Misc. Political News and Articles

[yalman ansari]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jan2005-...orial/col6.htm


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"the sound of a trumpet from a distance sounds pleasing!"

[Usman S.]

I have renamed this thread. Any political article that doesn't belong to any other thread/discussion goes here.

[yalman ansari]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jan2005-...orial/col7.htm

[taimur khaliq]

Pakistan pulled out of negotiation on Baglihar hydal power project and we have decided to take the matter to World Bank. What if world bank decides against us contrary to any principal of justice, where we will go then, to International court of justice but for that both parties have to agree. India will never agree to this then what are the options available to Pakistan
1.To remain silent and give control of her water to India
2.World Bank decides in favour of Pakistan and India abides by the decision that is the best option
3.India refuses to cooperate with world bank as world bank has no leverage left on India
4.Pakistan destroys the project by massive air strike after declaring in UN that Pakistan can not let India control her waters contrary to Indus basin treaty and prepare for any counter action
I am for option four which needs to be discussed in detail if option 2 does not work out
as diplomacy never works out with India

{Edited for spelling mistakes - Usman}

[yalman ansari]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jan2005-...orial/col3.htm

[SSAAD]

A really good reading.

When democracy fails
As Iraqi election nears, it is worth noting the ugly truth in Pakistan

By Ralph Peters

Democracy is the most humane and desirable form of government yet devised by humankind. From Afghanistan to Ukraine, democracy's recent successes have exceeded expectations. It deserves American support wherever it has a chance of taking hold.

The problem is that it doesn't always work.

As the vital Iraqi elections approach, there is more reason for sober optimism than for pre-emptive declarations of failure. More than 80% of the country's population is anxious to vote, with only foreign terrorists and an embittered minority of Sunni Arabs actively hostile to the balloting. But we need to think beyond the polls to understand how new democracies fail.

Pakistan has been the greatest disappointment among the major states that tried democracy. It should have been a contender, having begun its nationhood with a legacy of British legal traditions, an educated political class and a vigorous press. Instead, Pakistan became a swamp of corruption, demagogy and hatred. Those who believe in democracy need to recognize an ugly truth: Military government remains Pakistan's final hope ? and even that hope is a slight one.

This is painful for us to accept. Well-intentioned Americans with no personal experience of the outrageous criminality that came to characterize every one of Pakistan's major political parties rebel against the notion that any military government can ever be good. Certainly, military regimes are despicable. Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government, albeit imperfect, is the sole exception in the world today.

Pakistan is an artificial country, cobbled together from ethnically different parts and flooded early on with Muslim refugees from India ? who still form a distinct social and political bloc. The Pathans of the northwest frontier have more in common with their Afghan neighbors than with the Sindhis on the other side of the Indus River, whose culture reflects that of Mughal India. The Punjabis of Lahore inhabit a different civilization from the tribesmen of Baluchistan. Pakistan's Kashmiris are something else entirely.

Instead of seeking unity, Pakistan's political parties exploited internal divisions for short-term advantage. Well-educated political families, such as the Bhuttos, took a page from the Chinese nationalists, telling Westerners exactly what we wanted to hear. Preaching democracy and the rule of law abroad, they looted shamelessly at home. And they blamed the colonial powers, then America, for the destruction of a once-promising society. No matter their political allegiance, Pakistan's party bosses stole everything in sight, reducing the country to stinging poverty and stunning violence. It wasn't just the remote frontiers that became lawless, but even Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

In order to win elections, one party after another pandered to Muslim extremists. English lessons faded from the classroom, robbing the country of a great advantage it had enjoyed in a globalizing world. About 3,000 schools funded by the government were found to be non-existent ?ghost schools.? Rural landholders and party hacks had pocketed the money. Fundamentalist madrassas filled the educational vacuum.

I recall standing in a classroom in Murree Hills, a once-lovely hill station dating to colonial days, as a young man lectured me about America's theft of Pakistan's wealth. That was what he had been taught. Yet, I could see over his shoulder the hideously eroded mountainsides stripped of timber with the connivance of local officials. Elsewhere, I saw poverty in the shadow of the extravagant wealth of political insiders. Pakistan's elite had robbed the country of its future.

In traveling through Pakistan, one thing became unmistakable: the least-corrupt institution was the military. The military government attempting to rescue Pakistan is the country's last hope. The alternatives are chaos and terror. We may wish it were otherwise: Military government is repugnant. But the world is more complex than we try to make it. Perverted democracy brought ruin upon more than 100 million Pakistani Muslims. We all are paying the price.

At present, Musharraf's government is a useful ally in combating terror, but its greater contribution lies in preventing the country from collapsing into chaos. We all should hope that the day will come when Pakistan's military government becomes obsolete. But for now we must do two things: resist the cynical pleas of the displaced politicians who devastated their own homeland, and learn what we can from democracy's failure on the banks of the Indus.

The two essential lessons are pertinent to Iraq.

?First, democracy faces an uphill struggle in tribal cultures where blood ties trump national interests.

?Second, democracy has no worse enemy than corruption.

If held on schedule, the Iraqi elections will be the most openly staged in the Arab world. But if Iraq cannot rise above the culture of corruption endemic to the region and cannot persuade Shiite and Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians and others to form political alliances that transcend ethnicity and religious identity, it's unlikely democracy will take root and endure.

The world doesn't need another Pakistan, where only bayonets hold the state together. If anyone dooms democracy in Iraq, it won't be the foreign terrorists, but a corrupt political elite. The politicians pave the way for the generals.

Ralph Peters, a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors, is author of the forthcoming book New Glory.

[yalman ansari]

from Agha Khan Education Survey Drive, click on the link below and read the bottom half of the article.

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jan2005-...orial/col8.htm

[yalman ansari]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jan2005-...orial/col4.htm

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princely style!

[yalman ansari]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2005-...orial/col6.htm

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Thought leads to Action!

[yalman ansari]

http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2005-...orial/col2.htm

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the rich getting richer by serving the poor!

[Khurrum]

I am sure most of the people went there for shopping on taxpayer expense rather than performing Umrah. I am not sure whether you can even perform Umrah with some ones else money without even getting their consent. It seems like nothing changed in the last few years .

The article also list the neames of the person who went with the PMs to Saudi Arabia. To keep th epost short I deleted the paragraphs with names. One can access the complete article from the link below.

http://jang-group.com/thenews/index.html

Rs 50m spent on Umra by three PMsBy Rauf Klasra

ISLAMABAD: Rs 50 million was spent from the national exchequer on Umra by three prime ministers, their spouses, family members, personal friends, governors, federal ministers and dozens of MNAs and senators from May to September 2004, official documents of the Foreign Office reveal.

Former prime ministers Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Shujaat Hussain, and the present Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz performed Umra within five months last year. Foreign Minister Khurshid Ahmed Kasuri will unfold details of expenditures incurred on performance of Umra by 212 VVIPs.

The media managers of the three prime ministers had earlier claimed that the chief executives of the country would bear expenditures incurred on their big entourages to the holy lands. Details of expenditures, however, show that every prime minister had used taxpayers’ money instead of spending from his own pocket.

The Senate sought the details of expenditures on the three prime ministers Umra from the Foreign Office following a question put by Senator Mohammad Enver Baig. Ch Shujaat Hussain’s mother, his two sons, and Punjab chief minister’s sons also performed Umra on the government expenditure.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz took with him to Saudi Arabia the Sindh CM and the Attock Nazim, who helped him win elections as the MNA. The Sindh CM, the governor, their spouses and children performed Umra on taxpayers’ money.

Federal ministers Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Hamayun Akhtar, Nasir Khan, Naseer Mengal, Babar Khan Ghouri, Syed Safwanullah, Hamid Yar Hiraj, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Ch Shahbaz Hussain were among those who performed Umra on state expense.

Prime Minister Jamali took 29 persons with him and stayed in Saudi Arabia for seven days. Rs 16.78 million was spent from taxpayers’ money on performance of a religious duty by them..............


...........Jamali’s successor Ch Shujaat Hussain went to perform Umra with one of the largest delegations in the history of the country. He took 134 people, including his family members, friends and top ministers of his cabinet. Rs 15.2 million was spent from the public kitty on the four-day stay of the big delegation in Saudi Arabia............

[Khurrum]

I don't know how much truth is in it but here you go.


Shujaat paid all Umra expenses of his family, friends:
ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: President of Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and former Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain paid all the expenses incurred on the performance of Umra by him, his family members and friends from his own pocket, said a spokesman for Ch.Shujaat Hussain . The spokesman in a statement clarified that the answers provided by Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri in response to questions raised by Senator Enver Baig regarding the payment of Umra expenses by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain from the national exchequer were incorrect. (APP) (Posted @ 10:45 PST)

http://www.dawn.com/2005/02/11/welcome.htm

[Aziz]

Bid to re-suspend Pakistan from Commonwealth fizzles out
LONDON Feb 11 (APP): A bid by some members of the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to re-suspend
Pakistan from the Commonwealth fizzled out when the majority of its
members acknowledged Pakistan's democratic progress here Friday.
In its statement issued at a joint press conference
following end of its two-day meeting here the Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group "noted that President Musharraf had
been authorized by the Senate and the National Assembly to retain

the two offices."
The move to re-suspend Pakistan was initiated by
two countries, unhappy over the Commonwealth's
treatment of Zimbabwe. However, this was rejected by the majority
of CMAG members. Therefore, this did not even emerge as a serious
possibility during the two-day deliberations.
CMAG's statement issued at the end of a joint press
conference addressed by the current CMAG's chairman
Nigerian Foreign Minister Olu Adeniji, Foreign Minister of
Bahamas and Secretray General of the Commonwealth Don McKinnon,
noted the democratic progress made by Pakistan and
accepted Parliament's decision allowing President Musharraf to
retain the two offices till 2007.
Replying to a question Nigerian Foreign Minister told a
questioner that re-suspension of Pakistan from the Group was one
of the various options considered by CMAG.
Secretary General Commonwealth Don McKinnon replying to a
question on the progress made by Pakistan said, Pakistan
held local, provincial and general elections.
He said the engagement of the Commonwealth with Pakistan had
"been very productive" and CMAG decided today to keep "high
level contact with Pakistan" and to assist it in strengthening
of democracy, good governance, stability and institutions
building.
CMAG's statement also recalled its eralier statements in
which
"it had recognized positive developments in Pakistan's
ongoing commitment to genuine democratic reform,
including through Parliament and other
democratic institutions. CMAG appreciated the Government of
Pakistan's determination to remain engaged with the Commonwealth
at all levels."
Pakistan was reinstated to the Commonwealth in May 2004.
The expression of majority support among CMAG members for
Pakistan and their unwillingness to even consider any
kind of re-suspension, is reflective of the active
behind-the-scenes efforts, made by Foreign Minister Khurshid
Mehmood Kasuri and High Commissioner Dr. Maleeha Lodhi.
Kasuri had spoken virtually to all Foreign Ministers
of CMAG countries while Maleeha had been in constant touch
with their London-based envoys to advocate the country's case.
Only a day before, Dr. Maleeha Lodhi signed a joint
communique with
the Bahamas, current Vice-Chair of CMAG, to establish
diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The CMAG meeting was chaired by the Nigerian Foreign
Minister Olu Adeniji. Out of its nine members, Bahamas, Tanzania,
Malta were represented by their Foreign Ministers, while Sri
Lanka was represented by its Foreign Secretary.
The Indian High Commissioner to London attended while Samoa
was
represented by its envoy in Brussels and Canada by a senior
official from its Foreign Ministry.
The strongest support for Pakistan
came from Canada and Sri Lanka, while the majority advocated
continued engagement with Pakistan.
Meanwhile Overseas Pakistani community leaders in London
who have supported Islamabad's readmission to the
Commonwealth commenting on CMAG's statement told APP
it was an elected Parliament which allowed President Musharraf to
keep two offices.
Chairman of Association of Pakistani Lawyers Amjad
Malik said Pakistan was set firmly on the democratic
course. President Musharraf has kept his commitment to ensure,
that the country moves positively in its democratic transition.
Amjad said by any criterion, democracy is flourishing in
Pakistan. One has only to see democracy in action in the lively
expression of press freedom as well as the proliferation of
television
networks in Pakistan. Anyone who has witnessed the debates
in Parliament would testify that democracy is alive and well,
and evolving all the time.
President of Federation of Pakistani Christians UK
Peter .J. David in his remarks said Pakistan's Parliament
has empowered the President to retain two offices, a decision
supported by the people of Pakistan.
David said the fact that CMAG meeting refused to
consider any move to re-suspend Pakistan was a testimony
to its democratic credentials. Therefore an attempt by some
countries to get re-suspension of Pakistan could not
succeed. This demonstrates a recognition of realities on the
ground
and the international community's faith in Pakistan's democratic
process, he added.
UK President of Muslim Conference Mehmood Riaz in
his comments said endeavours made by some of the CMAG
countries to re-suspend Pakistan could not garner enough
support because democratic institutions were in place.
There is an elected Prime Minister, elected Parliament
and an opposition to express itself both at the floor of the House
and through a free media, he added.
Riaz said President Musharraf in his address to the
nation on December 30, reiterated his commitment to democrac

The move to re-suspend Pakistan was initiated by two countries

India? and...?

The strongest support for Pakistan came from Canada and Sri Lanka,

Aziz

[Shoaib]

The strongest support for Pakistan came from Canada and Sri Lanka,

Assalamu aleikum,

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have really developed close ties in the last few years. If you remember from the tsunami thread someone posted that Sri Lanka actually asked for help from Pakistan (the only country they specifically asked for help from if memory serevs me right!). Canada is a welcome surprise for me in this case, someone know why/how the strong support from Canada became possible?

W'salam

[A Khan]

President confirms govt in contact with Benazir


By Our Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has confirmed that the government is in contact with Ms Benazir Bhutto in order to have a certain arrangement on the future political set-up of the country.

"We need to discourage extremist elements by working with moderate political parties, including the PPP, especially to have some agreement beyond 2007," he said.

Speaking at a news conference at the President House on Thursday, he confirmed Information Minister Sheikh Rashid's repeated statements that the government was in touch with the PPP to hammer out some sort of an agreement about the future political set-up of the country. "But let me clarify that we are not discussing with the PPP whether new elections will be held in 2005 or 2007," the president said and added that election was not the subject of discussion with the PPP.

He said extremist forces were out to take the country back to the dark ages which needed to be checked with the support of all moderate political parties and forces of the country.

In reply to a question about sacking of a provincial minister on corruption charges by Sindh chief minister, Gen Musharraf said it was the right of the chief minister of Sindh to take action against his minister to discourage corrupt practices in the government. According to the chief minister, he said, there was rampant corruption in the revenue department of the province.

"But I hope the prime minister's inspection team that has been deputed for the task, would dig the truth," the president said. "This is an administrative issue and we should not make any hue and cry over it," he said, rejecting assertions that the Centre was interfering in the affairs of Sindh by allowing prime minister's inspection team to probe into the corruption issue.

He said Centre was not violating any provisions of the provincial autonomy over the latest corruption issue in Sindh. He advised the MMA leadership to accept the rule of the majority in the largest interest of the country and avoid indulging in the politics of agitation.

The president said he was a great supporter of democracy and would not do anything which hurt democratic institutions. "Even my being in military uniform is helping democracy flourish in Pakistan."

In reply to a question about the Kalabagh dam, the president said that Sindh would gain the most from the construction of the Kalabagh dam. He said he himself belonged to the Sindh province and could never think of bringing any harm to his own province.

The president justified the increase in salaries of ministers, senators and MNAs and said the government had earlier increased salaries of its employees which would be further increased at an "appropriate time."

When asked about performing of umra at government's expenses by sitting and former prime ministers, he said if somebody did that it was very unfortunate. However, he said, Chaudhry Shujaat, during his brief prime minister ship, had taken with him some people on umra at his own expenses.

Similarly, he confirmed the purchase of bullet proof cars and said such cars were necessary for the protection of VVIPs. He said he had given one such car to Mr Shaukat Aziz which saved his life when he was attacked by a suicide bomber at Fateh Jhang, near Islamabad last year. "Had I not given my car to the prime minister he would not have been alive today."


just thinking, now her and Nawaz will be next followed by Altaf Hussain, and the rest of them... so what was the point of having a militay coup and setting up the NAB? clearly fight against corruption and justice has no role in todays pakistan. fighting terrorism is our only goal now...

[H Rehman]

President confirms govt in contact with Benazir
By Our Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has confirmed that the government is in contact with Ms Benazir Bhutto in order to have a certain arrangement on the future political set-up of the country.

"We need to discourage extremist elements by working with moderate political parties, including the PPP, especially to have some agreement beyond 2007," he said.
:

I hope it is not for real but just a political game. If he is going to invite them back into the country then he might as well just stop all the development work, accept indian terms on Kashmir right now, and open swiss bank accounts for all the PPP, MQM, and PML-N *******s (pardon my french). How many time do we have to get bitten before we recognize these snakes. What prez Musharraf needs to do is to stick around for another 10 years, at least. We need continuity of policies more than a sham democracy.

[usam]

I heard him on the T.V. he said that there talking is not on wether or not Nawaz and Benzire should be able to return back in Pakistan. So they are not comming back according to Mushraff.


And I think that Msuhraff popularity might increase over time as economy keeps its current growth.

[pshamim]

People are coming around to understand what President Musharraf has done for Pakistan under very trying circumstances. Here is an excellent article

Bottom Line: The Musharraf Miracle

By GREGORY FOSSEDAL, UPI Columnist

NEW YORK, March 2 (UPI) -- In the days following the 9/11 attacks, few people had high expectations for the countries of the Middle East and South Asia. The world's most prosperous economy was shell-shocked, its stock market closed and transportation system frozen. War loomed, almost certainly for Afghanistan, and quite possibly for such neighbors and sometimes terror havens as Iran and Iraq.

Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf sat, in many ways, at the crossroads of this emerging cauldron, awaiting what some Bush Administration aides now unabashedly call "World War IV." The orchestrator of an October 1999 coup, Musharraf hadn't even fully consolidated power, particularly with Moslem extremists friendly to Afghanistan's Taliban. Externally, his overthrow of an elected government, if a corrupt and hapless one, had put a chill on relations with the U.S. and Europe.

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POLITICALLY WEAK, ECONOMICALLY WEAKER

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If Pakistan's strategic picture was poor, its economy, especially in light of the real prospects of a regional war, was as bad or worse.

More than 30 percent of the country was poor or extremely poor -- up from 18 percent in 1990 -- according to a U.N. survey by Akmal Hussain. Of these more than two thirds were in poor or very poor health. Literacy rates varied between 35 and 55 percent. The average Pakistani had debts of approximately 140 percent of a stagnant personal income, in many cases merely to finance current consumption. Pakistanis surveyed about their efforts to gain employment generally reported "lack of connections" as a primary problem, a sign of crony-capitalism choking off opportunity and growth.

Pakistan's government debt service burden rose to 60 percent of output in 2000 from 19 percent in 1980; the military chewed up another 20 percent; this left 20 percent for everything else. Output growth slowed in the 1990s, and there were few productivity increases or investment to provide a base for expansion. Major exports plunged more than 25 percent in 2000-2001, with economic growth at close to zero in per capita terms -- leaving Pakistan, with less than $500 income per head, below China and India, and falling further behind every year.

Worse, at least according to most analysts, policy trends suggested little turnaround. The Heritage Foundation's rankings of economic freedom for Pakistan, from 1990 through 1999, were consistently around 3.5 -- on a scale of 1 to 5 in which 1 is the best, 5 is the worst -- and were generally declining.

"Why Pakistan's military government will fail," analyst S. Akbar Zaidi detailed in December, 1999. "The longest strike in the country's history symbolizes the woes befalling General Musharraf's military-backed government," Time magazine wrote in June of 2000.

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THE MUSHARRAF MIRACLE

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At this point, even as Mr. George Bush rallied Americans with a megaphone at Ground Zero, Musharraf made the two critical decisions of his political career.

First, he cast his lot with the U.S. and (at the time) Europe, agreeing to help clean out terror and Taliban havens in his own country and support the overthrow of Afghanistan's dictatorship next door. For this he won significant economic aid, but faced a number of threats, including at least two serious attempts on his life.

Musharraf ordered the central bank to stabilize the Rupiah, avoiding the kind of collapse seen in Argentina and nearby Turkey, and restructured the country's foreign debt on favorable terms. He won praise even from the fiscally cautious International Monetary Fund in the country's most recent Article IV reviews.

All of these measures look easy now, hindsight-enabled. In 2001-2002, they formed a bold gamble. Musharraf simultaneously infuriated many Moslems in his own country and the region -- especially the most violent -- and placed his trust in foreign aid, the IMF, and the U.S., led by a then-untested U.S. president suddenly committed to overthrowing the "Axis of Evil."

Second, and equally important, Musharraf implemented a series of domestic growth initiatives that were, in many ways, as bold as his foreign and domestic political strategy.

He took some of the Western aid and invested in water, farming infrastructure, and support for basic medical care. He launched an aggressive micro-credit effort to help small businesses obtain capital. This included some ill-advised efforts to impose debt relief on existing loans from the banking system, but helped produce a surge of more than 23 percent in business startup rates from 1999 to 2003.

A growing number of small businesses are headed by women, who often find it easier, as they do in many Western countries, to compete as entrepreneurs than in closed shops for jobs. In 1997, Pakistan's labor force participation rate by women was below 7 percent. It surged through 13 percent in 2003 and is likely to reach 20 percent in 2007.

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TAX TURNAROUND

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Perhaps best of all, Musharraf didn't listen to the advice of a number of large employers that Pakistan needed a tax cut weighted to "business" income to be paid for by continuing high rates on human labor -- what Bottom Line likes to call the "DNA tax." Or, to be more exact, he took their advice for a time, but changed his mind in the face of facts.

From 2000 into 2001, a stream of advice-givers (the Pakistani Bar Association, the Business Council, and others) studied Pakistan's tax code and came to the near-unanimous conclusion that high tax rates weren't a problem. "Less than 2 percent of Pakistani taxpayers pay at above the 22 percent bracket" for income taxes, the tax lawyers reported.

At first, Musharraf dutifully struck out to enforce Pakistan's high tax rates on labor and corporations (for some reason, a common feature in the Arab and Moslem world) through better enforcement. "We will round them up," he promised in April, 2000. He led an armada of some 1,600 soldiers and bureaucrats around the country as part of a "tax survey" that amounted to a tax crackdown aimed at getting revenues.

But when the tax yield simply wasn't there, he instructed his top economic advisors, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Ishrat Husain, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, to turn their eyes toward rate-lowering, loop-hole closting, base-broadening tax reform. The idea was to reward initiative, and to lure Pakistanis -- 98 percent of whom paid no tax in 2000 -- into compliance with a more reasonable code.

"The number of slabs," Aziz announced, "will be reduced from 7 to 5." (What we call "brackets," the Pakistanis, with a certain metaphorical elegance, call "slabs.") "The highest rate of taxation" on personal income, he said, would drop to 35 percent from 50 percent, albeit with a couple of surtaxes that didn't expire until 2002-2003.

The bill became law September 15, 2001.

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A PAKISTANI RENAISSANCE

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Since then, Musharraf, suddenly awash in revenues, has been pruning and flattening a whole series of special rates and dreaded withholding provisions. The tax on bank income, which was 58 percent, is now 45, on its way to matching the regular corporate rate of 35 percent by 2007. (No wonder Pakistani banks were recalcitrant about non-performing loans in 1999-2000. Make a bad loan, lose the principal. Make a good one, lose two thirds of the profit.)

Not everyone is happy. Musharraf only cut the special tax on entertainment income in half; the industry wanted more. He abolished the wealth tax, but got rid of a few income tax loopholes. Musharraf raised the income beneath which one pays no federal tax to 70,000 Rupiahs, from 40,000 when he took office. "Inflation has risen," the Heritage Foundation sniffles -- to 3 percent from 2 percent.

Still, the results can fairly be called a Moslem Witrschaftswunder. Economic growth, a paltry 2 percent in 2000, topped 6 percent last year. Not enough for Musharraf, whose budget calls for 8 percent in 2005, and who recently told Western investors -- rightly -- that for a country like his, China/India-style growth of 10 percent or better should be the target.

On Sept. 15, 2001, Pakistan's stock market stood at just above 1,070. Today it's above 8,000. Interestingly, through the whole period, the Heritage economic freedom index generally rated Pakistan in the bottom third of countries in the world, and this year gave it a significant downgrade for 2004 policy changes.

Ohwell: At least the currency was strong, reserves and growth surged, and stock prices rose more than 25 percent. A good bull market takes the sting out of an "economic index downgrade."

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IT'S THE POLITICAL ECONOMY

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Musharraf did one other smart thing in recent years, delivering parliamentary elections as promised in 2002. (Enter the usual caveats for emerging democratic elections: The opposition parties didn't get a fair shake in the state-dominated press; the polling places weren't run perfectly; Musharraf's friends won big time; and, oh yes, he extended his term five years and declined to step down as head of the military.)

One of the most important things he can do for the economy in the future, will be to follow through with meaningful political competition and hold further elections this year, leading up to an open presidential race in 2007.

Political leaders -- once in power -- like generals and corporate CEOs, often find it difficult to understand how imposing this discipline on themselves makes for anything other than noise and confusion. After all, they know "what needs to be done," and have been on the job. Won't a big debate just produce a lot of unneeded wrangling and "slow the necessary reforms"?

In Musharraf's case, allowing the kind of competition he's encouraging for business not only strengthens consumer satisfaction and investor confidence. It's a key part of the image he's tried to project, and make a reality, for Pakistan and himself -- that of a "progressing, moderate" keystone of Islamic stability, a bridge between Turkey and India, China and the Middle East, both geographically and ideopolitically.

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BOTTOM LINE

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Pakistan has come a long way in less than four years, tempting Bottom Line to think, as in last spring's warning about U.S. pressure on the regime, that it may be an opportune time to take profits and reduce holdings. (Indeed the market corrected nearly 10 percent from April to October.)

On the other hand, Musharraf has already shown himself to be a skilled practitioner of hardball power politics in a thug-filled region, and at the same time, something of a visionary, and an economic trend-setter in the Moslem world. (It was after his tax cuts that Turkey, Israel, and India set back on the rate reduction path).

Our investors have taken perhaps a fourth of their capital off the table in recent weeks, locking in profits. But if "hold" is not an option, the buy-sell tick is still "buy." Still in.

--

(Gregory Fossedal is an advisor on global markets and ideopolitical risk to international investors, and a research fellow at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution. His clients may hold long and short positions in many of the investment securities and opportunities mentioned in these reports. Investors should perform their own due diligence and consult their own professional advisor before buying or selling any securities. Mr. Fossedal's opinions are entirely his own, and are not necessarily those of his clients, UPI, or AdTI. Furthermore, they are subject to change without notice.)

http://interestalert.com/brand/sitei...ilter=Pakistan


Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

[TahirN]

Benazir takes case to Straw

Monitoring report

LONDON: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto met British Foreign Minister Jack Straw here on Monday.

The meeting in which the Pakistan People’s Party chairperson gave Straw a ringside view of the political situation back home lasted 45 minutes, according to Geo correspondent, Iftikhar Qaisar.

Benazir told the foreign secretary that recent constitutional changes in Pakistan were a detrimental to democracy. She was referring to the 17th constitutional amendment, which allowed President General Pervez Musharraf to hold fast to both the offices of the president and chief of army staff.

The former premier also observed that recent measures by the military regime at reconciliation with the mainstream opposition were lacking in sincerity. She cited what she called a deliberate attempt to keep mainstream parties like hers and another ex-premier Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N out of the political fray in support of her argument.

Benazir also called for fresh elections under an independent election commission.

Earlier, the PPP chairperson met Shahbaz Sharif, brother of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, and discussed the current political situation. Both leaders called for the restoration of 1973 constitution, setting up an independent election commission and scrapping the 17th constitutional amendment.

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/

[A Khan]

1m Kashmiris' signatures on display


By Our Correspondent

NEW DELHI, March 17: Kashmir's widely acknowledged resistance leader Yasin Malik opened a two-day exhibition here on Thursday displaying more than a million signatures of Kashmiris pleading to be involved in the peace talks between India and Pakistan.

"I know my efforts could be easily crushed by the brute force that makes nations disappear from the map of the world," said the head of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. "Yet I cannot give up my dream or my romance with the quest for freedom for anything, no matter how elusive it might look."

Supporting his efforts were a representatives of a dozen diplomatic missions, including Pakistan's High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. Diplomats from Iran, the United States, France and the European Union were also present.

Writer and political activist Arundhati Roy spoke at the meeting, mostly comprising Mr Malik's Indian friends. She asserted that the 'state' was never very keen on evidence of popular support, if that support was aimed against its key objectives. Thousands of people are displaced when a dam is built on a river in their habitat.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/18/top12.htm

[SyedA]

What the f.u.c.k musharaf abd shaukat waiting for to do anything about it.
these men should be gand raped publically by LA police

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050610/...kistan_rape_dc

[Usman S.]

Two wrongs won’t make a right! Court had to free these accused (which everyone knows are guilty) because the police mishandled the case. AFAIK the police officials who messed up the evidence/case have already been sacked. I hope the government finds some way to re-open/re-trial this case so that Mukhataran Mai can get justice.

[Usman S.]

Houseless’ plot owners

MANY who do not own a house, especially those already retired or nearing retirement, wonder if the prime minister’s “housing for all” programme can benefit them soon enough. These people have not been able to own a house because housing schemes in the undeveloped sectors of Islamabad are taking too long to bear fruit, while the prices of plots and houses in the already developed sectors are simply beyond their reach.

Shahid, a grade-20 government officer who has just retired, has lived in a rented house in one sector or the other all his life. He and his son own two plots of land in E-sector (Zone-II) under different housing societies, but despite the passage of over 10 years, neither of the schemes are ready for construction work to begin.

The Capital Development Authority has recently issued NOC to one of the housing schemes, but construction work is unlikely to begin until several more years later at least, Shahid says. The other housing scheme, for which he started giving instalments in 1987, does not even fulfil CDA’s basic criteria of minimum land holding. It is a good thing he has a working son who can help out with the monthly rent until they are able to build or buy a house - whenever that will be.

Saeed, a grade-19 government officer who will be retiring in a year’s time, has been living in official accommodation provided by his organization since he returned from studies abroad 22 years ago. He has one plot of land in his organization’s housing scheme in G-sector (zone-II), which like Shahid’s two schemes are also not ready for construction. Upon retirement, Saeed will have to live in a rented house. But unlike Shahid, he doesn’t have a working son who can help him with the house rent.

Those in the salaried class who in recent years could buy plots or houses in the already developed sectors are mainly those who have spent several years working and earning abroad. However, most in the salaried class are like Shahid and Saeed who, instead of laying back and enjoying their retirement, have to worry where the money for the house rent is going to come from.

It is a relief that the government has finally recognized, although belatedly, that the country faces a “severe” housing shortage. Admitting the “gravity” of the housing situation, the recently released Pakistan Economic Survey estimates the housing backlog in the country to be six million units.

Apart from having to meet this six million units shortfall, the government also faces the task of meeting an annual additional requirement of 570,000 units, whereas the annual production is estimated at around only 300,000 units. To meet the housing shortfall in the next 20 years, the government estimates that overall housing production will have to be increased to 820,000 units annually!

The Economic Survey lists a whole gamut of incentives in the banking and finance sector, and in the fiscal area, which the government claims to have undertaken to promote the construction industry. Also listed are other measures to strengthen the institutional and legal framework to encourage the housing sector, as well as the main features of the “housing for all” programme.

But none of these measures, says Shahid, will help him get his house. What the government needs to do, he says, is to direct development agencies like CDA to work in close cooperation with the housing societies to facilitate and quicken the pace of processing and land development so that the construction of houses can begin and people can occupy them as soon as possible rather than having to wait for years on end.

Last Sunday, CDA took out a half page advertisement in several national dailies giving details about the status of the various housing societies in Zone-II (sectoral) and Zone-V (non- sectoral). Of the 20 housing schemes listed in Zone-II, only three have been issued NOC. None has permission to begin construction yet. Of the 26 housing schemes listed in Zone-V, five have been issued NOC, but only one of these five has permission to start construction.

Some of these housing societies had emerged in the 1980s. Yet some 20 years later, plot owners have not even been able to begin construction. One major reason has been the lack of a clear cut and dynamic housing policy from the government. Another reason is that many of the housing societies have been plagued by financial and/or administrative mismanagement, as a result of which they have been unable to fulfil some or all of CDA’s requirements.

There are at least six stages which housing societies have to cross before construction can begin: preliminary scrutiny clearance, approval of layout plan, approval of land ownership documents, permission to advertise and sell plots, issuance of NOC and permission to start construction.

The trouble is that the various vested interests involved, including the land mafia, real estate people, CDA personnel, etc., have been trying to extract maximum benefit at each and every stage, thus prolonging the process leading to the construction stage. The ultimate losers are the thousands of “houseless” plot owners like Shahid and Saeed.

Given the kind of slow time-frame which citizens in the capital are experiencing in getting their own house, it is difficult to believe that the annual production of housing in the country is actually 300,000 units, let alone imagine that the government is seriously trying to attain a production of 820,000 housing units per year!

Elsewhere abroad, housing schemes do not take more than three to five years to materialize. Unless the authorities take drastic measures to reduce the time taken for homes to be built, the shortfall in housing units in the country will continue to grow. This only means that the country will end up having to meet an even higher production target than the already awesome 820,000 units per year.

http://www.dawn.com/2005/06/13/fea.htm#3

[A Khan]

‘Ebad received social security benefits in UK’

Sindh governor says, ‘if anything has
been done I’d like to rectify it’

LONDON: The governor of Sindh in Pakistan collected 1,000 pounds (1,500 euros, 1,800 dollars) a month in income support, plus other benefits, from Britain’s social security system for 10 months after he was named to his lucrative post, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported.

In a dispatch from Karachi, the weekly paper said that Ishratul Ebad Khan, a doctor by training, "lives in a mansion in the state capital while being waited upon by servants and chauffeured in Mercedes limousines".

Back in London, however, Ebad continued to receive 1,000 pounds a month in income support, from the time he was appointed governor in December 2002 until October the following year, the newspaper said.

In addition, it said, he received taxpayers’ money to cover the 1,057 pound monthly rent on his semi-detached home in northwest London. His wife, meanwhile, got benefits for having been diagnosed with a stress disorder, enabling Ebad to claim payments as her care-giver, it said. Ebad had come to Britain in 1992 as an asylum seeker, The Sunday Telegraph said.

Seven years later he was awarded refugee status, enabling him to tap into a range of social security benefits. He returned to Pakistan, however, to be appointed the governor of Sindh in December 2002 by President Musharraf.

Confronted by The Sunday Telegraph, Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad said he had repaid "a few hundred pounds" and that he was keen for any outstanding money to be reimbursed. "If anything has been done, even inadvertently, I would very much like to rectify it," he was quoted as saying.

Andrew Dinson, a member of parliament for Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party, whose Hendon constituency includes the Ebad’s house in London, called for an immediate inquiry. "I would be very surprised if the rules allowed this," he was quoted as saying.

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jun2005-d...ain/main14.htm

[atter]

Pakistan president's bodyguards made to surrender guns
17 June 2005
By HANK SCHOUTEN

The visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had a rocky start when police seized a pistol from one of his security men at Auckland airport last night.


Pakistani officials became involved in a lengthy argument after a police sergeant took a heavy pistol from the man's shoulder holster.

It took more than an hour after the presidential party landed for diplomatic protection squad chief Inspector Bruce Blayney to sort the issue out.

Five guns were eventually handed over.

He explained "there was a misunderstanding about where the border was and whether it was inside or outside the airport".

"They were told there were no firearms in New Zealand and that we were very strict on that, and they then cooperated.

"At the end of the day they handed them over but obviously with a bit more publicity than they would have liked."

Inspector Blayney said the guns would be held till the presidential party left on Sunday.

General Musharraf, who had just visited Australia, was welcomed at the airport by Prime Minister Helen Clark.

The three-day visit aims to boost links between Pakistan and New Zealand. Miss Clark is scheduled to hold talks with him this afternoon, after a formal welcome and luncheon at Government House in Auckland.

Pakistan's moves toward democracy, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons on the Indian subcontinent, were on the agenda.

The leaders were also expected to discuss the war on terror, and Afghanistan.

AdvertisementAdvertisementPakistan's education and commerce ministers, and a business delegation have accompanied the president to explore areas where trade could be boosted.

General Musharraf is also chief of the army.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3316562a11,00.html