardari has been. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has commanded much respect for his maturity during the campaign season and his statesmanship after winning an unexpectedly solid mandate. Now comes the next step of the challenge: delivering adequate governance born of a stable mandate. The challenges, as Mr Zardari enumerated, are manifold and serious. Solutions may be slow and painful but at least there is a consensus across the political spectrum about the framework in which those solutions must be crafted and implemented. Democracy and Pakistan appear at long last to be converging towards synonymity.
Secrecy unwanted: Discretion is discrimination DR Abdul Malik begins his term in Balochistan by doing away with secrecy where he immediately could: by abolishing the chief minister’s secret fund. He may have many other mysteries to deal with, and some of them he listed in his inaugural speech, but that cannot detract from his strong pro-transparency statement at the outset. Similar promises have been voiced in other parts of the country, about governments not using public funds clandestinely. In Islamabad, a PML-N government looking to drastically cut costs chooses to retain the information ministry, but it vows not to sully its hands with the secret funds the ministry is infamous for distributing without fear of audit. Some enthusiastic media reports have gone as far as saying that the federal government is even thinking of discontinuing the old ‘discretionary fund’ that is at the disposal of the prime minister. Reports say the federal government is looking for transparent ways to transfer money to federal and provincial lawmakers, in contrast to the current practice where lawmakers get the funding for development work in their constituencies at the prime minister’s discretion.. A distinction has to be made here. Is this a procedural change or is the suggestion here to apply a basic principle to create a new policy? Discretion gives birth to favourites, who abound in the history of this country. The use of discretionary powers is not limited to the high offices in the government but the people holding senior government posts create an example for others in the system to happily emulate. Discretionary powers are used to lavish favours, such as cash, from often un-audited funds and plots of land, and they can be used by government functionaries, say the tax officials, to arbitrarily decide tax rates and fines, etc, on an individual to individual basis. Discretion has to be shunned if the system is to be purged of discrimination. Where public money is being used, audit and proper public oversight has to be ensured.
Recovered artefacts: Crackdown needed against raiders IT is laudable that the customs authorities foiled a bid to smuggle a 75kg haul of artefacts, including originals as well as copies, out of Islamabad. As reported on Monday, airport officials swooped down on a Thailand-bound passenger last month, recovering various artefacts with some believed to be from the Greek and Kushan periods. In the past, several attempts to smuggle antiquities have been thwarted. A container impounded in Sukkur in March contained numerous boxes filled with objects reportedly stolen from sites and museums in Punjab. Last year, nearly 400 Gandhara relics — later termed mostly fakes — were recovered from a container in Karachi. These hauls suggest strongly that the illegal trade in historical objects continues to thrive in Pakistan.. While it appears that the authorities are making efforts, much more needs to be done to protect the country’s historical sites and museums from pillage. Regarding the theft of objects from museums, this means that either there are people within the institutions complicit in the crime, or that the museum managements are negligent in protecting the relics from thieves. As for the actual sites, many historical places in Sindh, for example, are either short of staff or have no watchmen at all. And observers say Balochistan, where the looting of sites is said to be rampant, needs special attention. Treasure hunters have a field day in this historically rich province not only due to the remoteness of its sites, but also because of the fragile security situation. Unfortunately, the archaeological authorities in Pakistan are under-resourced, outnumbered and outgunned as compared to the tomb raiders and smugglers. The state needs to dedicate manpower and resources to counter criminals, while those involved in smuggling artefacts — including those who aid and abet them — must be made to face the law.
Rights vs security: Need to correct balance EX-serviceman Mohammad Iqbal’s petition to the Supreme Court alleging that he was kept in illegal custody and tortured by intelligence agencies run by the armed forces has cast another harsh spotlight on the role of the country’s intelligence apparatus. Absent any parliamentary oversight and lacking any legal framework under which they operate, the intelligence apparatus — both civilian and military — has for too long been a law unto itself. To be sure, an intelligence apparatus is both necessary and its operations must often be conducted in secret. But equally true is the need for robust accountability. The startling, and vividly detailed, claims of torture and imprisonment of Mr Iqbal raise some very disturbing questions about both the scope of the intelligence agencies’ activities and the near-impossibility of holding them accountable. Many of the claims and allegations are only surfacing now because of the existence of a fiercely independent superior judiciary.. The typical reaction from the security establishment to allegations of excess and illegal acts is that the security and intelligence apparatus must not be demonised for aberrations that may have occurred and that by and large they act very much within the parameters of constitutionally guaranteed rights to the citizenry. However, far too often, it is left at that — no follow-up, no investigations or inquiries that the public is made privy to, no sanctions or penalties meted out to violators of the law. Somehow, none of the allegations are ever admitted to be true — and if excesses are admitted, they are somehow justified on the grounds of national security or protecting the public. Perhaps the most vivid example of this tendency for denial and then justification is the case of the Adiala 11. First, there was stonewalling, then there was an admission that the suspected militants were in fact in the custody of intelligence agencies and finally there was an attempt through selective leaks to the media to overshadow the allegations of torture and murder with proof of the suspects’ militant activities. The way forward is for the newly elected parliament to take the lead: establish intelligence committees of parliament, debate a legislative framework for the activities of the intelligence agencies and pass the necessary laws after consultation with the relevant stakeholders though keeping the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the individual at the centre of all recommendations and legislation. The balance between security and individual rights need not be as skewed towards security as it has been for the last 65 years.
Challenges remain: Pull-out from Swat THE army’s withdrawal from Swat is a complex matter involving strategic and political considerations. For that reason, the provincial Jamaat-i-Islami chief’s statement that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is going to “demand” the army’s withdrawal from the tourist paradise deserves attention. As yet, there is no confirmation of this move by the KP government, though the provincial JI chief claimed on Sunday that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had already raised the issue with the corps commander concerned. The “demand” feels odd, because the PML-N government is still in the process of evolving policies on various issues, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (now withdrawn) peace offer. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s first speech in the National Assembly after being elected leader of the house was a low-key affair yet one message was clear — the PML-N government is in no hurry to act.. Theoretically, the army should withdraw from Swat as quickly as possible. But, ideally, the army must also withdraw from every bit of Fata too. How realistic is this, though, given that the insurgency continues in many tribal agencies? Some regions have been secured, but fighting still rages in many areas. Swat itself is not as secure as we would wish. A hurried withdrawal by the army without a strong civilian infrastructure in place could allow the TTP to stage a comeback — which would prove disastrous. We know, for instance, that the failure of Swat’s judicial system to deliver enabled the Maulana Fazlullah-led Taliban to set up Qazi courts. This laid the ground for Swat and other parts of Malakand Agency being overrun by the Swati Taliban, who imposed their own version of ‘shariah’. Regaining this territory through a military operation was seen as a success that could be replicated elsewhere. But such gains will be reversed if army withdrawal occurs hastily. The KP police chief’s confidence in his force’s ability is encouraging, therefore, but more information needs to be made public about the civilian administration’s ability to keep the peace — durably.
Punishing the people: Arbitrary road blockades A TRAFFIC snarl-up of monstrous proportions occurred in the heart of Karachi’s financial district on Monday because of the blockade of two arterial roads as part of the ‘security measures’. While on this occasion it was in reaction to a protest rally, unfortunately the sudden, arbitrary closure of Aiwan-i-Sadr Rd, on which Governor House is located, and Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Rd, off which Chief Minister House is situated, has become a regular, unwelcome feature of life. Protest rallies can break out randomly, but these and other key roads are inexplicably often kept blocked off under normal circumstances too. When such busy thoroughfares are closed, the traffic mess on connecting roads becomes unmanageable, with the effects rippling further afield. Similarly, the road next to Bilawal House, the president’s Karachi residence, has been encroached upon and blocked off permanently for a long time. This causes needless misery, especially when security measures go into overdrive during the president’s visits. Perhaps the culture of closing off public roads can be traced back to Islamabad’s Constitution Avenue. There was no objection from any of the state institutions located off this thoroughfare when it was declared part of the ‘red zone’ years ago.. While security concerns are valid, they need to be balanced by consideration for the public. If alternative arrangements are not made, the stretch of Dr Ziauddin Rd leading to CM House may well meet the same fate as that of the Bilawal House road. If securing CM House at its current location is a problem, it should be shifted to a less central spot so that the public is not punished every time there is a security threat. The Supreme Court, which has criticised arbitrary road blockades, could also take up the issue afresh.
Predictable results: Economic survey outlook THAT the country has again missed most key budgetary targets shouldn’t really come as a surprise. It was pretty obvious from day one that the government had underestimated its expenditure and overestimated its revenues in the budget for the outgoing year. The budget didn’t take into account the growing energy shortages and deteriorating security conditions when setting a growth target of 4.4 per cent and an investment target of just below 15pc. All the warnings against setting unrealistic and exaggerated targets were dismissed by the previous government, perhaps because it wanted to create a feel-good effect about the economy in the election year. The trick hasn’t worked.. The macroeconomic numbers released in the Pakistan Economic Survey 2012-13, launched by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday, portray a very bleak picture of the economy and point to the difficult task ahead for the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to put it back on a growth trajectory. Economic growth has plunged to 3.6pc, fiscal deficit has blown to Rs2 trillion or 8.3pc, public and private investment has dipped to 12.6pc, the tax target will be missed by over Rs350 billion and the current account gap has soared to just under $3bn. Public debt is feared to jump to Rs14tr by the close of the outgoing year, while foreign investment is at low leval of $800 million and foreign official capital flows have almost dried up. And so on, and so forth. True, the PML-N government is inheriting a weak economy and it will have to seek a bailout from the IMF. Yet it is still not at the brink. However dismal the situation may be, the macroeconomic numbers for the current year do show some positive signs for achieving economic recovery provided credible policies are formulated and implemented. That the economy grew moderately in spite of rising energy shortages that shaved off 2pc of GDP, and poor security conditions, is an achievement in itself. Though the agriculture and services sectors missed their growth targets owing to the energy crunch, large scale manufacturing went up to 4.2pc. This shows the strength of the industry and the part it can play in pushing growth and creating new jobs if given a favourable business environment an industrialist PM. National savings rose to 13.5pc of GDP and most importantly, inflation has been brought down to a under 7pc. The government can build on these positive trends by reducing energy shortages, cutting fiscal deficit, reviving private investment and promoting regional trade.
Monsoons approach: Time to prepare WITH pre-monsoon showers having occurred in several places in primarily the northern half of the country in recent days, some respite from the fierce heat is in the offing. The weather conditions have proved difficult to endure for many citizens this year, particularly given the frequent spells of load-shedding and power breakdowns in several parts of the country. In Lahore, for instance, the rain on Tuesday brought the temperature down from a scorching high of 44 degrees Celsius to a more manageable 24 degrees.. While citizens may have reason to welcome the onset of the monsoons — which the Pakistan Meteorology Department expects will set in earlier than usual this year — state and provincial administrations need to take it as a call to action. Still fresh in people’s memories are the catastrophic monsoon floods of 2010 and, though to a lesser degree, of 2011. Even last year, while there were no floods as such, rain-related damage included houses collapsed and lives lost, thousands displaced from Azad Kashmir and hundreds of acres of land submerged in the Sialkot region. While floods have not so far been predicted for this year, the relevant administrations nevertheless need to prepare. This can include reviewing the countrywide irrigation canal system to prevent possible breaches and an awareness campaign targeting people who live in structures whose integrity can be compromised by heavy rain — such as in shantytowns or mud houses in villages. Water courses can be cleared to carry extra load; already, flooding in the Swat River has damaged roads in the Kalam area and caused the closure of the bridge between the Matta and Khwazakhela tehsils. Right now, there is still time to warn or clear settlements along river and canal banks. Similarly, the national and provincial management authorities have the time, right now, to draw up plans and procedures. We need not wait, as tends to be the custom in Pakistan, for disaster to strike and then cast about for solutions; some preparedness could prove invaluable.
Revealing drubbing: Champions Trophy debacle THE abrupt end to Pakistan’s campaign at the ICC Champions Trophy has taken the team’s worst critics by surprise, despite its chequered record in international matches during recent months. The spectacular wilting of Misbah-ul-Haq’s army in the high-profile event, first against the West Indies and subsequently against the Proteas, has laid bare yet again the many chinks in the team’s armour. Besides exposing their inability to sustain the pressure of top level cricket, the debacle also smacks of wrangling within the side which has been Pakistan’s Achilles’ heel for several decades now. And yet, even then, the Champions Trophy defeat is hard to explain.. The challenging tour of South Africa had supposedly left the players a battle-hardened lot, as described by their skipper Misbah in a pre-tournament press conference. A series of competitive warm-up games ahead of the ICC Trophy was adequate preparation for the national team, it was thought. And with an unprecedented army of coaches at their disposal to hone their skills, it appeared that for once Pakistan had enjoyed a professional workout for a truly competitive event. But it was not to be. The debacle has, indeed, reflected poorly on the Pakistan Cricket Board regime of Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf and some of the decisions it took during its first year in office. These include disturbing the |winning combination of skipper Misbah and coach Mohsin Khan, needlessly elevating Mohammad Hafeez as the Twenty20 captain and persisting with over-the-hill players such as Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat and Kamran Akmal. The writing on the wall is clear: for Pakistan to make an impact in the 2015 World Cup, nothing short of an overhaul will suffice — which means that favourites and hand-picked individuals must be dispensed with at all levels to make a fresh start.
Not bold enough: Budget 2013-14 THE unexpectedly solid mandate that Mian Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N won on May 11 created a significant amount of political capital for the new government. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar would have known for a long time that he was next in line for the finance portfolio and had an even longer time to prepare for that tough responsibility. So where boldness was possible — indeed, expected — the budget presented on Wednesday and defended in yesterday’s annual press conference can reasonably be judged a disappointment. It’s not that Mr Dar’s budget is quite of the wheels-coming-off variety that has been seen in the recent past or that a complete head-in-the-sand approach to fiscal stewardship has been taken; but neither has the finance minister showed any true vision for putting the country’s finances on a stable and more sustainable footing over the medium- and long-term. Sure, there was rhetoric as well as promises about growth and long-term fiscal stability and sustainability but the measures announced did not quite add up to them. And what made that all the more disappointing is that the budget is a clear signal that a return to the IMF is inevitable — so why not begin the process of structural adjustment now?. The disappointments are both on the revenue and the expenditure side. Consider the tax revenue target of Rs2.5tr, a nearly Rs500bn increase over the present year’s expected take. Can it really be achieved? Mr Dar seems to believe a combination of 4.4pc growth and new tax measures will do the trick. But there are contradictions built into that expectation. An increase in the sales tax rate, for example, tends to have a dampening effect on growth, so could the 1pc increase in sales tax actually end up stalling growth in both sales-tax receipts and GDP? Mr Dar preferred not to delve into such linkages. There is also the quite substantial problem of widening the tax net, something every government promises but never quite has the guts to deliver on. The finance minister will point to tweaks to the income, withholding and sales tax regimes as evidence of his government’s will, but the measures do not really amount to boldness on the tax front. Boldness would have meant venturing into the terrain of a tax on services. Boldness would have meant announcing a slate of meaningful reforms in the Federal Bureau of Revenue to cut corruption and crack down on tax dodgers. Instead Mr Dar, like many finance ministers before him, has opted for many of the tried-and-failed methods of boosting tax revenue. On the expenditure front, the government’s version of austerity is to hold budgeted overall expenditure at a near-constant Rs3.6tr when compared to the present year’s projected overall expenditure. But because the chasm between overall revenue and expenditure is so wide, holding expenditures constant is not really satisfactory in the circumstances. The ‘austerity measures’ that Mr Dar has claimed will save some Rs40bn have to be set against new projects such as laptop schemes and low- and zero-interest loans that will be doled out to individuals in the name of spurring micro-businesses. And little attention appears to have been paid to the post-18th Amendment responsibilities of the provinces: for example, the to-be-renamed BISP is an important social-protection scheme but more appropriately should be located in the provinces’ purview to finance. Because expectations have been so low and mismanagement so rife over the past five years, it may appear churlish to be too critical of a finance team that has had just days to prepare for a challenge that would test the best minds in the world. But precisely because the problems are so deep and wide, the approach and attempted solutions have to be rooted in immense will, determination and vision. Mr Dar will have four more attempts in the years ahead. The country has to hope he will bring more will to the table in the budgets ahead.
Revival on the cards? Plan for Pakistan Railways THE government’s plan to convert Pakistan Railways into a corporation under an independent board of professionals, instead of privatising it, must turn it around. It is no secret that PR is on the brink. It is accumulating heavy losses on a daily basis because of years of inefficient management, corruption, overstaffing, political and bureaucratic intervention, and so on. Passenger traffic has dropped to 92 trains from 230 and freight operations are now just one train from 96, owing to the shortage of locomotives (according to the Pakistan Economic Survey). Its revenues have fallen by 25 per cent while working expense has increased by 33pc. Employees’ related costs and pensions stood about 198pc of revenue earned in 2011-12 and salaries and pensions are being paid through an annual subsidy of Rs34bn.. The plan to corporatise PR is not new. Recommendations were first made by the second Nawaz Sharif government in 1997. The plan could not be implemented because of opposition by vested-interest parties that have enriched themselves at the cost of this public service. They are not going to accept the change easily, even now; the revival won’t be painless even if existing jobs are protected in the new scheme. The main plank of the revival plan appears to be greater involvement of the private sector for the “profitable utilisation” of its assets (track, passenger and freight trains, dry ports, property, manufacturing facilities, etc). The government will continue to fund the development of the aging railway infrastructure until it gets back on the rails. A sum of Rs31bn has been set aside for this purpose in the next budget. The previous government also prepared a plan to revive PR in partnership with the private sector, but that scheme was implemented only partially. The operation of three passenger trains and one freight train was outsourced to private management. The project to modernise railway infrastructure and address the shortage of locomotives could not be executed because of the paucity of funds and resistance from within. So, while it is heartening to see the new government thinking about reviving the old glory, it will have to give complete freedom to the new board so that it can take independent decisions in a transparent manner. The first task for the board will be to revisit the cancellation of the order for the procurement of 75 Chinese locomotives as well as outsourced train operations and expensive land leased at a pittance to the private sector. The second important job for the board will be striking the delicate balance between the commercial interests of the railway’s private-sector partners and the state’s public-service obligation to provide lower-income people with a decent travel facility at an affordable price.
Steady policy needed: Recourse to IMF FINANCE Minister Ishaq Dar has finally uttered the three-letter word of Pakistani politics — IMF. The repeated and inevitable recourse to the Fund clearly points to deep structural problems in the economy which will take more than one budget, and perhaps more than one government, to rectify. What is not so clear, or easily rectified, however, is the manner in which our political parties have readily surrendered to their baser instincts to draw political mileage from the attempts mounted by the party in power to advance the necessary reforms. When in opposition, PML-N leaders decried the approach to the IMF in 2008, when it was even more necessary than it is now. In their campaign they invoked the language of the “begging bowl” only to readily reach out to Saudi Arabia for another oil facility immediately after the elections.. In their last stint in power the same party — with the same faces in the cabinet — struggled with implementation of the general sales tax at the retail stage and with getting another tranche released by the IMF, and raised the GST by one percentage point through a presidential ordinance. But in opposition, the same people opposed the Reformed General Sales Tax Bill arguing that it would “hit the common man”, vilified the IMF, opposed the use of the presidential ordinance as a route to reforming the outmoded GST and demanded that any tax reforms be presented before parliament — where they proceeded to oppose the measure. Once again in power, they have raised the GST rate by one whole percentage point overnight and turned to the IMF. Such manner of politics must end. Perhaps the PML-N government ought to acknowledge that they were wrong in opposing a progressive economic agenda while they sat in opposition. Failing that, they should at least try to desist from blaming all the country’s economic ills on the previous government, in return for the assurance that the combined opposition will not oppose reformist economic measures simply for the sake of creating difficulties for the treasury benches. A national consensus is required urgently on the future direction of economic policy, and the PML-N must take the lead in crafting such a consensus. All political parties must come together to agree on an economic agenda for the future, and agree to support its implementation. No parliamentary mandate will ever be enough to put the ship of state on an even keel if we keep playing politics with our economic survival.
The forgotten: Afghan refugees in Pakistan SAD though it is, old wars and their effects — even if ongoing — do not make headlines. Perhaps that is why the world’s attention tends to wander away to newer conflicts and their attendant human plight. In recent years, we have seen the international community stretch its hand out to help people whose lives were rent apart in Iraq, in the countries that were part of the Arab Spring, and now in Syria — for a time. With each new flare-up, the thrust of international humanitarian operations shifted, leaving the earlier efforts shorn to a considerable degree of money and manpower. It is only through this cynical lens that the plight of Afghan refugees who continue to remain in Pakistan decades after being dislocated can be understood. Has the world, even Afghanistan, forgotten?. There are 1.6 million Afghan refugees registered in Pakistan, as well as over 1.6 million unregistered and illegal aliens. For Pakistan and particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the overwhelming majority resides, this is too front-and-centre an issue to be conveniently forgotten. Such, indeed, is the scale of the matter that Pakistani authorities have, on occasion, issued deadlines for Afghans to repatriate themselves on pain of having their refugee status revoked. Such deadlines were extended, and now the latest deadline is due to pass on June 30. This time, too, in view of humanitarian considerations, the government will have little choice but to extend the deadline again. The central issue, of course, is the abysmal situation that continues to prevail in Afghanistan, decades after the invasion by the Soviet Union. Despite the efforts of the UN refugee agency and Pakistan, the reality is that with 36pc Afghans living below the poverty line, little meaningful development and few employment opportunities, Afghanistan is an unappealing destination — even in comparison to Pakistan. The Karzai administration, and the world, needs to ensure improvement, fast. Pakistan must not reject refugees, but neither must their country of citizenship think that the problem has been resolved.
A safety net: Fund for journalists OFF and on, we are reminded of the fact that Pakistan remains a hard place for journalists to carry out their professio-nal responsibilities. There have been a number of high-profile killings of media persons in this country. Conditions are especially difficult in Fata and parts of Balochistan, where journalists have paid with their lives, while even in cities like Karachi media persons have been targeted and face a variety of threats. Working conditions are particularly tough for freelancers and stringers operating in remote and conflict-ridden areas. Considering the circumstances, the decision by former caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso to set up a fund for journalists in conflict zones must be welcomed. The fund seeks to provide financial assistance to families of journalists killed or maimed in the line of duty while it also provides for cash support for media persons “suffering from a serious ailment”.. While the state has taken the initiative, the fact is that ensuring journalists receive proper training, equipment and protection in order to safely carry out their professional duties is primarily the responsibility of media houses. This also holds true for providing compensation in case anything unforeseen occurs. Media concerns must step in and match the government’s effort, especially when it comes to providing compensation to families of journalists who get killed or seriously injured while carrying out their duties. Unless media houses support this initiative — particularly on the financial front — it will not become sustainable. Also, while the fund was set up by the caretaker administration, we expect the elected government to honour the initiative and support it. Considering the occupational hazards, journalists will at least be assured that some sort of support will be available to them or their families should anything unfortunate happen.
Columns and Articles
Bullish on Pakistan By Munir Akram ALTHOUGH the Karachi Stock Exchange has risen over 50pc over the last year, financial analysts have not rushed to declare Pakistan a ‘bull market’.. The reasons for their caution are obvious: terrorist attacks, a continuing conflict next door in Afghanistan, a roller-coaster relationship with the US, outstanding disputes and rivalry with India and an economy that could collapse without emergency treatment. It will take years to eliminate extremist violence completely. Meanwhile, terrorism can be contained through smart security and political strategies. Afghanistan can be helped to achieve relative if not complete peace. Relations with a disengaging yet domineering America and an ambitious yet anxious India can be managed by clear-headed diplomacy. But Pakistan’s economy cannot be saved from meltdown by half measures and patchwork solutions. If reforms are avoided because they are politically difficult, Pakistan’s economy may limp along for a while on life support, but it will eventually collapse under the burdens that a rapacious elite has imposed on it. The irony is that, unlike the security issues, the solutions to the current economic challenges are fairly clear and require only political courage to be implemented. Continued deficit spending will lead to hyperinflation and economic meltdown. A tax regime which generates only 10pc of GDP as revenues cannot provide for the infrastructure, social services, security and defence needs of the country. It must be made comprehensive, fair and efficient. Doubling tax revenues to 20pc of GDP — the norm in most dynamic economies — within three years is not an unrealistic expectation. Similarly, the haemorrhaging of public money through the loss-making ‘autonomous’ corporations — Steel Mills, PIA, Railways — can be stopped through structural rationalisation and privatisation, as was successfully achieved in the banking sector over a decade ago. Moreover, at present these solutions can be achieved domestically without external involvement. The incoming government has the parliamentary majority and public support to implement such economic reforms. And without the fiscal restructuring other declared aims, such as overcoming the energy crisis, cannot be achieved. If these reform measures are delayed, for example by securing a credit line from Saudi Arabia, the financial reckoning may be postponed. But if the breathing space is not used to bring public spending and revenues into balance, the threat of economic collapse will catch up with the country sooner rather than later. Then, the solutions for the stabilisation of the economy will be imposed externally by the IMF and its masters. The economic and political pain will be much greater. Not only will the government suffer economic humiliation, its ability to conduct independent and nationally oriented security and foreign policies will also be compromised. Perhaps the most compelling reason for implementing these reforms is that they will unlock Pakistan’s immense economic potential. It may still be a secret, but Pakistan is one of the most attractive destinations for private equity investment. Here’s why: — Pakistan, the world’s sixth most populous country (over 180 million), is a huge market; — Its middle class (63 million) is a higher proportion of its population (35pc) than other South Asian states (India 25pc, Bangladesh 20pc); — Domestic demand in Pakistan is a higher percentage of GDP (84pc) than other Asian and emerging markets; — At an average age of 22, Pakistan’s population is younger than other emerging markets, providing both a labour pool and the future demand to fuel growth. Investment opportunities in Pakistan can be identified in a number of sectors: power generation, consumer goods, food and agriculture, housing, healthcare, education, financial services, information technology, transport, oil and gas and infrastructure. These investment opportunities are generated by several factors. First, the economy has been starved of investment for almost a decade. There is a huge accumulation of unmet demand in almost every sector. This is magnified by the rapid rise in disposable income. Second, there is a very low degree of value addition in Pakistan of raw materials and exports, opening prospects for the expansion of manufacturing (and employment generation) in sectors such as textiles, food processing and electronics. Third, Pakistan’s massive infrastructure needs cannot all be met by government-financed projects; there is a very large space for private-sector investment and public-private partnerships to build infrastructure. Thus, from an investment perspective, Pakistan is a ‘target-rich’ environment. Apart from the global private equity investors, there are strategic players — China, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries — which are prepared to invest very large amounts in Pakistan if they are convinced of the country’s economic stability and an end to the rampant corruption of the recent past. It would be much wiser for the new leadership to focus on generating such strategic investments in Pakistan rather than asking for handouts and financial favours from friends. Fiscal reform and a wider tax net will, no doubt, impose some pain and evoke political protests from those affected. The reforms can be structured to ameliorate the impact on the rural and urban poor. Moreover, if the reforms are going to provoke some protest, it is better for the government to face this now, early in its tenure, rather than after some years when another election may be in the offing. If reforms are introduced now, their positive impact — stabilising the economy and generating large investments, growth and employment — will become evident in a couple of years and assist the government’s future electoral prospects. The stakes are high in the decisions to be taken by the government on fiscal and tax reform. It should not only consider the impact of the anticipated opposition, mostly from vested interests, it should also weigh the long-term costs and benefits of these decisions for itself and for Pakistan. The writer is a former Pakistan ambassador to the UN.
The deep state By Tariq Khosa JUDGES, prosecutors, investigators, witnesses, lawyers: no one is safe in a criminal justice system pitted against militants and their patrons in the deep state of Pakistan.. The judges’ detention case took yet another curious turn when a judge in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) excused himself from hearing the post-arrest bail application of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf. “A malicious campaign has been launched in the electronic, print and social media against me after I rejected the pre-arrest bail in April,” lamented the recusing judge, who had also directed the police to insert a section of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 in the first information report registered against the former army chief. Earlier, in a surprising development, the lawyer who had filed a petition in the judges’ detention case withdrew his complaint “in the larger national interest.” Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Aslam Ghumman, who had the case registered on Aug 11, 2009, decided not to appear before the court nor press for the prosecution of Gen Musharraf. He left it to the court to decide the fate of the case. A number of other lawyers associated with this case were picked up and tortured. Advocate Basharatullah was kidnapped and brutally tortured on April 21 this year. Two other lawyers, Mujeebur Rehman and Sardar Manzar Bashir were abducted and badly beaten on April 27 and May 9 respectively. The Supreme Court was constrained to direct the police authorities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi to check rising cases of attacks on members of the legal fraternity and also directed the secret agencies to trace the culprits. The courts can only do so much to exercise their moral authority. The guns are in the hands of the state and non-state actors. The fate of the special prosecutor in the Benazir assassination case was deadlier. Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was gunned down on May 2 as he was scheduled to submit additional evidence in connection with the murder case. Four armed persons lying in wait opened fire, targeting him, and not his armed guard, with 9mm and 30 bore pistols. A pamphlet with misleading contents was found at the scene of the attack carrying the name of the hitherto unknown Mujahedeen-i-Islami. Chaudhry Zulfiqar was one of the finest prosecutors of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). He retired as assistant director of the legal branch on Feb 10, 2009, but on account of his professionalism and commitment, his services were initially hired to pursue the Mumbai terror attacks case. The Benazir Bhutto assassination case was entrusted to the FIA on Aug 6, 2009. The services of special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar were hired on Aug 15, 2009, as no case was more important for the agency than the gruesome murder of a former prime minister. Its professionalism and competence was being put to a severe test, especially when the UN probe team, while being critical of every other organ of the state, had reposed confidence in the criminal investigation by a select FIA team. The risks of undertaking the investigation were known to the agency’s command. The investigators were pitted against militants and their possible patrons in the deep state armed with a vast armoury of devious methods and deadly weapons, including coercion, deceptive leads, blackmail, slander, kidnapping and even elimination. Special prosecutor Zulfiqar Ali was obviously working under threat from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan since five of its members were arrested by the Punjab police shortly after Benazir’s assassination. For more than two years, the prosecutor boldly pursued the cases and employed a guard only in the last few months which were devoted to the collection of circumstantial, documentary and technical evidence of an extremely sensitive nature. This meant trouble for him and the agency. Fearless that he was, he reportedly resisted internal and external pressures while pursuing high-profile cases and paid a heavy price for the courage of his convictions. His supreme sacrifice is the latest in the history of many secrets steeped in blood. Against this background of a state-within-the-state culture, the new democratic government and all its federal and provincial executive authorities have a responsibility to rid this nation of the culture of impunity, unlawful detentions, coercion, intimidation and targeted killings. The following suggestions merit urgent attention. There are no pro-state or anti-state militants. They all pursue a violent agenda. The formation of private militias and the creation of violent organisations, with or without covert political objectives, is patently illegal and unconstitutional. Take heed: the monsters you create today will come to haunt and hunt you tomorrow. Please restrain, restrict, detain, arrest and prosecute the leaders of proscribed militant organisations. Cleanse the swamp that breeds the mosquitoes. The deep state helps create the non-state actors. These militants are likely to unravel the state of Pakistan. The legislature’s oversight of the intelligence agencies is crucial for public accountability. At present, there is no parliamentary committee on intelligence matters. The defence and interior parliamentary committees have no mandate to question or assess the strategic and operational framework of the intelligence services. Such sensitive policies and practices are too important to be left to the security establishment. Transparency and accountability parameters need to be established now by both the political and military leadership. Intelligence services such as the Intelligence Bureau and the ISI are operating without a legal or constitutional framework. All law-enforcement agencies and even civil armed forces such as the FIA, the Frontier Corps, Rangers and the Coast Guards have laws and statutes. Why are the intelligence agencies beyond the ambit of the law? The protection of judges, investigators, prosecutors, witnesses and lawyers is the responsibility of the state — and it has failed badly. The weakness of the state has resulted in unprecedented acts of terror, killings and kidnappings. Will all the stakeholders put their act together and stop playing games with hapless citizens? Otherwise, anarchy stares back if we look collectively into the mirror. The writer is former DG, FIA.
Team N takes centre stage By Cyril Almeida CALL it Shargasm. Everyone seems to be having one.. Did you see what Sharif did in Balochistan? Unbelievable. Get a load of Sharif’s sangfroid? Superstar. Can Sharif be the man to fix Pakistan? Believe. Everyone’s gone a bit Noon-ie it seems. The why is easy enough to figure out: the land of perma-crisis threw up an unexpected and pleasant surprise — a stable mandate for a man who’s walked part of the talk already. Long battered by crisis but now blown over by the tendrils of statesmanship, the Sharif love fest is hard to begrudge. Let him have his honeymoon period — though this being us, an emotional lot, it’s almost as if we were there on the wedding night. Still, wanting to fix something and actually being able to fix it are two very different things — and the Sharif camp knows it. Happenstance can be a funny thing. Hours before he was sworn in as one of the big boys, a Sharif loyalist was to be found all by himself, lost to the world. Was he asleep in his chair, head bowed on the table before him, enjoying a siesta? That would be a troubling metaphor. No, no, he swore, he was just lost in thought. What about? I heard them talking on TV about us inheriting a crown of thorns, the loyalist said grimly. Rambling being the best way to learn anything in this land of ours, a question came to mind: how did Sharif convince Zehri to relent in Balochistan? You don’t even want to know what we had to do to get him on the plane, the loyalist said, referring to Zehri’s attendance at the Murree meeting where Abdul Malik was anointed the next CM of Balochistan. Zehri had taken an oath from every assemblyman who won on a PML-N ticket in Balochistan — they would do what he said, not what the party asked, the minister-in-waiting explained. So how did Sharif convince him? Don’t ask, the loyalist said, but let me tell you a story: when a few of us had gathered to discuss what the party should do in Balochistan, Zehri simply said, my father is Doda Khan Zehri, who is Malik’s father? The room went quiet, the loyalist continued, and a few of us just looked at each other. Zehri, for the uninitiated, was essentially saying, I’m a sardar and Malik a wretched commoner. Well good for Sharif that he prevailed on Zehri but you’re in line for a big job at the centre, how’s that looking? I don’t even know which ministry I’ll be getting, the loyalist said. Surely not, everyone in town is talking about it. Nope, portfolios haven’t been discussed with us, the loyalist insisted. OK, fine. But you guys had a pretty good idea it was your turn next, the party must have done some homework on what needs to be done in the different ministries, right? Haan maybe some like Ishaq knew what they’d be handling but most of us didn’t, the loyalist said. There wasn’t much thought put into it or preparation. And there it was — the gap between hope, hype and reality. Perhaps one of the more unsettling things about this round of the N-League is that the party itself isn’t sure, even now, why it won by the margin it did. You want the winner to know, to anticipate, to have a precise pulse of the electorate that elected it. Without that pulse, you can’t be sure which way to proceed. Take electricity. Everyone agrees that the election was a referendum on electricity — but which part of the electricity sub-problem mattered most? Say what? Pretend you’re Khwaja Asif for a minute and work through this. Duh, you think, the near-total absence of electricity was the problem — get them, the people, electricity as quickly as possible. So you rope in your buddy Mansha and other special interests and they present their elaborate plans. Great, boys, let’s do this, you as Khwaja Asif say. Electricity starts to flow again but a funny thing happens: the price of electricity creeps upwards and the special interests grow fatter. There’s no wanton corruption to speak of but the people are starting to grumble again — they have more electricity but they sure as hell can’t pay their inflated bills and why are these fat electricity cats growing fatter on our hard-earned incomes anyway? The urgent fix — more electricity, now! — slowly exposes other parts of the electricity problem: cost and income distribution. You as Khwaja Asif thought you were in line for the Nishan-i-Pakistan but suddenly it looks like you’re headed the way of Raja Pervez. Or more electricity, but to whom in the near term? For homes, to iron the kids’ school uniforms, or to business and industry to keep people employed? Everyone lives at home and everyone needs a good night’s sleep, you as Khwaja Asif quite reasonably think, so you switch on more lights and fans at home and turn off the lights in factories and businesses. Except you discover that families would rather have gainful employment than a good night’s sleep and uncreased school uniforms. The people are still pissed off and you as Khwaja Asif are bewildered by their reaction. True, it’s a qualitatively different problem, going from the realm of utter ineptitude — essentially, the last five years — to one of trying and yet not necessarily succeeding. But it would still leave us with a pretty big problem. Once the Shargasm fades, as it inevitably will, we may find Team N to be exactly what some have long feared it is: yes, it will roll up its sleeves, yes, it will get down to business, but maybe it still doesn’t quite know what goes where and how to make it all work. A doer and trier, but not quite a winner yet. The writer is a member of staff. cyril.a@gmail.com Twitter: @cyalm
Foreign policy challenges By Moeed Yusuf ONE of the first things Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did after taking oath was to send a message outlining his foreign policy priorities to Pakistani missions abroad.. The move reflects his interest in getting Pakistan’s foreign relations right and signals this intent to the implementers of the county’s foreign policy vision around the world. There was one observation, though not unexpected, that is nonetheless noteworthy: the importance he laid on Pakistan’s neighbourhood. Reorienting Pakistan’s focus to the South Asian region in a positive way, especially with regard to India, will be no mean feat. No one knows this better than Mr Sharif given his experience with attempts to improve Indo-Pak ties during his last stint. Much has been written about the substantive issues and disputes at hand. Let me, instead, focus on a seemingly more mundane, but nonetheless critical, issue of getting the management of the foreign policy machinery right. Without this, the government is sure to fall short on the substance. To begin with, Sharif needs someone to take charge of the situation. Any confusion in the roles of the key people will only allow detractors to stonewall positive initiatives. His decision to not appoint a full time foreign minister is disturbing in this regard. Prime ministers holding on to such portfolios can work when the foreign policy direction of a country is likely to be a continuation of the status quo. In such cases, the bureaucracy keeps chugging along with its routines and the prime minister, in his capacity as foreign minister, only has to tinker on the edges. If the goal is truly transformative, though, a full-time, empowered manager who commands respect and has some expertise in the subject is likely to be your best bet. Also, in the Pakistani context, a disempowered foreign minister — much less an absent one — always tends to force important foreign actors to go knocking at GHQ’s doors to get the job done. This is exactly the opposite of what Sharif wants; ostensibly, his decision to keep the portfolio is driven by this concern in the first place. Sharif has already decided on his two principal foreign policy managers: Sartaj Aziz and Tariq Fatemi. Both are solid choices. But in the absence of a minister (or till one of them is brought into that role) they need the right kind of empowerment to pull off the task Sharif has outlined for them and those who would be working for them in the foreign ministry. A clear signal to this effect needs to come from the prime minister. Disturbingly, some PML-N members confide that this may not happen for purely parochial reasons to do with internal party politics. Next, one shouldn’t overlook the challenge these officials will face in getting a team in place that shares the prime minister’s vision. Some would argue that perhaps even they don’t fully buy into it. Even if so, they — given their proximity to the prime minister and his faith in them — will have little difficulty in rallying behind him. The real challenge will be to pick likeminded people for key ambassadorial positions and desks in the ministry. At least on India and Afghanistan, this is not only about finding the brightest and the best. The problem is that the Foreign Office’s traditional outlook on these countries has never been too different from that of the security establishment. Sharif’s vision is light years ahead and it will require quite a jolt to this highly competent, yet characterised by inertia, machinery to get the ball rolling. You need people truly ideologically invested in his vision to take the lead. The mother of all challenges, however, is undoubtedly going to lie in the civil-military domain. The security establishment and sections of the Foreign Office most closely aligned with its vision have run the country’s India and Afghanistan policy for years. There is no way to make a clean break from that, especially a year before the 2014 Nato exit from Afghanistan. Sharif’s team will have to work this incrementally and without considering the military a competitor. The most crucial role for Nawaz’s core team will be to act as credible and effective interlocutors between the prime minister’s office and the GHQ. The best-case scenario is that the civilian and military enclaves have frank and regular conversations and agree on a joint agenda to move forward on regional relations and other priorities. The more probable and less attractive possibility is that, in typical Pakistani style, sycophants — in trying to appear more loyal than the king — will begin to saturate both the prime minister and the military top brass with rumours and stories that confirm their worst fears about the other and end up encouraging a rift. Here, the role of the prime minister’s team will be pivotal. They will have to be the loudest credible voices he can hear and believe. And they will have to prevent such a rift at all costs. Similarly, the military will have to keep its side in check and take the shifting institutional equilibrium in favour of the civilians in its stride rather than seeing this as a dent to personal and institutional egos. Finally, if the boss’s vision relies on out-of-the-box thinking, the bureaucratic machinery also needs the same. It may not hurt for the Foreign Office to formally coordinate two working groups, one comprising retired senior diplomats and another of independent Pakistani experts in the field. The institution can only gain from regular and streamlined interaction with individuals in both these categories. Too little of it has traditionally taken place. A change here simply can’t hurt. Above all, all stakeholders — including the prime minister himself — will have to exhibit patience. The reorientation is going to be a slow and cumbersome process. This is not only because of the challenges discussed here but also because there are any number of detractions on the Indian and Afghan sides as well. The writer is South Asia adviser at the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.
On with the show By Hajrah Mumtaz CINEMAS in urban areas, especially those frequented by the elites, seem to be doing quite well. Going by the way multiplex theatres are springing up, it is hard to imagine that a little over a decade ago, the death of the cinema-going audience was being projected and lamented.. Back then, many of the cinemas sitting on prime urban properties were (or were in danger of) being demolished or converted into commercial retail venues that yield higher profits. (Many of the country’s cinemas, by the way, were originally theatre halls, several of them converted during the ’80s. In several cases, a screen was simply erected at the foot of the stage, leaving the bare boards behind forlorn and forgotten — an apt metaphor, perhaps, for the purposes of this article.) Why has interest in cinema gone up amongst Pakistan’s privileged? First, plasma televisions — wall-sized though they may be — are nothing compared to an actual movie theatre. And, second, is the ‘if you build it, they will come’ line of thought. During the ’80s and even years into the ’90s, cinema audiences were primarily working class, there to watch the latest offering from the local industry. So, it can be argued, that Pakistan’s privileged used to not go to the cinemas because they weren’t interested in the movies being put up and, further, there weren’t many upmarket cinemas in the posh parts of town. Now that they’ve started being established, and are screening films that are doing the rounds internationally, they’re doing well. Many people also say that the revived interest in cinema has also to do with a revived interest in the arts in general. It would not be correct to say that theatre in Pakistan has been revived, because it never died in the first place. But certainly, for several reasons, Pakistani theatre too is these days and has been in recent years at the high-visibility mark, particularly as far as the elites are concerned. The disparate factors include the effect on the industry of the establishment of the National Academy of the Performing Arts in Karachi several years ago, the greater involvement in theatre in recent years of educated and well-connected young persons in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, the efforts made by or the involvement of well-placed individuals whose names carry currency in the mind of an elite audience, and high-profile events such as Pakistani groups’ participation in international theatre festivals and performances on international stages. A troupe from Lahore presented The Taming of the Shrew at London’s Globe Theatre during the World Shakespeare Festival organised in the run-up to the London Olympics last year, for instance. And meanwhile, groups including Ajoka Theatre, Tehrik-e-Niswan and the Napa Repertory Theatre participate frequently in festivals or otherwise perform in other countries, including India, thus raising theatre’s visibility. And, it must not be forgotten, the Rafi Peer Theatre Festival was, before its very unfortunate death, a landmark event. Yet talk to people within the theatre industry, and a worrying dimension becomes visible: barring a couple of runaway successes over the years, theatre halls do not fill up like cinemas do (though even there, house-fulls are a much sought after outcome). Many of the theatre people I have talked to over the years say that their best chance of getting a full house is getting a corporate body — a bank or a multinational, for instance — to ‘buy a show’, ie buy, for a given night, say 200 tickets for a hall with a capacity for 200 people. The corporate body will distribute the tickets as invitations and, having received them, people will arrive in their dozens. Otherwise, the strength of the audience will remain much lower than potential. Whether the play is in English or Urdu, comedy or drama or experimental, staged by an established group or a newbie, this seems to be the general trend at venues in well-heeled areas (a distinction that needs to be made since I am not including the so-called ‘commercial theatre’ in this discussion). What does this mean, then? Are people more likely to go and see a play if they are presented with an invitation (as opposed to buying a ticket)? True, having an invitation sitting on your mantelpiece exerts a subliminal tug. But it seems hardly likely that people going to watch a play at the Karachi or Lahore arts’ councils would be reluctant to fork out a few hundred or even a thousand rupees, given how much a fast food meal costs these days. It could be, though, that the difference lies in the nature of the product. Theatre offers a live experience, an intimacy and immediacy that in my view no other performative medium offers. A cinema showing a Hollywood or a Bollywood movie, though, offers the distilled product of industries that are obviously much, much larger and have access to far more resources and money than a Pakistani theatre group can ever hope for. If one takes the unpalatable view that the well-to-do in Pakistan (to say nothing of everyone else), in their most secret of hearts, wish they were elsewhere then, sadly, at a theatre one remains alive to the fact that here is where one is; at the cinema, watching Iron Man 3, you can forget that for a space. Further, a theatre group here must do the best it can to advertise. An American or an Indian blockbuster has the world’s communities and television to create hype about it. Most people reading would — I hope — say that Pakistan needs as much performing arts’ activities as possible. To all of them, then, I’d say: every time you buy a cinema ticket, buy a theatre ticket too. The writer is a member of staff. hajrahmumtaz@gmail.com
Denied citizenship By Niaz Murtaza FOR most of human history, formal states and associated rights of citizenship did not exist. Even where states existed, people lived as subjects of monarchical whims rather than citizens having well-defined rights.. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia in Europe unleashed the processes of modern states’ formation that eventually transformed subjects into citizens. These processes produced such self-evident, enormous benefits within Europe that geographies globally eventually yielded to the logic of state formation and citizenship rights. Thus, almost all geographies and people today reside within modern states. Most economic, political and cultural human rights, eg access to education, protection and economic opportunities, emerge from having state citizenship. However, despite the near universalisation of citizenship, tens of millions still unfortunately lack this fundamental right even today. They live in an international legal limbo since only around 40 countries have ratified the International Convention on Stateless People that attempts to enfranchise stateless people. Stateless people occupy two broad categories. The first, and the larger, category includes residents of disputed territories where the UN does not recognise the permanent jurisdiction of any state pending the resolution of bilateral disagreements, eg Taiwan, Kashmir and Palestine. Given the large sizes of such populations, transitory arrangements developed by the UN or states still allow such people most rights enjoyed by full-fledged citizens. So, Taiwan’s passport is recognised by most countries and Taiwanese can even travel to China. Within this first category, Palestinians — especially Gazans — enjoy the least rights. After dealing for several hours with Israeli authorities’ suspicions about my Pakistani origins, when I finally reached Gaza soon after the 2008 Israeli invasion, I felt like I had entered an earthquake zone. Multi-storey buildings reduced to rubble by indiscriminate Israeli bombing littered the skyline. I did not find the mass-scale abject poverty that some sources had reported, and which I have seen in Somalia, Darfur and Congo. Shops sold a variety of consumer goods smuggled through hundreds of Sinai tunnels and restaurants were doing good business. However, the lack of basic human rights, such as access to travel, higher education and medical treatment opportunities, was immediately evident. Illiterate, rural and isolated people displaced by war often find some measure of temporary solace even in overcrowded and poorly serviced camps. In Gaza, one has a highly educated, urban and globally connected population seething with enormous anger at being deprived of services that people similar to them enjoy as a birthright globally. When I eventually re-entered Israel, I felt like I had escaped from a large, open prison into the prison guard’s compound. The second category includes people who live in internationally recognised states but cannot obtain the citizenship of that or any other country due to various political reasons. Myanmar’s Rohingyas have recently attracted global attention, with neither Bangladesh nor Myanmar willing to grant them citizenship. But the Rohingyas are only unique in the degree to which they have suffered recent large-scale violence. Millions of such stateless people live like criminals in dozens of other countries, often suffering silent violence. Neither home nor host countries are willing to accept responsibility for them. Unfortunately, one such country shirking responsibility is Pakistan, which has disowned the hundreds of thousands of Biharis stranded in Bangladesh since 1971 even though they supported Pakistan’s campaign and consequently suffered atrocities at the hands of armed Bengali groups. Forty years later, they still languish in over 60 camps throughout Bangladesh with eight to 10 people living in 8x8-foot rooms in squalid, unhygienic conditions. While Bangladeshi courts have awarded citizenship to children born there, the adults remain in legal limbo. Small minorities have slipped into Pakistan through India or obtained Bangladeshi papers through various guises. The vast majority wait to go to Pakistan. Against the backdrop of surveys reporting that two-thirds of Pakistanis wish to leave Pakistan, it is heartening to see people craving to go in the reverse direction even with things so bad in Pakistan. During a recent trip to Bihari camps in Dhaka, I asked people whether they knew how bad the security situation was in Pakistan, particularly in Karachi. They replied in unison that they kept in touch on a daily basis through email, telephone and newspapers. However, they felt that in Karachi they may die once in the violence, whereas in Dhaka without legal status they die every day due to the shame. As a person blessed with the luxury of possessing two citizenships, it was ironic for me to see thousands of people struggling to gain even one. Where there is a clash between right and wrong, passing judgment is easy. However, in real life one is often faced with the dilemma of choosing sides in a clash between two rights. The right of Biharis to come to Pakistan unfortunately clashes with the right of Sindhis to retain their numerical majority in their ancestral land. Which right should take precedence? For me, at least, the immediacy of Bihari suffering takes precedence over a demographic eventuality down the decades, which may not even ever occur given the small numbers of Biharis involved and the usually higher fertility rates of rural populations. Egypt’s Jews remained lost in the wilderness for 40 years before Moses brought them home. Pakistan’s Biharis are still searching for their Moses 40 years later. With the return of the PML-N, which had earlier repatriated some Biharis, and the increasing inclination of Pakistan’s Supreme Court to take suo motu action on matters involving fundamental rights, the Biharis may find their Moses yet. But until then, they remain a blot on the Pakistani conscience. The writer is a political economist at the University of California, Berkeley. murtazaniaz@yahoo.com
Exchange rate matters By Shahid Kardar THE policies and actions of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) with respect to the management of the rupee exchange rate and the country’s foreign exchange reserves are interlinked.. In the case of the latter the level is important for a cushion that is required to address issues pertaining to the financing of the current account, the risks to cash flows for the timely servicing of our obligations and the interventions required in the foreign exchange markets to avert the adverse effects of any unexpected movements of capital. Our external situation is delicate not only owing to the weak economic and financial situation but also because of our historical heavy dependence on non-durable flows of external capital (mainly from bilateral donors or multilaterals such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank) to finance the current account deficit. These capital flows have historically enabled us to not only run large current account deficits but also maintain foreign exchange reserves at comfortable levels. However, our current account deficit today is not because of higher domestic investment financed by foreign capital inflows to meet the shortfall in domestic savings. And this gap between domestic savings and investment is now being filled not by inflows of long-term capital from the donors identified above (by the end of June there will be a net capital outflow to them of more than $500 million) or foreign direct investment (FDI) — by multinational corporations and those in the telecom, banking and oil and gas sectors, etc. — but by risky, volatile foreign portfolio investment in the stock market; in fact, FDI is unlikely to grow sharply in the foreseeable future given the country’s image, bureaucratic red tape, governance and corruption issues that get widely mentioned in international markets. This factor and the widening differential between the higher rate of our domestic inflation and that of our trading partners/competitors have resulted in the rupee being over-valued in real terms. And in the determination of the relevant exchange value of the rupee the real effective exchange rate (REER) studiously monitored by the SBP is not the appropriate indicator of the competitiveness of our exports. For instance, our competitor in exports of textiles and garments is Bangladesh but because our trade with Bangladesh is rather small the taka has a low weight in the basket of currencies that make up the REER — thereby failing to correctly reflect the competitiveness of Bangladeshi exporters in the markets of other countries. The important fact is the currency of invoicing and not the destination of trade. The importer in the UK, the US or China, etc, decides on the source for the product using the price of the same item from different countries in the same currency, for example the dollar. In other words, since an excess of 80pc of our trade is in US dollars, it makes more sense to look at the real exchange rate against the dollar. The SBP has hitherto adopted a somewhat risky strategy to defend the exchange value of the rupee. It has sold close to a billion dollars in the exchange markets since January, despite the wobbly position of the reserves. This factor, the servicing obligations of the external debt, the large oil bill, the waning increase in the growth of exports as a result of a slowdown and growing uncertainty in global markets, inadequate and feeble inflows of capital from the donor community or volatile capital inflows in the form of foreign investment in the stock market have all contributed to the issues of funding the current account deficit (even though it is less than $1.8 billion, or around 1pc of GDP). This has led to the resulting worrying decline in the level of the exchange reserves to under two months of imports, even after including the $2.7bn that the SBP has ‘borrowed’ from the commercial banks. The solution to the financing of the current account deficit does not lie in anticipating capital flows, borrowing short-term money in the garb of ‘foreign currency swaps’ with China, etc, but in raising our exports, shifting the current policy bias in favour of import substitution to exports and improving productivity through better access to technology and public and private investment in high-quality education and technical and vocational skills. This is the minimum that will need to be done if we are to break the begging bowl for funds to finance the current account deficit on a sustainable basis. In this writer’s view, the size of the current account deficit depends on the exchange rate, because the external value of the rupee affects the trade and current accounts and indirectly domestic production and savings. And in our case, the current account deficit is the result of the deficit on the trade account which, in recent years, has been in excess of $16bn per annum with 70-odd per cent of it being financed by the remittances of overseas Pakistanis. In my opinion, the exchange rate is much more important than incentives to exports in the form of low interest rates, rebates, duty drawbacks or dubious subsidies such as those under the cover of research and development, etc. We should, therefore, consider a) controls over the movement of capital (at the moment we have none of any significance, SBP regulations on conversions to foreign currency and their transfers abroad are rather lax because of an ill-advised statutory/ Constitutional protection provided to such activities) and b) managing the exchange rate such that the external value of the rupee is around a level which would keep the current account deficit to below 1pc of GDP — so that this gap can be financed from normal and regular capital flows. If we desire a stable rate of exchange of the rupee we need to ensure its stable domestic value through better control over inflation (with a complementary monetary policy stance of the SBP) and policies that incentivise rapid improvement in productivity. Otherwise, a stable exchange rate will remain an elusive and moving target. The writer is a former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Patterns of social control By Khadim Hussain IN the wake of the announcements made by the two newly elected political parties in the centre and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PML-N and PTI respectively, militant organisations have started pursuing serious strategic and tactical moves with zeal.. Recent days have seen an attack on a Frontier Corps vehicle in Quetta, the bombing of mosques in Malakand, and attacks on the police on Pajagi Road, Peshawar, on the cavalcade of the district police officer of Kohat, and in Shangla. Militant organisations appear to have prepared a tactical plan to bring parts of KP, especially Peshawar valley, under their control. The following events, most of them reported in local dailies, clearly indicate a pattern of social control being imposed by militant organisations. Social control is achieved when an indigenous way of life is changed through coercion and other means. It is also achieved when the state’s writ is privatised and non-state actors impose their worldview on the majority of the people in a particular area. Four developments indicate the socio-cultural onslaught of various militant organisations in Peshawar valley and the adjacent Khyber Agency. First, according to a local daily on May 28, the situation has become critical in the Peshawar frontier regions. In the area of Hassan Khel, female teachers and girls have stopped going to school and many people have started migrating from their hometowns because of militants, who are regularly patrolling the area. The fear factor plays an important role in effecting such consequences. Ironically, the political administration is pressing the local elders of the area to form a lashkar to check the militants’ movement. (Earlier, the people of the adjacent settled area of Adezai and Badaber formed lashkars and successfully pushed back the militant network. These lashkars were later dissolved by their leaders who claimed that the government was not cooperating with them.) Hassan Khel, some 15 kilometres to the south of Peshawar, neighbours the Levies checkpost which was attacked by militants last year, when over 20 Levies’ personnel were abducted and later killed. The area also lies in close proximity and has access to the settled towns of Mathani and Badaber. Second, the same local daily reports on May 28 that in the Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency (to the south-west of Peshawar), Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) has warned the local people of Garha Karim Khel tribe that women without burqas and men who fail to wear caps, do not have beards or offer their prayers will be punished and fined a minimum of Rs1,000. Third, in Tirah valley, the houses of four activists of the amn (peace) lashkar were set on fire and destroyed. So far, more than 40 houses have been burned down by militants here. The Pakistan military is fighting an alliance of the LI and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) here after the military-backed Ansar-ul-Islam was defeated. (Recently an attack on an amn committee member in Swat’s Manglawar town was also reported.) Fourth, eyewitnesses have reported that several commanders of various militant organisations have been observed in the suburbs of Peshawar, especially in the residential Army Welfare Trust scheme in Badaber, eight kilometres to the south of Peshawar. Though the Trust is said to have its own security system, locals claim that militants have sneaked in. Keeping in view the partial social control they exercise in the Sheikh Mohammadi and Sarband areas in the south-west of Peshawar, militant organisations seem to have already drawn a half-circle around Peshawar. This hypothesis gains validity when seen in the context of the agreement between the LI and the TTP. The pattern of attacks and related events show that militant organisations are putting their plans into action in various parts of KP, especially the suburbs of Peshawar. The recent commandments issued by militants in some areas urging people to adopt a certain way of life, the burning of houses of members of the amn lashkars and the attacks on the security agencies working under the civilian administration are all tactics towards that end. Whenever steps towards negotiation and dialogue with militant organisations are initiated, the security agencies — especially those working under the elected civilian government — become lax and self-complacent. The militant network capitalises on this opportunity and starts talking from a position of strength. Meanwhile, it repairs its network, reinstates supply lines and consolidates strategic positions. In this manner, militants not only try to influence the dialogue process in their favour but also try to force the state institutions’ retreat. Thus, the militant network is able to dictate its own terms due to the immense psychological pressure exerted on state negotiators in the wake of the crippling of state institutions. As a result, instead of a slowdown, the vicious circle of militants gaining social control and the re-taking of that writ by state institutions continues unabated. To address this situation, the newly elected provincial and federal governments must immediately take the following measures. First, a coordination cell of all intelligence agencies must be formed in the provincial metropolis for credible information-gathering. The coordination cell can report to the provincial chief executive directly or through their departmental heads. Second, the local people must be taken into confidence through their elected representatives for any untoward situation after or during the process of dialogue. Third, all political parties must be taken on board for forming a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy along with mechanisms for implementing it. The writer is a political analyst based in Peshawar. khadimhussain565@gmail.com
Atomisation of society By Anjum Altaf ONE of my insights into Pakistan’s socioeconomic evolution was due inadvertently to my father when, as a student of economics, I encountered his changed post-retirement pattern of time use.. It was the nature of the change that was surprising. I saw him rise early to monitor the water level in the rooftop storage tank, climb down to check the underground one, turn on the electric motor, then switch it off after an appropriate interval. Often, the motor would malfunction and he would arrange to have it fixed. Less frequently, someone would be called to clean the tanks. Over time the pipes to and from the tanks acquired a byzantine complexity with various valves catering to the vagaries of supply. A hand pump sprouted up in the backyard as a last resort and its water was sent for regular testing. Water consumed a big part of our daily conversation. As a social scientist I was intrigued: what was going on? Privatisation was a fad at the time and I could sense that the management of household water had become a private responsibility. But this was not really privatisation — as I reflected, I realised this was the beginning of the atomisation of Pakistan’s urban life. Privatisation and atomisation differ in the scale of their operations. A private provider can cater to an entire city; atomisation occurs when each household turns into its own supplier. Conceptually, and in terms of efficiency, this is a huge difference. As an economist, I wondered what the real cost of atomised water provisioning was, over and above the tariff that was charged for the intermittent and unreliable public supply. I published my conclusions in a 1994 paper titled The Economics of Household Response to Inadequate Water Supplies. Not surprisingly, I found that the aggregate costs of atomised water provision exceeded those of a modern water supply system. This held true even when I ignored many expenses such as boiling impure water, the imputed value of household labour and the redundancy costs of induced perversities such as the installation of suction pumps, costs to the environment, etc. Over time, I have observed the phenomenon of atomisation becoming the defining feature of urban life in Pakistan. First, it was security, with people taking on the responsibility of protecting their assets and their persons. Then it was electricity, with the investments in individual power supplies. As with water, any objective analysis of service provisioning would show that the real costs per unit of atomised provisioning exceed the tariffs at which modern collective supplies can be viably operated by public or private suppliers. People are actually paying more than the higher tariffs they protest. It is not that people are irrational. In subsequent work I found that households rejected higher tariffs for promised better supplies because they did not believe in the promises — they had lost faith in the possibility of efficient service delivery. The atomisation of society is thus the flip side of the failure of the state in Pakistan where the public sector is grossly inefficient as a service provider and hopelessly ineffective as a regulator of private suppliers. Part of the problem is well-known: the use of the public sector for patronage and the unaccountability of regulatory staff. Equally important, the system design is inappropriate in our context. The role of a monopoly provider is unavoidable for networked services (such as water and electricity) where competition is difficult to introduce. But a monopoly provider is not well suited to deliver services at the retail level where variations in demand and income streams are much larger than in developed countries and the rule of law is weak. Intelligent solutions are possible, as I saw subsequently in East Asia. Monopoly providers supply bulk metered quantities to neighbourhood blocks, with private concessionaires responsible for subsequent retail operations. The performance of various concessionaires is subject to public disclosure to monitor egregious variations in cost or quality of service; neighbourhood committees ensure collective pressure for quick dispute resolution. This design is not alien to Pakistan where the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi has shown for sewerage that the mix of public bulk infrastructure and private tertiary operations offers a viable model. Work in rural areas has helped me understand better the natural evolution of service provisioning. Take water: when all households are poor the need is served by the common village well; when a few become better-off, the sensible solution is for them to install private boreholes. However, there is a tipping point: when most households can afford private boreholes, upgrading at the individual level is no longer economically optimal. A central piped supply becomes more cost effective with the few households unable to afford the service subsidised from overall savings. We are witnessing a perverse ruralisation of urban life with affluent households resorting to self-provisioning. This is ironic because most rural localities, in Punjab at least, have passed the tipping point and are ready for central provision, something I documented in a 1993 paper Rethinking Rural Water Supply Policy in the Punjab, Pakistan. Transforming cities into giant villages is madness. A way back to sanity in the provisioning of urban public services is possible. What are needed are appropriate system design and the selection of competent managers. But neither is possible without strong and informed demand from citizens. Learning from experience, I tell students that the knowledge we generate as researchers should be directed not to policymakers but to citizens to create an informed lobby for better services. All we need now is to invent a language in which we can communicate with the men and women in the street. Test yourself: translate Millennium Development Goals into a local language and see how far you can carry the conversation. The writer is dean of the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Turmoil in tribal areas By Najmuddin A. Shaikh OUR armed forces are engaged in fierce battles in the Khyber and Kurram agencies and on a somewhat smaller scale in the other tribal agencies to re-establish the writ of the state.. It is an uphill task. The Khyber Agency operation was launched several weeks ago and it is only now that the Inter-Services Public Relations can claim that a substantial area has been cleared of militants. In their operations the armed forces have used artillery and air attacks with F-16s and helicopter gunships. One can assume that no matter how carefully these weapons have been used and no matter how many civilians have fled the conflict area, there has been substantial collateral damage. In the meanwhile, havoc continues to be wreaked in the settled districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is natural for the new government to believe that this seemingly unending conflict will only add to the over 40,000 persons who have already been killed, increase the number of internally displaced persons and jeopardise plans for an economy recovery. A desire to seek a negotiated settlement is therefore understandable. But is it possible? Would a better course be to abandon the ambivalence of the past, recognise that no elusive external gain outweighs the costs that the support of extremist groups brings to our internal security situation and set about assuring the multitude of anti-Taliban forces in the region that they can safely join the government in fighting and eliminating the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its allies? The armed forces, possibly with the collaboration of the civil administration, are seeking the assistance of local anti-TTP forces to break the hold the insurgents have established in Khyber, Kurram and other tribal areas. How successful and durable the results of these efforts will be will depend on the degree of credibility the locals attach to the determination of the new government to pursue this present course. They may take heart from President Zardari’s address to parliament in which he said, presumably with the approval of the new government, “Militancy, extremism and terrorism pose the greatest threat to our national security … We are ready to make peace with those willing to give up violence, but should be ready to use force against those who challenge the writ of the state.” The other statements that are being made by responsible officials about the willingness of the new government to find ways and means to woo the TTP into entering into talks will, however, give them pause. A front of various groups including the Afghan Taliban and anti-TTP forces in Afghanistan’s Kunar province — the source of an enormous lumber and narcotics smuggling network — are massing to confront the TTP. Ehsanullah Ehsan, the TTP spokesman, confirmed with this newspaper’s correspondent that such an attack was anticipated and attributed it to an old enmity with the Ansar-ul Islam and other militant groups. What was most interesting, however, was Ehsan’s statement to another newspaper that he hoped the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” would realise the conspiracy and not join these rival groups. He apparently found nothing wrong in stating as a Pakistani that “We have shown allegiance to the Islamic Emirate and accept their leadership and if they have any complaint we are ready to satisfy them”. When an authoritative spokesman for the TTP acknowledges pledging allegiance to the “Islamic Emirate” it means that when the Taliban become dominant in the areas of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan, after the Nato withdrawal, the TTP will join them in establishing the writ of the “Islamic Emirate” in Pakistan’s tribal areas and make these areas the “strategic depth” of the “Islamic Emirate” (as they had been during the period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan). Is this the end result we want from the negotiations with the TTP? Is there any other end that can be reasonably expected? Even while we debate this issue we must therefore seek a weakening of the TTP. In Kunar, the fight is for control of the extremely lucrative lumber and narcotics trade rather than any ideological conflict. The Afghan Taliban may join the anti-TTP front to protect their economic interests. Our authorities must encourage such moves to weaken the TTP but also to stop the use of this area by Mullah Fazlullah and his cohorts to attack Pakistan. One issue, which bedevils Pak-Afghan relations and impedes Afghan reconciliation, is the Pakistani military’s response to Fazlullah’s attacks and the fuel this provides for anti-Pakistan forces in Afghanistan. The new government’s opposition to drone strikes has been articulated at the highest level. Yet the two strikes carried out after our elections have been aimed at TTP leaders, albeit leaders who were also attacking or planning to attack forces in Afghanistan, and by all accounts have caused minimal collateral damage. The violation of our sovereignty is clear, but so is the fact that we exercise no sovereignty in the affected areas and cannot prevent the use of this area by insurgents for attacking Afghan territory — rendering meaningless President Zardari’s reiteration in parliament of the Pakistani pledge to not allow the use of its territory for attacks on other countries. The Americans need our cooperation to effect a safe and orderly withdrawal. The attack on Nato containers on Monday shows this requires quelling insurgent forces, particularly in Khyber Agency. The US may even stop drone attacks to secure such cooperation for as long as the transit routes are needed and are safe. But is this to our advantage? Do these attacks strengthen or weaken Pakistan’s struggle against the internal insurgency and the ever-enlarging extremist threat? Can this perhaps jeopardise future relations with the world’s sole, albeit bruised, super-power? A dispassionate analysis, unaffected by the public mood created by unwise propaganda, needs to be made. Equally or perhaps more importantly we also need to work out ways to promote reconciliation in Afghanistan, on which more in my next article. The writer is a former foreign secretary.
Big Brother is listening By Mahir Ali CYBER-hacking was among the more contentious items on the agenda of last week’s “informal” summit between presidents Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.. The informality was emphasised by the leaders of the two most powerful countries in the world, setting a sensible example by not bothering with the absurd, noose-like sartorial appendage known as a necktie. That gesture was plain to see, unlike the words that passed between them. It has been reported that on most issues they agreed, but on cyber-hacking they agreed to disagree. That may well be because it was alleged Chinese cyber activities, including the violation of intellectual property rights, that were on the agenda, not variants of hacking authorised by the US government. It was revealed late last week, for instance, that back in October last year the US president issued a secret directive on “offensive cyber effects operations” that “can offer unique and unconventional capabilities to advance US national objectives around the world”. That particular revelation may have come too late to affect the summit, but Obama may anyhow have been somewhat beleaguered by emerging reports on the overreach of the National Security Agency (NSA), which has for years assiduously been mining the phone and electronic communication records of US citizens as well as foreigners. The NSA was set up during the inception of the security state under Harry Truman in 1952 — the heyday of paranoia over Communist subversion and the McCarthyism that accompanied it — and even its existence was a state secret for more than two decades (which explains its nickname, No Such Agency). It was initially intended to monitor foreign communications only, but in the mid-1970s it emerged that the agency was also keeping tabs on selected US citizens, notably those active in the movement against the war in Vietnam. The scope of the selection has grown exponentially since Sept 11, 2001, explicitly in the wake of that year’s Patriot Act. The upshot of last week’s leaks, first reported in The Guardian newspaper, is that as far as telephone conversations, emails, SMS messages and social media communications are concerned, there is effectively no scope for privacy. Chances are the Obama-Xi summit would have been attended by even more confusion had it become clear before or during the talks that the whistleblower in this context was holed up in Hong Kong, an autonomous Chinese territory that cannot completely stave off pressure from Beijing. Edward Snowden, who revealed his identity last weekend and seems fully cognisant of the possible consequences, has been quoted as saying: “The NSA has built an infrastructure that allows it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting … I don’t want to live in a society that does these sorts of things.” Daniel Ellsberg, who 40 years ago brought to light secret documents, dubbed the Pentagon Papers, that made clear the extent to which US officials were aware of the disaster in Vietnam, has designated what Snowden has revealed as the most important leak in US history, expressing the hope that it will make it possible “to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an executive coup against the US constitution”. Is his optimism well-founded? Ellsberg also says that while the US is not a police state, “we do have the full electronic and legislative infrastructure of such a state”. What are the chances it will be rolled back? Obama has decried the leaks while welcoming the opportunity they offer for a debate on surveillance. But these are weasel words. As a presidential candidate in 2008, he suggested he supported whistleblowing: “Acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled, as they have been during the Bush administration.” Yet his government has gone far beyond Bush by seeking criminal proceedings under the Espionage Act against more whistleblowers than all previous administrations combined, which is quite an achievement. What action may be taken against Snowden was unclear at the time of writing, but the trial of Bradley Manning, which got under way last week three years after the young soldier was taken into custody (and scandalously mistreated while in detention), does not bode well. Manning has pleaded guilty to revealing secrets — which helped to lay bare some of the worst aspects of the aggression against Iraq as well as Afghanistan — but one of the key charges against him is that of aiding the enemy. In terms of intent as well as repercussions, that is an utter travesty. If enemies of the US can draw sustenance from evidence of American crimes against humanity, surely the ideal antidote would be to ensure such crimes are not committed in the first place, rather than seeking to indefinitely shroud them in secrecy. A few US legislators have expressed degrees of consternation over the content of the NSA leaks, rather than joining the usual chorus of condemnation. It doesn’t necessarily follow, though, that meaningful steps to roll back the totalitarian impulses of the security state are likely to be initiated in the foreseeable future. Quite apart from the now stale ‘war against terror’ narrative, there are too many vested interests involved in maintaining the shadowy post-9/11 structures, perhaps not so much for ideological reasons as for the simple incentive of profiteering. Snowden, in his latest job, was contracted to work for the NSA by Booz Allen Hamilton, a firm majority-owned by the Carlyle Group — which, intriguingly, was linked a dozen years ago to two prominent families, the Bushes and the bin Ladens. A tangled web, if ever there was one. mahir.dawn@gmail.com
The question of intervention By Rafia Zakaria WHEN Harvard professor and former special advisor to the Obama administration, Samantha Power, accepted her nomination as the next US ambassador to the United Nations, she thanked the president with the following words. . “From the day that I met you and you told me that you spent part of your vacation reading a long, dark book on genocide, I knew that you were a different kind of leader.” The book Power was referring to was her own, a 2002 tome entitled A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. In it, she argued that certain cases of genocide, such as Rwanda and the Balkans, required military intervention. Intervention is again the big question facing the US. As the news emerging from embattled Syria presents gruesome realities each day, a giant question mark hangs over the issue of whether military action by the UN is warranted. In an article discussing Power’s appointment, Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times pointed out that she has in the past been critical of both the UN and its reluctance to act fast and decisively in the face of humanitarian crisis. Given such an intellectual history, the question of whether Power’s selection points to the US building a case for humanitarian intervention in Syria has once become a prominent one. In favour of a UN-led military intervention are doctrines such as the ‘responsibility to protect’, a global standard developed by Professor Edward C. Luck, dean of the School of Peace Studies at the University of California at San Diego. This doctrine, developed in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide when the UN was too late in halting the massacre of thousands, asserts that the international community must intervene in cases where there is evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and once diplomatic efforts have not yielded any progress. Samantha Power and her predecessor Susan Rice have both been staunch supporters of the responsibility to protect. But as President Obama’s presidency has shown again and again, beliefs held in an academic setting, prior to actually assuming the reins of power, are often easily shed at the altar of practicality once professors become politicians. In this sense, the question of whether Samantha Power and the Obama administration will choose to push for military intervention in Syria is likely to give more weight to the strategic advantages of such an intrusion over the ethical or moral imperatives. Based on those, US intervention in Syria (which has heretofore been divulged as limited to non-military aid) would ensure that any future government in the country would be indebted to the US for its survival. Those may be the conundrums and complications for the US in the task of selling strategic overtures as humanitarian ones. For the rest of the world, the question of intervention in Syria and the dynamics of labelling certain conflicts as deserving of international intervention is an exposition of the imbalance in the nature of defining such terms. As historian Vijay Prashad pointed out in a recent essay in the magazine Jadaliyya, similar interventions were certainly not considered when thousands of Iraqis were being killed during the American invasion of that country. In more recent conflicts, no intervention was deemed necessary last November, when Israel began a bombing campaign in Gaza, endangering thousands of Palestinian civilians who were in the midst of the conflict. Pakistan has its own story of intervention to tell the world. Ever since the inception of the ‘war on terror’, the US has been pressuring Pakistan’s military to target insurgents within its own territory. When the pressure did not yield the results expected, a campaign to target alleged militants using drones was begun. Through both direct and indirect interventions, therefore, the lives of Pakistani civilians were endangered to accomplish the strategic goals of the US. Of course, no UN intervention to protect these civilians was considered at all. As Pakistan’s current morass of institutional failure, incipient radicalism and virulent anti-Americanism attests, intervention did not yield victory against militancy or halt the destabilisation of the country that it sought to avoid. In the next few months, and with US approval, Pakistani leaders may hug the very murderous miscreants that have been at the centre of turmoil in the region. Another myth that dangles close to the issue of intervention is the structuring of the question in a way that suggests that a UN intervention is the first act of foreign interference in an otherwise domestic conflict. Not only does this ignore the larger pictures of colonial and postcolonial meddling that are imputed in the identity and national politics of various nation states, it also ignores more recent connections between regions in conflict and regional and global power players. In the Syrian case, these would be the states of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, all of whom are serving as proxies for the US and are already assisting rebel forces. The problem of intervention, then, is not simply one that can be attributed to the ineffectuality of the UN and the untenability of an international community acting together to ensure the greater good of innocent civilians caught in the midst of conflict or the rapacious throes of genocide. The more central question to the issue of intervention is rather which conflicts are considered morally problematic enough to necessitate such discussions while others, generally those deemed expedient by Atlantic nations, escape the lens of such scrutiny. Without an exploration of how the relative military power of nations affects their moral estimation in the eyes of the world as good and bad, just or rebellious, rightfully provoked or tyrannically brutal, no real progress can be made on the question of intervention. The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy. rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
No small matter By I. A. Rehman AS the rhetoric about quick-fix answers to the country’s chronic problems continues, the poor and the marginalised cannot be blamed for asking for their share in the new deal.. The disadvantaged do not mind the importance the new rulers attach to matters related to sovereignty and constitutionalism, even if they do not fully understand them. But when a promise to end targeted killing and street violence is made, every vendor in Karachi sees a possibility of freedom from fear of being killed by the wayside. When the eradication of corruption is promised, every rickshaw driver in Sukkur starts hoping that he won’t have to pay the daily protection money to the police. And whenever a reference is made to the wonderful Metro Bus Service of Lahore, a landless tenant in Mithan Kot starts dreaming that if the red bus cannot come to his village, fate may award him a job in Lahore. In this season of dreams the poorer one is, the longer the sequence of one’s dreams. For a large population the toughest challenges are not what politicians are talking about. For them one of the biggest issues is that their children are dying day after day and more are threatened with death or loss of their physical faculties that could, in many cases, be worse than death. It has been many months since the first reports of children dying of measles started coming in from Sindh. The authorities saw no reason to bestir themselves from their revolving chairs because the death of poor children is a routine matter (‘Aisa tau hota hi rehta hai’). Then the disease travelled to Punjab and started attacking the less disadvantaged sections of society. The famous hospitals of Lahore have been admitting patients for over two months and deaths continue to be reported every day. In the post-election cacophony about the better days to come little attention was paid to the pain and suffering of parents who brought their children to hospitals to be treated for measles and returned home with lifeless bodies they had no heart to bury. The matter was noticed by the Punjab chief minister only when he addressed a convocation at a medical institution. One should like to hope that his war on the disease will be short and completely successful. For the writers of press releases and the media, measles deaths are merely numbers in the headlines — the higher the casualties, the bigger the headline. Apart from the indescribable agony that a child’s death causes to a mother, the fact that should prick the conscience of both the rulers and the subjects is that the angel of death is nibbling away with maddening regularity at Pakistan’s future. As if the measles epidemic was not enough to cause sleepless nights to the under-privileged there are reports that scores of children suffering from a disease — variously described as gastro and diarrhoea — are being brought to hospitals. The health authorities have attributed the outbreak to the use of polluted water for drinking and the consumption of rotten food. This diagnosis offers no consolation to the poor for they have no access to clean, safe water for drinking. That in a land of rivers that once had abundant reservoirs of sweet water the people have to choose between expensive bottled water and dirty water saturated with toxicants is no less a scandal than a nuclear power’s failure to generate enough electricity. Can anyone tell us how long it will take to ensure a supply of pure drinking water to all citizens of Pakistan? Where in the list of our priorities does the task of saving our little ones from water-borne diseases figure? The failure of the administration to carry out polio-vaccination campaigns in areas where the vaccinators continue to be killed does not encourage the hope that even if child health is pushed higher in the priority list the authorities have the capacity to discharge their responsibilities. They do not seem worried at the prospect of the World Health Organisation and Unicef, the United Nations agency for children, walking out of Pakistan; they may as well be relieved as that would lessen the burden of their duties. When the outbreak of measles shook officials out of their slumber it was realised that Balochistan was not considered worthy of having a vaccination programme at all. Nor did the health authorities know of the possibility of importing vaccine at the lowest possible cost. The official complacency over the threat polio presents to our children only confirms the presence of a suicidal streak in Pakistani officialdom’s mindset. On the other hand, amidst the excitement of elections, the victors’ celebrations and the losers’ wailing, there was no time to hail the triumph of the young Hunza woman in scaling the highest mountain peak in the world or the marvellous showing by some of our students in an international academic competition. How much did the state contribute to their achievements? The question one should like to ask is: how long will the brighter ones among our youth be required to prove their mettle despite the state’s failure to do its duty to them? How is the state going to honour its new pledge to guarantee compulsory and meaningful education to all children aged five to 16 years? Is anybody working out strategies for making up for the failure to realise the Millennium Development Goals? The people are happy that they have played their part in ensuring a democratic transfer of power. But for them the only proof of a good turn in the country’s fortunes will be a marked improvement in the quality of life of not only the opulent residents of defence housing authorities but also of the long-suffering inhabitants of the Provincially Administered Tribal Area in DG Khan district (for instance). The luckless majority of Pakistan’s population has a few modest demands and these can be met — provided the ruling elite gives the matter due importance. Those in power who consider the concerns of the have-nots as small matters only diminish themselves.
Dark secrets of shining democracies By Jawed Naqvi THE oppressive heat in Delhi was interrupted by a brief visit from the rain clouds this week. Ditto with Edward Snowden’s courageous revelations about the American government’s spying on its own people.. His admission to being the source that spilled the beans on US espionage at home and abroad came as a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stifling atmosphere of manufactured consent and submission. In a way what Snowden revealed from his vantage point as a former CIA operative promises to turn George Orwell’s fable of Animal Farm on its head. In Orwell’s spoof on Stalin’s Russia the pigs represent the secretive Bolshevik leaders who end up adopting the manners of capitalist humans they once derided. Are we then witnessing the opposite phenomenon in which capitalist humans are acquiring the darkest features of Orwell’s communist pigs? Actually, it was in the more sombre Nineteen Eighty Four that Orwell etched a palpably real nightmare of a regimented society in which citizens are subjected to relentless vigil by the state’s agencies. “It was somewhat ironic that the news of the NSA’s systematic slurping of phone records and the subsequent revelations about the … spying system were revealed in the same week as the 64th anniversary of the publication of Orwell’s dark masterpiece,” Iain Thomson wrote in UK-based portal The Register. “Now it seems people are buying it up either to learn about what could be, or simply because recent events reminded them to read the classic.” In his shockingly compelling interview to The Guardian from an obviously unsafe hideout in Hong Kong, Snowden showed that the boot was now on the other foot. In other words, the elusive quest for a free world promised during the Cold War had hit the doldrums. Revolutions devour their own children, it had been claimed, not without a grain of truth. How should we describe the free-market democracies as they mutate into secret states once identified with the communist era? Like everyone else, the Indian government runs a gamut of spy agencies that at least in one case didn’t spare even the finance minister’s office in their snooping zeal. New Delhi has feigned ignorance of the US government’s all pervasive electronic intrusions across the world in which India is the fifth most watched country. Why just India, everyone is complicit and conniving in the project of mistrusting their own citizens. As Snowden asserts, a possible exception is Iceland. It is there, he believes, he might feel a bit more secure against the powerful reach of his former employers who now want him as a traitor. Russia has farcically offered to consider asylum for Snowden, which inadvertently speaks volumes for the status of probity in the rest of the free world that doesn’t want anything to do with him. In any regimented society, as in a supposedly freer world, the media — with a few exceptions — becomes a useful asset to promote the state’s point of view. India’s muddled democracy has its fair share of pliable journalists. Here, the editors deem it an honour to be decorated with Soviet-style Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan state awards. The corporate takeover of the ‘free media’ is all but complete even as senior journalists glide into political and corporate lobbies through an invisible revolving door, never mind the obvious conflict of interests. It is therefore a no mean blessing that tiny spaces still remain in the public sphere that resonate with bravehearts like Snowden and Julian Assange. Snowden’s expose of a rotten system that hides behind the shroud of democracy ranks equally with Assange’s and Bradley Manning’s largesse of state secrets they made available to everyone and anyone who cared to investigate the global subversion of societies, economies, cultures and above all of the life-giving sources of nature as well. Why are democracies, led by the most powerful of them, turning into secret states that snoop on their own citizens? Or did the epithet of the Iron Curtain used by Churchill to describe Moscow’s impermeability to the daylight of liberal inquiry mask the West’s own similar tendencies? The truth behind Snowden’s agony is best captured in his own words. What did he think was going to happen to him now? “Nothing good,” was his searing answer. Why did he choose to suffer a forbidding fate? What compelled him to become a whistleblower? The NSA, he said, had built an infrastructure that allowed it to intercept almost everything. With this capability, the vast majority of human communications are automatically ingested without targeting. “If I wanted to see your emails or your wife’s phone, all I have to do is use intercepts. I can get your emails, passwords, phone records, credit cards. “I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things … I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.” The abiding irony of Snowden’s revelations is that they happened soon after a meeting of the American and the Chinese presidents in Los Angeles. The Chinese government had been snooping and hacking into US defence and commercial establishments. It had to stop for their ties to remain intact, the leader from China was told. Now Snowden is urging his own government to do likewise — to stop hacking into people’s emails and phone records. How far his mission will succeed will depend inevitably on the people who elect their governments, and thereby choose the systems that govern them. The best we can hope for is that the rain clouds will not disperse without ushering in the monsoon. The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi. jawednaqvi@gmail.com
Vultures and load-shedding By Khurram Husain WITH all the talk about bringing in private-sector management to raise efficiency in state-owned enterprises, a few things are worth bearing in mind.. First, there is little alternative. Private-sector management is indeed required because state-owned enterprises inevitably get caught up in politics and become vehicles for the dissemination of patronage and political favour. But, having said that, it’s also important to understand that private management brings its own limitations. The chairman of Karachi’s electric supply company KESC, Tabish Gauhar, for example, has been writing about the virtues of private-sector management, saying that the focus of private enterprise is always “customer-centric” and therefore efficiencies naturally follow. This is fair enough, and there is lots of evidence to support the claim. Intuition also tells us something similar. But let’s also agree that this is the rosier side of the picture and, like any rose, there is also a thorny dimension. The optimists amongst us can be easily persuaded that privately-run firms tend to be “customer-centric”. But those of us who have snooped around in the dark spaces of our economy and business environment know that the shareholder comes long before the customer in the calculations of upper management. The shareholder is interested in one thing only: returns. This is a euphemism for money. All the shareholder wants, whether at the end of the day or the start, is money. What distinguishes some shareholders from others are things like how long they’re willing to wait to get their hands on that money (as a rule, the longer the wait, the more the quantity of funds demanded), and the means through which they get it. Three examples tell the story. In one case, the shareholder is persuaded by upper management to undertake a massive expansion in operations, requiring billions of rupees in investment. Bank loans are acquired, and then through massive over-invoicing, a large portion of these loans finds its way into the pockets of the primary shareholders. The expansion comes at a tremendous cost, but nobody asks any questions because management gets what it wants, and the shareholder gets his returns before operations even commence. In another case, a wealthy individual will buy a controlling share in a large company, let’s say 12 per cent or so. Then the individual in question will bring his own men onto the board (and yes, they’re almost always men). Once the board is properly stacked up, the CEO will be pressured to announce outlandish dividends. If the CEO tries to resist, saying the dividends being demanded are unrealistic given the state of the company’s cash flows, that CEO will be replaced. If the CEO agrees, the volumes being demanded as dividends will increase until you have a situation where the company is paying out more through dividends than the total cash it is able to generate from its own operations. How could this be? How could a company pay more in dividends than its own cash flows? By using borrowed money, obviously. Money borrowed from banks for working capital purposes will be siphoned out in the form of dividends, and will once again find its way into the shareholders’ pockets. This route brings an added bonus. The unusually large dividend payouts will attract the interest of other investors on the trade floor, and the price of the company’s stock will rise very sharply over the time period when the dividend payouts are under way. In a few years, the original shareholder would have recovered the money he had invested to acquire controlling share in the company, and at this point he will slowly liquidate his holdings, in all likelihood selling the shares at twice the price he paid to acquire them. He’ll sell slowly, surreptitiously, so as to not spark any chatter in the market, lest his stealthy exit sparks off a wider sell-off. He’ll likely walk off with a return in excess of 100pc on his original investment, and will then cast his vulture’s gaze at the corporate landscape one more time, looking for another large enterprise to enter, plunder, and abandon. And the third example. Here our wily capitalist, the predatory investor, will own a bouquet of companies. One of them will be a bank. His own bank will issue a loan at very high interest rates to his own company. The company will groan and creak as it pays every penny it earns to the bank in the form of financial charges, telling the wider body of shareholders that due to problems such as the energy crisis or the circular debt or whatever, it is unable to offer a generous dividend this year. Meanwhile, on the balance sheet of the company, financial charges will exceed the total cash generated from operations; much like in the previous example, dividend payouts will exceed total cash generated from operations. In both cases, when payout in any form — whether as financial charges or as dividends — exceed the company’s own cash flow, we can suspect that some sort of predatory activity is under way. Each of the examples cited is real. The companies involved will remain unnamed — for now — but it is worth everybody’s while, especially of the government, to recall that predatory investors are on the prowl. All the talk of a large-scale retirement of the circular debt has attracted their attention, because they smell money. While welcoming the efficiencies that private-sector managements can bring, it is equally important to guard against the predatory instincts of private-sector investors. The power sector is far too important, by virtue of its special place in the daily lives of tens of millions of citizens, to be left to fend for itself. Tread, by all means — but with caution. The writer is a Karachi-based journalist covering business and economic policy. khurram.husain@gmail.com
Fixing the tax system By Sakib Sherani THE finance minister has presented the federal budget for 2013-14. While containing several positive elements, such as a desire to reduce the fiscal deficit by 2.5 per cent of GDP, among others, in overall terms the budget appears to be a collection of measures put together ‘bottom-up’ rather than a comprehensive framework of proposals flowing ‘top-down’ from an overarching policy design.. This design weakness is evident in perhaps the most important area: the budget falls woefully short in dealing credibly with broadening the tax base. While tinkering with tried and tested revenue measures from the 1990s, which mostly met with little success, the budget misses the mark on the critical issue of bringing equity and fairness to the tax system. As the PML-N government tries to address the many challenges faced by the economy, none is of greater long-term importance, in my view, than fixing a dysfunctional and broken tax system. For all the relevance of the threat from non-state actors, and the collapse of the energy sector induced by the PPP’s corruption and misrule, the existential threat to this country comes from not being able to come to grips with fair and equitable tax collection. Without fixing Pakistan’s tax system, there is little hope for the country — not just for the economy. As I have frequently written over the past few years — including in the Pakistan Economic Survey of 2009-10 — Pakistan’s unfair and inequitable tax system is placing an unbearable burden on the formal sector of the economy, and is directly responsible for increasing the size of the informal and undocumented economy, precisely when the country needs the exact opposite outcome. This is seriously undermining the ability of the economy to attract long-term investment and to create jobs for educated youth. Beyond the economy, the inability and unwillingness of successive governments to collect taxes — which are the essential life-blood of any state’s resources, and hence its policy responses — is forcing the state to withdraw, bit by bit, from its functions, duties and responsibilities that its citizens expect. These include the provision of electricity, payment of salaries to public-sector workers, ensuring the availability of life-saving medicines in public hospitals, a well-functioning railway or airline, the provision of a well-functioning judicial system, law and order etc. The dissolution of the state in large swathes of the country is creating the space for non-state actors to exert their influence. Hence, it is essential to understand that Pakistan’s tax ‘problem’ — which has grabbed world attention for its gargantuan proportion and sheer brazenness — is not just sinking the economy, but has seriously undermined the state of Pakistan. Here, it will be useful to put the scale of non-collection and non-payment of tax in Pakistan in context. Scale of the issue: • FBR estimates approximately 3.7 million people on its tax register (National Tax Numbers, or NTNs, issued). How- ever, 2.2m of these are estimated to be inactive/non-filers; • The balance 1.5m taxpayers represent 4.4pc of the relevant population group; • Of the rest, only 600,000 taxpayers are estimated to pay their tax voluntarily with their tax return (0.3pc of the population), with the balance having their tax deducted at source; • On the sales tax side, only 135,000 entities are registered in the entire economy; • Approximately 75pc of the income tax is collected from five sectors of the economy, while over 60pc of the sales tax is collected from only 100 or so registered payers; • Direct income tax collection is only 3.5pc of GDP. Approximately 70pc of this is generated by the withholding tax regime, and not by tax returns/demands or audits. Hence, actual direct income tax collection due to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) efforts (adjusted for withholding taxes) is approx. 10.7pc of total tax receipts, or less than 1.1pc of GDP; • Approximately 70pc of Pakistan’s parliamentarians were found to be declaring “Nil” taxable income, according to a 2012 study of their annual filings/declarations with the ECP. However, even if, after some cosmic miracle, Pakistan’s elites correct course on tax policy, no proposal to raise revenues will succeed without re-inventing the FBR. This organisation has virtually collapsed and ceased to exist as a viable, functioning revenue collecting agency of government. A vignette or two will give the unfamiliar reader a sad and painful insight into the inner workings and state of FBR — an entity that still has a large corps of professionally competent people. In the past five years, FBR has witnessed seven chairmen. In the last nine months alone, there have been an unprecedented 240 transfers and postings — a record of sorts. The FBR’s state of flux has worsened since 2008 by frequent transfers, postings and interference by the political system. In addition, its internal restructuring along functional lines (Internal Revenue and Customs) has not been well thought out nor effectively implemented, and has for all practical purposes broken the organisation into two parts that are divorced from each other. The effect on morale has compounded the FBR’s already weak enforcement performance. If the government can find ways to motivate, energise, and incentivise the FBR’s staff, and enhance its internal cohesion, it will drastically improve the body’s performance qualitatively as well as quantitatively. A good starting point will be to appoint honest, clean and strong-willed individuals as chairman and members — and then to grant them constitutionally-protected tenure. The writer is a former economic adviser to government, and currently heads a macroeconomic consultancy based in Islamabad.
The neo-liberal hoax By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar AS the new finance minister unveiled the new government’s first budget this Wednesday, I could not help but cast my mind on the ongoing spate of protests in Turkey that have presented the right-of-centre AKP government with its biggest challenge since coming to power in 2002. . Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has presided over a long period of economic growth and won three consecutive general elections, yet is increasingly unpopular with a vocal and frustrated segment of the country’s youthful middle class. What is the connection between the ruling party in Turkey, one of the world’s most vibrant ‘emerging markets’, and the PML-N that has just come to power in a country that the new prime minister himself has admitted is a basket case? Actually, there are many. Both parties harbour a soft corner for Islamists, derive a great deal of support from a nouveau-riche commercial class with moorings in the ‘traditional’ heartlands of the country, and believe that the solution to all of the problems faced by a Muslim society in the modern era lies in embrace of the ‘free market’. That Turkey has become an example of all the good things that neo-liberalism can buy while Pakistan can only dream of becoming an investor’s safe haven is, of course, not merely explained by fate. There are many things that Pakistanis should learn from the Turks, not least of all the imperative of separating the business of state affairs from matters of faith. But this should not distract from the fact that the developmental model that the Sharif brothers and their supporters would have us believe explains their success is not all that different from PM Erdogan’s. Indeed, all around the world, success in matters of government is now measured by how close policy planners can get to mimicking the neo-liberal ideal-type. The model itself is hardly rocket science. Open one’s markets — particularly financial — to investors from all over the world, streamline and stimulate the banking sector, promote conspicuous consumption and give free reign to the construction industry. If everything comes together, growth rates skyrocket, inordinate amounts of money are made and cities become havens of instant gratification for tourists and upwardly mobile middle classes alike. But given the volatile nature of the model, even a hint of political instability can lead to capital flight and credit squeezes, or what eventually become financial crises. It is then that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) descends upon its wounded prey, reciting lessons about fiscal irresponsibility, unsustainable budget deficits and low investor confidence. Back in 2001, Turkey’s economy was described more or less in such terms. ‘Experts’ are warning that the ongoing protest movement could trigger a swift return to the abyss. The question left unanswered is how success based on such ‘sound fundamentals’ can become failure so quickly. In this neo-liberal paradise — or hell, depending on which side one is positioned — once-upon-a-time concerns such as employment and inequality are completely sidelined. Indeed, Turkey remains a much more inegalitarian society compared to many of the countries in the Eurozone of which it craves to be part. Its revenue structure is as regressive as anywhere in the world, featuring an inordinately high proportion of indirect taxes. Meanwhile the Turks are experiencing a youth bulge not dissimilar to ours. And they are realising that growth based on the financialisation of everything can only distract from a lack of employment opportunities for an increasingly skilled and youthful population. The Sharifs have, of course, come to power precisely on the back of the support of a youthful Punjabi urban middle class heartland which has enjoyed more economic mobility than any other social segment since the Musharraf regime fully embraced the neo-liberal model. The PML-N is reaping the benefits of majoritarian democracy, much like the AKP which has established roots in the heavily populated Anatolian heartland of Turkey. But there is a serious problem with majoritarian democracy in an era where right-wing populist slogans can only temporarily distract from the bankruptcy — pun intended — of capitalism. Sooner or later, the cat sneaks out of the bag and the mirage of popularity starts to wither away. As it turns out the Sharif brothers — the younger one in particular — are great admirers of Erdogan and the AKP. Lahore’s Metro Bus project is not the only initiative in recent times to feature hefty Turkish investment, economic or otherwise. With the PML-N now in power at the centre, both the Turkish model and investments will become more prominent. True to form, the PML-N leadership proudly described the budget as ‘investment and business-friendly’. If nothing else, one would like to believe that the investments and business that the ruling party is so keen on promoting are not limited only to Punjab. There is talk of building a countrywide road infrastructure, which would fit well into the broadly neo-liberal scheme of things, but it remains to be seen whether the political pre-requisites for such an initiative can be met, particularly in restive Balochistan. In the final analysis, we would do well to bear in mind that the practical implementation of neo-liberalism departs greatly from the theory we read in economics textbooks. Contemporary Marxist theoretician David Harvey has thus insisted on distinguishing neo-liberalism as a set of ideas from neo-liberalisation in practice. The former features perfectly competitive markets and the absence of state intervention, while the latter is all about heavily politicised markets, with the state itself a major player. Perhaps most importantly, Harvey emphasises the fact that the abominations of the neo-liberal era cannot be attributed to the personal whims of greedy investment bankers and corrupt state officials. Instead, neo-liberalisation must be seen as a necessary consequence of rampant contradictions within the global capitalist order. This order survives because a cogent political challenge to it is yet to emerge. Crucial to the building of such an anti-systemic force is exposing the neo-liberal hoax for what it really is. The writer teaches at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
Salutations to Javed Hashmi By Asha’ar Rehman YOU can always bank on Javed Hashmi to generate a row, sometimes against the ideals of merit.. In a world where greetings have to always be profuse and generously decorated with the superlative, and in a country where these adjectives have to be accompanied by embraces if the recipient so approves, one man is being accused of forcibly adopting the nation’s new leader as his own. “Mian Nawaz Sharif was my leader then and he is my leader now.” This was hardly out of sync with the general Pakistani custom of bombastic salutations and the occasion was unprecedented. Don’t know what all this fuss is about. Only Mr Hashmi, with the possible exception of the now obscure Sardar Aslam Raisani, had a chance to create a controversy as big as this over a trifle. A degree is a degree, whether it is faked or whether it is genuine. Likewise, a leader remains a leader, even if, prima facie, there are some technical reasons to say that you have made your exit from the ranks of being led. The expulsion is impossible — no, it is unthinkable, in the case of a powerful prime minister who wants to carry everyone along and who has forgiven all. There is only one possible explanation to the outrageous stuff Mr Hashmi’s hailing of the very worthy has resulted in. His watchers in the assembly have been particularly severe on him and once again they are keen on finding a slip where none has actually taken place. In the wake of his latest so-called gaffe, the mischievous lot had the quick presence of mind to recall a rather awkward incident from the past. In the same house during the previous term, Mr Hashmi had earned himself the ultimate ignominy by coming up with a line that could loosely be interpreted as appreciative of President Asif Ali Zardari: him, of all the people on the face of this earth. Not exactly known to mince his words but until then a PML-N loyalist to the core, Javed Hashmi had then said that one needed to be a PhD to understand Mr Zardari’s politics. For all we know, bound by the presidential protocol, that could have been his way of politely asking the president to please explain; his way of pointing out that the president didn’t in fact possess a doctorate, an obvious logical outcome of which was that he did not quite know what politics he was doing. Yet it was made out to be a glaring error of judgement, and the guilty was pounced upon and lavished with innuendo. Some of the pundits, at hand and looking to supervise a hasty untying of the knot ceremony, went as far as predicting his separation from the PML-N camp he was an unshakeable part of until then. The latest incident could also have been ignored. At least some of the dire consequences it entailed for the national politics could well have been avoided with adherence to the time-honoured and often all-encompassing Pakistani greeting regime and to the spirit of reconciliation permeating the house at the start of a new term. But some of those who chose to ignore the “my friend Musharraf” quip from the ever-truthful Mahmood Khan Achakzai during the same session failed in their democratic duty when they couldn’t quite extend the same courtesy towards a very emotional rebel from southern Punjab. That’s discriminatory. Soon afterwards, his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) explained that Mr Hashmi’s seemingly grand welcome to Mian Sahib on his third term was actually a result of a slip of the tongue and not at all meant to be a salute. This decided the matter and those who had been saying the PTI was too bland and that the party didn’t have a sense of humour were left grimacing. Last Sunday, a whole four days of national debate over the extremely important issue later, Javed Hashmi had to formally retract his statement. In a very meaningful assertion, he told journalists in Multan that the television anchors, habitual party-changers as they are, had blown his remarks out of proportion. If that has not already happened, given the speed at which they hop jobs, one of these days an anchor is bound to sign-off for the wrong channel, where he or she had been employed until a few hours ago. Yet the media was so unsympathetic to someone who has changed parties once in 35 years and who was trying to improve on a democratic tradition of across-the-party eulogising that is already very much in existence. At the press conference, Javed Hashmi clarified that the so-called mistake ascribed to him did not occur because of any perceived similarities in the respective leaderships of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan. He strove to create a clear distinction by applauding Mr Khan “for trying to introduce a new political culture in the country.” He was close. Mr Khan was about to be credited for setting a new trend in politics, but just then his party intervened and set the process in reverse by forcing Mr Hashmi to renege on his message of felicitation to the old leader, new prime minister. Hailing apparently rival leaders for their work is not unheard of in Pakistan. President Asif Zardari says democracy in the country is the fruit borne out of the sacrifices made by not just his leader Benazir Bhutto but also by Mian Nawaz Sharif. In turn, Ms Bhutto is today celebrated by political groups across the board. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is routinely remembered as the only leader this country has produced after the Quaid-i-Azam. Berated for only discovering true leadership when the leader was gone, Javed Hashmi, the rebel, seemed to be only seeking to make a turn towards the positive when he was brusquely pulled up. The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
Agenda for peace process By A.G. Noorani THERE was much more than a sense of formality in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s congratulations to Mian Nawaz Sharif on the impressive victory of the PML-N in the May 11 elections. Equally, the response of Mian Nawaz Sharif went far beyond the formal in its warmth.. Will all this peter out, as previous exchanges did? One hopes not; but the lessons of the past, especially the recent past, must be heeded and a sound approach devised to put relations between the two countries on a promising course. We must avoid unreal expectations. Nothing came of the then prime minister Narasimha Rao’s offer of “a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan to discuss all matters of mutual concern, including issues related to Jammu & Kashmir” because this very phrasing, in his congratulatory letter of Oct 19, 1993 to the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto, revealed that he was not prepared to discuss the Kashmir dispute itself. Her reply of Oct 20, 1993 emphasised that “the Jammu and Kashmir issue is the main obstacle in the way of better relations between our two countries”. She was right, but her profession of readiness “to engage in serious and purposeful discussions” was belied by the non-paper India received in January 1994. It asked for the moon. India’s non-paper on Kashmir was no better. Nawaz Sharif fought the 1997 general election on the plank inter alia of improving relations with India. Deve Gowda’s (Indian prime minister at the time) message of congratulations proposed “an early resumption of dialogue”. Nawaz Sharif’s reply suggested talks between the foreign secretaries. This resulted in the Islamabad joint statement of June 23, 1997 which embodied a charter for a composite dialogue. I. K. Gujral wrecked it by reneging on his commitment at Male to set up a working group on Kashmir. The Bharatiya Janata Party regime which followed (1998-2004) did worse. We have come a long way. We are not at the stage of a breakthrough, but, at a stage at which a breakthrough can be explored and achieved before long. The most promising new element is trust which was sadly lacking between the leaders during the PPP government, especially in the wake of the Mumbai blasts. (Some significant steps were taken towards a rapprochement; to wit, the accord on visas and the MFN.) At least twice Prime Minister Singh felt provoked then to ask, for obvious reasons, whom he should negotiate with. He now has a committed partner in the dialogue in Nawaz Sharif. Manmohan Singh wants to work with Nawaz Sharif to “chart a new course and pursue a new destiny in the relations between our countries”. It is of vital importance that this precious asset of mutual respect and trust is not squandered, as before, by unreal expectations or obstructionist elements. Hence, the need to proceed while moulding public opinion in a positive direction. The electronic media is an unruly horse; especially in India where TV channels vie with one another to whip up chauvinistic frenzy vis-à-vis Pakistan, China or, for that matter, any adversary real or imagined. I am not competent to opine on the media in Pakistan. The problem has an obvious solution — lift all the curbs on receipt of telecasts and exchanges of media personnel; allow newspapers and TV channels to freely post correspondents in each other’s country, and, indeed, sponsor visits of media personnel. There is something obscene about the curbs that are in place today; especially on the Line of Control (LoC) trade. Militancy in Kashmir is on the decline, admittedly. What harm can a proper modern infrastructure for trade inflict? In 2013, barter trade is shocking. Banking facilities are needed; so are telecommunication so that traders know the market on the other side. To avoid the sad experience of last January, it is of vital importance to improve the existing mechanism in order to avoid misunderstandings. Together these two measures — on the LoC trade facilities and mechanisms to solve disputes — will go a long way towards improving the atmosphere. Redeployment of artillery guns and mortars, say, 20-30 kms from the LoC, is another measure worth considering. Enforcing the visa and MFN accords and a determined attempt to end the prisoners’ problem will also be of help. But by far the best confidence-building measure will be a no-war pact. In 1997, Mian Nawaz Sharif renewed the proposal in his address to the UN General Assembly. Back in May 1984, the two countries had all but resolved their differences on the rival drafts. Going back even further, India had offered a draft in 1949 which was rejected. Years later, on Nov 22, 1981 Pakistan sent a note proposing the pact. Two aide memoires followed; India’s on Dec 24, 1981 and Pakistan’s on Jan 12, 1982. They set out the principles each side considered important. Pakistan presented formally the draft of an agreement on a no-war pact on May 31, 1982 while India presented a draft treaty of peace, friendship and cooperation to foreign secretary M. K. Rasgotra in Islamabad. A breakthrough was achieved in his talks with foreign secretary Niaz A. Naik. But, like the course of true love, India-Pakistan negotiations never run smoothly. Rasgotra revealed in 1986 that “we virtually had an agreed text in Murree in the second week of May 1984”, except for a clause on bases. Time has rendered it irrelevant. Asked by this writer how long it would have taken to resolve the difference, Rasgotra lifted his forefinger and said “one hour”. In 2013 it should take less time to mesh the rival texts into a draft acceptable to both sides. In an improved atmosphere we can tackle next Sir Creek, Siachen and move on to resolve the Kashmir dispute. Once officials finish the homework a summit can break the logjam and define an enduring framework to make the détente irreversible. The writer is an author and a lawyer.
An ideological minefield By Irfan Husain EVERY once in a while, a book, a film or a play grabs you by the throat and forces you to re-examine your views about culture, identity and faith.. I experienced this recently with Disgraced, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Ayad Akhtar, at London’s Bush Theatre. The playwright is a New Yorker of Pakistani parentage, and author of the novel American Dervish. In our post-9/11 world, Muslim migrants in the West — and in the US, in particular — have been forced to reconsider their sense of self and belief. Seen as largely irrelevant in earlier, more relaxed times, they have now become central to the migrant experience. The play opens in the New York apartment of Amir Kapoor, a successful corporate lawyer. His artist wife Emily is painting his portrait. Their casual chat is interrupted by Amir taking a couple of calls that establish him as a hard-driving lawyer in a high-powered legal firm. We first learn that Amir is a Muslim when his nephew Abe enters. He has changed his name from Hussein to Abe, and he and Emily persuade Amir to help in the defence of a local imam who has been accused of raising funds for Hamas. In the course of this conversation, Amir reminds his wife and nephew that he has no time for the faith he was born into. He tells Emily what most Muslims think of white women: “White women have no self-respect. How can someone respect themselves when they think they have to take off their clothes to make people like them? They’re w-----.” In the next scene, Emily is reading a newspaper report about the imam’s court hearing in which Amir is quoted as being supportive of the Muslim cleric. He is upset at the implications of this news story: “I guess they’ll look at the name, and if they know anything at all… They’ll know the name isn’t Muslim.” Three months later, the couple are expecting guests for dinner, and Amir tells Emily that one of the partners in his firm has accused him of misrepresenting himself by stating that his parents were Indian, and not informing the (Jewish) company that his original name was Abdullah. Amir sees this background check as a direct result of his court appearance. Jory, one of the guests, is a black colleague of Amir’s; her husband Isaac is an art critic and a friend of Emily’s. Over dinner, the conversation drifts to Emily’s depiction of Islamic motifs in her work. From here, it’s a short step to Amir’s estrangement from Islam. When Amir says he felt a sense of pride when the Twin Towers came down on 9/11, the others are shocked. Amir and Jory leave for a quick errand, and while they are away, Isaac tells Emily that Jory has been made a partner in the firm, a position Amir had been sure of getting. We also learn that when Emily and Isaac were together in London recently, they had had a brief affair. This is made plain to Jory who sees her husband kissing Emily as she returns. In this explosive scene, Amir accuses Jory of stabbing him in the back. In a tense stand-off with Isaac, he spits in his guest’s face. Isaac says to Amir: “There’s a reason they call you people animals.” After the guests have left, Amir confronts Emily, and as the row escalates, he strikes her several times. Just then, Abe enters and sees Emily’s bloodied face. In the final scene, six months later, Amir is quietly packing his books with the air of a man defeated by life. Emily enters with Abe. He tells his uncle he was having coffee with a friend who gets into an argument with the waitress, and ends up telling her that America “deserved what it got”. She calls the police, and the two boys are taken in for questioning by the FBI. Abe’s immigration case is up for renewal, an agent reminds him, demanding that he cooperate with the FBI. Angry with his nephew, Amir says: “When you step out of your parents’ house, you need to understand that it’s not a neutral world out there. Not right now. Not for you…” As the argument heats up, Abe retaliates: “It’s disgusting. The one thing I can be sure about with you? You’ll always turn on your own people. You think it makes these people like you more when you do that? They don’t. They just think you hate yourself…” He continues, not noticing that Emily has re-entered the room: “They’ve conquered the world. We’re gonna get it back. That’s our destiny. It’s in the [Holy] Quran… For 300 years they’ve been taking our land, drawing new borders, replacing our laws, making us want to be like them… They disgraced us… And then they pretend they don’t understand the rage we’ve got?” After this explosion, Abe leaves, and making it clear to Amir that there’s no chance of her coming back, so does Emily. The curtain falls on Amir as he gazes at the portrait Emily painted of him at the start of the play. This brief summary does not attempt to capture the nuances, the swift mood changes and the tension of the play. Nor, indeed, does it convey the brilliance of the acting. Hari Dhillon as Amir is outstanding, as is Sara Powell as Jory. Danny Ashok plays Abe with great intensity and conviction, and Kirsty Bushell is entirely convincing as Emily in her naïve political correctness. Nigel Whitmey as Isaac accurately portrays the white liberal confused when confronted with raw religious belief. The director, Nadia Fall, has taken a tense, edgy play and transformed a small stage into the ideological minefield many Muslims in the West navigate today. irfan.husain@gmail.com
Optimism leaves us By Abbas Nasir TO see the Sindh chief minister at the start of his new term in office at police stations and government hospitals was a reassuring sight.. For it is here that the dispossessed suffer the most indignities and where most of their grievances are written. That by his mere presence the chief minister appeared to be dedicating some of his time to ensuring a modicum of relief to the most vulnerable, therefore, was welcome. For some of us rather foolhardy optimists it seemed to mark a turning point in how our home province of Sindh would be governed, with a healing touch rather than the uncaring arrogance that marked the PPP government’s last tenure. But was one giving credit a shade too prematurely to the PPP for having learnt a lesson in the humiliating defeat in the last elections which saw its footprint shift dramatically from all the four provinces to Sindh alone (not counting a couple of exceptions in southern Punjab)? Would the chief minister’s high-profile visits to police stations in Karachi to verify for himself from the records that the law was being followed in letter and spirit serve as a strong message to the force that it needed to be on its toes? Would he sustain the pressure so the effect wasn’t lost over time? These and many similar questions kept popping up in one’s mind simply because the destruction of law and order generally in Sindh and particularly in Karachi has been so consummate that even clutching at straws appears a worthy pastime. But a reality check wasn’t too late in coming. As we look at the case of Nawab Wassan, the robust PPP MNA, elected from one of the Khairpur constituencies, let’s flag a health warning that political rivalries often lead to filing of cases etc and in the next few sentences the aim isn’t to talk about the merits of the case, of guilt and innocence. During the elections, Mr Wassan’s political opponents accused him and his gunmen of opening fire and killing someone from their (the rival’s) camp. The MNA categorically denied the charge contained in the registered case and secured interim bail before arrest from the high court. Earlier this week, he appeared in the local anti-terrorism court (ATC) to have his bail confirmed. The ATC refused his plea and ordered his arrest. At this, according to media reports, Mr Wassan’s supporters raised slogans and rushed him out of the court and away. The police officers present are said to have looked on and did nothing to stop and arrest the MNA as was ordered by the court. There has been no follow-up in the media about the whereabouts of the PPP parliamentarian. What has been reported is that the Khairpur DIG ordered action against the police officers who were seen as complicit in the escape of the politician from the court. This was also a welcome development. However, the next day it was suggested in the media that an unnamed ‘ba-asar’ (influential) Sindh personality was very displeased with the orders of the DIG and, therefore, the Sindh chief minister has ordered his transfer. The transfer orders were issued, the report said, despite the protestations of the IG and the chief secretary. One hasn’t seen a denial anywhere so it would be safe to assume that the report is correct. And if it is, there can be no sadder realisation for all those hoping for change in Sindh. There isn’t a bleaker, darker message to send to the police in a province which of late is remembered less for its association with Bhitai and Sarmast and more as a place where plunderers, robbers and ‘target killers’ rule the roost. While the media hasn’t named the influential Sindh personality it will be safe to assume he would be what one cynical observer called the TT (not the pistol) that endangers the province the most. He explained he was referring to Talented Tappi, the president’s adoptive brother Owais Muzaffar. Frankly, Owais Muzaffar has won one of the Sindh Assembly seats in the last election from Thatta, the stronghold of the strong-armed Shirazis, who are known both for their popularity in the area as well as for their inability to brook any opposition. So good for him. But if the young politician wishes to wield more power than the other Sindh MPAs, perhaps he’d be best advised to step out of the shadows and into the forefront so one can appreciate his talents and also offer humble criticism where warranted. The existential challenge facing the PPP is now clearly greater than when it faced the wrath of the brutal Zia regime. Then it was the hunted, the wronged party; it had that mercurial leader-campaigner Benazir Bhutto at its helm and supporting it was a just cause. Now it has had a full term in office in all but one province and at the centre. Its legislative record is no doubt a proud one but its governance, utter lack of grasp of issues and most damagingly its corruption (and sorry I, for one, don’t believe it was all about the perception created by a hostile media) leave it badly placed in the political parties’ honour roll. One was hoping the party, yes hoping because it remains secular and progressive in its ethos, would govern Sindh in a manner so exemplary that it would resurrect itself in the rest of the country too based on its performance here. Before the remnants of any optimism are completely overtaken by doom and gloom, it wouldn’t be out of place to remind the PPP that law and order must, absolutely must, be its foremost priority in the rest of Sindh as in Karachi. A depoliticised police force, despite all its shortcomings in terms of resources, human and material, and even-handed enforcement of the law is the only way out for the PPP. If it can’t see this itself none of us can make it. The writer is a former editor of Dawn. abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
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