EDITORIAL : THE DAILY NEWS EGYPT, EGYPT

Stock market in the green, Egypt in the red

CAIRO: Following two months of closure, shrouded in mystery and plagued by vague rumors, the Egyptian Stock Exchange finally opened Wednesday, exceeding all expectations. By the end of trading Thursday the broader EGX 100 index closed up 0.86 percent, while the main EGX 30 fell merely 3.73 percent, a far cry from the 8.9 percent both indices shed just one day before.

The optimism emanating from referendum day Saturday and the overwhelming 77.2 yes vote for the constitutional amendments clearly contributed to the positive mood in Egypt, but this does not, however, convey the full picture.

As the investigations into the corruption and crime allegations against figureheads of the old regime continue to dominate public interest, a growing intolerance by both the government and the ruling army council for street action has started to surface.

On Wednesday, Cabinet approved a draft bill penalizing “some protests, sit-ins and gatherings that use violence, vandalize public property, obstruct people from reaching their jobs or obstruct the flow of traffic”.

The excessive punishment for these broad and elastic “crimes” include imprisonment and up to LE 500,000 fines.

Despite my oft-repeated opinion that protests must stop to avoid Egypt descending into absolute chaos, let alone a complete economic breakdown that will see hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs, the proposed rather excessive measure can only be counter-productive, especially if continues to be so vague-worded.

Before proposing such a bill that is in such stark violation of international labor laws and the human right to go on strike, Cabinet should have taken a closer look at the biggest remaining protests and dealt with them individually through the designated minister.

Just as the Minister of Interior contained the protests by low-ranking policemen through a frank and firm dialogue with a delegation of 12 protesters last week, both the Higher Press Council, headed by deputy Prim Minister Yehia El-Gamal and the head of Egyptian Radio and Television Union, must address the grievances and demands of the “Maspero Protesters” who, among other requests, are demanding an overhaul of the media leaderships including a change of the editors in chief of state-run newspapers, moves that have inexplicably been delayed.

Workers have naturally rejected the proposal, saying that they have never stopped labor movements from holding protests and strikes especially because they are fuelled by legitimate demands.

Perhaps the suggestion proposed by Kamal Abbas, general coordinator of Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services, to ask the Ministry of Finance to establish a committee comprising workers, business owners, government officials and experts to run negotiations is the only way out of this stalemate.

Under no circumstances should the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ratify this proposed bill because doing so may have an immediate deterrent effect, but the negative long-term ramifications of such a move will be a very heavy price to pay. Maintaining the confidence between the people and the army and the people and cabinet must continue to be the top priority and such a proposal can only lead to a loss of trust.

Between the two extremes of continued, daily protests that will debilitate the economy and harm millions of Egyptians, and imposing harsh, unfair punishments to such vague crimes, there is a grey area in which a compromise can be reached.

The slogan of the January 25 Revolution was “Bread, Freedom, Social Justice”. The society as a whole, not just the authorities in charge, must remain true to the spirit this incredible triumph of the Egyptian people.

EDITORIAL : THE AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIA

It's the economy in Queensland 

IT remains to be seen if Campbell Newman is able to make the difficult transition from local government to state politics.

But Brisbane's Lord Mayor is right about one point. Queensland's bureaucracy is overblown and business is struggling because of red tape and poor infrastructure, especially in the southeast, far from the state's booming mining regions. Tourism and service industries are in the doldrums in the state's two-speed economy and are under pressure after summer's natural disasters.
Mr Newman's elevation by the Liberal National Party to alternative premier has already had one positive effect. It has kicked off an important economic debate in what was once Australia's boom state, but which lost its AAA credit rating two years ago. Despite the mining boom it has also fallen short on growth, employment, non-residential construction and business investment. Mr Newman made a good start yesterday in an interview with The Weekend Australian, outlining his vision for economic change. But he must also address issues such as state taxes and charges, especially the burden of payroll tax and how he intends to pay for the transport and water infrastructure the state needs.
Premier Anna Bligh faces a major challenge overseeing reconstruction, but also needs to pay more attention to these issues. She would restore the state's AAA credit rating much faster if she reined in the public service, for example. But Ms Bligh has done well staring down union and public opposition to the sale of major assets such as Queensland Rail's coal freight business. If Queensland is to recover its former prosperity and avoid a long-term malaise like NSW, the economy must be the battle ground in the contest between two seasoned leaders.

Time to shed light on real climate challenges

TOKEN gestures, like switching off the lights for an hour to demonstrate solidarity with the planet, appeal to a certain corner of the climate change debate but don't shed light on the critical issues.

Hard-headed analysis of the impact of carbon prices on our emissions growth and economic wellbeing is much more illuminating. Which is why the intervention of the Productivity Commission through chairman Gary Banks was so important this week. Mr Banks has explained the complicated balancing act needed to set the right price on Australian carbon through the proposed new tax. The risk is that if the price is too low the tax will be ineffectual, if too high it will simply send Australian jobs and emissions overseas. That's economic pain for no environmental gain.

The commission, however, is taking the analysis much further, as discussed by economics editor Michael Stutchbury in our pages today. By examining the effective carbon price here and overseas, the commission is attempting to estimate the cost impacts of numerous other government interventions, such as renewable energy targets mandating large quantities of expensive zero-emissions electricity. Juggling the various effects of carbon prices here and overseas so that a local carbon tax can be imposed without seriously undermining our industry, exports, employment and wealth is, in Mr Banks's view, a "wicked" challenge. Strange then, that the commission wasn't called in earlier. It was only at the behest of independent MP Tony Windsor that the government even agreed to this inquiry into the international carbon pricing environment -- a study that should have occurred at the start of Labor's considerations even before the failure of Copenhagen.

While Mr Banks's final report is eagerly awaited and his warnings about the practical difficulties are timely, they come as the government increasingly looks rattled and disorganised. After spending the early part of the week embracing the possibility of merging personal tax cuts into the carbon tax compensation measures, and admonishing the opposition for promising to scrap these imaginary cuts, it has now backed away. In a week of policy absurdity, presumably Labor no longer is critical of the opposition for promising to scrap proposed tax cuts it now no longer believes advisable? Little wonder if voters become confused.

The Prime Minister and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet have been keen to portray anyone who disagrees with their tax as climate change deniers.

As Mr Banks makes clear, even if you are committed to cutting emissions, there are a hundred ways to skin this cat, and we need to get it right. The commission implicitly recognises the opposition's direct action plan is not the cheapest way to cut emissions. But, then again, it is a plan that doesn't involve radical structural change to the economy and, on paper at least, doesn't increase the overall tax take, so its proponents can argue, if they choose, that it is a prudent way forward. We also need to keep our debate in perspective, realising that Australia accounts for less than 1.5 per cent of global emissions. The Weekend Australian believes a market mechanism is the best way to control emissions but we must not disadvantage the economy by moving too far ahead of our competitors. But the danger of focusing obsessively on one policy is that it neglects other priorities. We believe, for instance, that one of the government's highest priorities should be working towards a sovereign wealth fund to lock in the gains of the boom, and not squander our resources wealth. Name-calling over taxes and debates about a couple of offensive placards only distract Australia from real and complex economic challenges ahead.

Labor should return to workers

ON a day when Labor faces a humiliating defeat in NSW, the heirs to the nation's socialist tradition might pause and reflect.

Whenever the party loses its way, it returns instinctively to the speech Ben Chifley delivered to the NSW branch of the ALP on June 12, 1949. It is commonly known as the Light on the Hill speech, but we prefer its original title -- For the Betterment of Mankind Anywhere. To assist new Labor leaders and young union leaders hazy on history, the speech has been posted on our website, www.theaustralian.com.au. (We also recommend Tom Dusevic's feature, "Who's in bed with Kristina Keneally?" on the nepotism and patronage that have destroyed NSW Labor.)

On this exceptional day, we quote from the concluding paragraphs of Chifley's speech: "When I sat at a Labour meeting in the country with only 10 or 15 men there, I found a man sitting beside me who had been working in the Labour movement for 54 years. I have no doubt that many of you have been doing the same, not hoping for any advantage from the movement, not hoping for any personal gain, but because you believe in a movement that has been built up to bring better conditions to the people. Therefore, the success of the Labour Party at the next elections depends entirely, as it always has done, on the people who work. I try to think of the labour movement, not as putting an extra sixpence into somebody's pocket, or making somebody prime minister or premier, but as a movement bringing something better to the people, better standards of living, greater happiness to the mass of the people.

A few months later, Robert Menzies was elected prime minister, relegating Labor to 23 years in opposition. That should not deter today's leaders from returning to this speech, however. They should recall that under Chifley, Labor secured 42.2 per cent of first preference votes in the December 1949 election, but this week's Newspoll had NSW Labor at 23 per cent.
The world has changed since Chifley's day. The phrases "working man" and "the working class" are out of fashion, but the values of those they describe are not. They are Howard's battlers, Kevin Rudd's working families and Julia Gillard's hard-working Australians.
For Labor, as for Labour, success depends, as it always has done, on the people who work.

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE GUARDIAN, UK

Spending cuts: From protest to persuasion

The marchers at the rally in London, and Ed Miliband, face three formidable obstacles in the way of a wider campaign

The fuzziness of the rallying cry – March for the Alternative – is easily mocked, but the lack of a detailed economic programme is the least of the obstacles facing those who will rally through London today. Cohesive rationales can be retrofitted on to successful resistance campaigns of the past, and yet the Hyde Park rioters of 1866 did not arrive with a draft of the Second Reform Bill in their back pockets, and nor did 1990's poll tax protestors take to the streets with a blueprint for the council tax in mind.
Like the restricted franchise of the 19th century, and Mrs Thatcher's community charge, cuts that go too far and too fast are an extreme proposition, and one that can legitimately be resisted in negative terms. The march deserves a strong turn out. Even if attendance is numbered in the hundreds of thousands that the TUC hopes for, however, it is not guaranteed to do much good. The aim must be to do more than preach to the converted, but the marchers and Labour leader Ed Miliband, who is set to address them, face three formidable obstacles in the way of a wider campaign of persuasion.
For those yelling "fight back" to every cutback, the first danger is appearing as hopeless bleeding hearts. From New Cross library to Northern Ireland Music Therapy Trust, the Guardian yesterday detailed worthy projects that will soon slash services and slam doors, after the cuts begin to bite in earnest in a few days. As that happens public squalor will undoubtedly compound private penury, and yet a cash-strapped public cannot be relied on to prioritise what the marchers conceive of as the public good. If you doubt it, look at today's Guardian/ICM poll: voters' only grumble about George Osborne's squandering of the meagre resources at hand in the budget on cheaper petrol was that he did not go far enough.
As they hear every individual cut dismissed as too early, too late or a false economy, tax-wary voters will reasonably suspect that some things have to give. Life must be breathed into the Keynesian case that days of cheap money and idle labour are the moment for the state to invest. The cuts' critics must drive home the point – as commentators did this week – that the orthodox economist voices singing in unison with the chancellor are the same ones who failed to sound a warning before the crisis hit.
The second challenge is to speak for, and be seen to be speak for, the country as a whole, as opposed to sectional interests. The pitfalls here are especially deep for a union-led campaign. Increasingly concentrated in state employment, organised labour must persuade the 85% of workers in private firms who do not carry a union card that it shares their concerns. Industrial action will inevitably concentrate on public servants' terms and conditions, including pensions far more generous than those in most companies. This action should be kept at a safe distance from political campaigning, which should focus instead on things like hospital waits and tax-credit cuts which will afflict private- and public-sector workers alike.
The third great difficulty is Mr Miliband's – namely, winning the blame game. Today's one point ICM lead for the Tories may prove to be a blip, but it is a reminder that he has not yet been able to prevail decisively. Separate YouGov analysis shows that many more voters continue to blame Labour than the Conservatives for the cuts, which is perhaps not surprising given that Labour presided over the banking bubble and burst, and also pencilled in the first tranche of deep cuts. With growth stalled and the pain about to begin in earnest, the tide could soon turn, but it cannot be assumed.
Great shows of people power give vent to emotion, but as often as not they fail to do anything more – a point underlined by both the pro-foxhunting and anti-Iraq war demos. Marchers today will express indignation with the world as it is. But as a great man once wrote, the point is to change it.

Whitehall: very special advisers

The official civil service code is intact, but a powerful whiff of hypocrisy lingers on the Whitehall air

 

When power was just a glimmer on the horizon, Conservative MPs used to delight in attacking Labour's recruitment of political sympathisers as government special advisers and spin doctors – in spite of the fact that many of the new Tory leadership, David Cameron and George Osborne among them, had themselves cut their teeth in such jobs. Soon after he came to power, Mr Cameron pointedly spoke of his profound respect for the civil service. Yet how quickly things change.
The prime minister's speech branding bureaucrats as the enemies of enterprise was only the most recent upset for the mandarinate, many of whom are willy-nilly veterans of 13 years of Labour's permanent revolution. It triggered a protest from the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, in the latest of a series of leaks which include a stern put-down of ministers whom Sir Gus suspected of briefing against the Electoral Commission boss Jenny Watson, and a paper from him urging the case for an economic Plan B.
Then there are the special advisers. It is typical of incoming governments to wonder why the levers of power seem not to be connected to the rest of the machine, and to look to bring in outside support. To some degree, they all do it. But there is now an unmistakable backtracking on the coalition commitment to limit their number. This suggests that ministers in this government too are increasingly frustrated by the Whitehall establishment.
The biggest transgressor seems to be the education secretary, Michael Gove, who has assembled a praetorian guard of sympathisers. Some of these involve the arms-length New Schools Network, set up and run by Mr Gove's former adviser Rachel Wolf and funded by the taxpayer. For some months the NSN was a base for another former Gove adviser, Dominic Cummings, blackballed last year by Andy Coulson for a role at Mr Gove's right hand on the grounds that he was "too leaky". Now Mr Coulson is out and Mr Cummings is back in. He replaces another special adviser, Elena Narozanski. Fortunately, Mr Gove needs some new speech writers, and Ms Narozanski is the insiders' top tip for one of the jobs. Meanwhile Mr Gove has appointed a new head of news, James Frayne, from the Westbourne lobbying firm, famously well-connected to the Tory party.
Radical ministers always need kindred spirits, but few have recruited them as comprehensively as Mr Gove appears to have done. He has done nothing wrong – though the Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude might look at the breach of his jobs freeze. The official civil service code is intact. But a powerful whiff of hypocrisy lingers on the Whitehall air.

Unthinkable? Filling in the census properly

Protest about Lockheed Martin's involvement by all means: but not by ignoring the form. Silence is only a denial of identity

Defying the census began as a contrarian stunt. In 2001 390,000 people listed their religion as "Jedi", propelling a fictitious faith ahead of Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in the national statistics. As teacher used to say, it wasn't clever and it wasn't funny – but at least it did no harm. The section in the census on religion is optional and misunderstood, the 70% who described themselves as "Christian" in 2001 perhaps confusing their cultural identity with active religious participation. A decade on from the Jedi explosion, however, resistance to the census has become tiresomely predictable and self-defeating. There are many good reasons for filling in the form accurately by Sunday, when data collection ends, and only bad ones for wilfully corrupting it. Of all the many intrusive sets of information about us held by the state and private business, the census has the best claim to being impartial, complete and for the public good. Refusing to fill it in brings no advantage: doing so is as much a civic act as voting, an affirmation that we are part of society, not isolated individuals. The more unreliable the census, the more distorted the government's priorities become. Urban areas, and particularly poor ones, end up undercounted and eventually underfunded too. Some people are concerned that Lockheed Martin, a defence contractor, is working on the census, and are calling for a boycott in response. Protest about this by all means: but not by ignoring the form. Silence is not brave, only a denial of identity.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

Arizona’s Boon to Free Speech

In two consolidated cases on Monday, the Supreme Court will hear argument about an Arizona law that levels the playing field in state elections, by a public financing mechanism called triggered matching funds. These funds support, expand and promote political speech, carrying out a central purpose of the First Amendment.

The mechanism has the bipartisan support of business leaders as “a welcome increase in speech, not a limitation of speech.” It has the support of respected former state judges who know that this and similar public financing mechanisms are the best way to eliminate corruption from state judicial elections. It deserves the Supreme Court’s strong endorsement.

Arizona provides a set amount of money in initial public support for a campaign to candidates who opt into its financing system, depending on the type of election. If such a candidate faces a rival who has opted out, the state will match what the opponent raises in private donations, up to triple the initial amount. The amount raised in private donations triggers the matching funds.

Three years ago, the court struck down the “millionaires’ amendment” to the McCain-Feingold federal election law, which leveled the field in federal elections in a different way, by raising limits on contributions for candidates outspent by self-financed opponents. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito Jr.  called it “an unprecedented penalty on any candidate who robustly exercises” free-speech rights. Translation: rich enough to spend his own money on a campaign.

This page found that wholly unpersuasive. The amendment added to the total amount of speech by making it easier for less-wealthy candidates to be heard. But with that precedent on the books, it is important to understand why it shouldn’t be applied in the Arizona cases. There is a fundamental difference between the millionaires’ amendment and the Arizona mechanism.

Because the amendment dealt with raising contribution limits, in theory it involved a prospect of more money from donors and more, not less, risk of political wrongdoing, like bribery; the amendment displeased the court in part because it didn’t combat corruption. The Arizona mechanism, by contrast, was designed to reduce both the risk and the appearance of corruption, which makes public financing appealing generally to the court and should make it appealing in these cases.

In addition, the court considers limits on contributions like those of the amendment as restrictions on speech. Rather than involving contribution limits, the Arizona mechanism involves public financing by the state. This difference is crucial. To the extent Justice Alito and others focus on the mechanism’s First Amendment implications, they should reach the heartening conclusion that more public financing means more political speech in a calibrated way that combats corruption.

Striking down the mechanism would reduce speech and undermine Arizona’s effort to rid itself of political corruption. It would provide new proof that the court is hostile to campaign finance laws without good reason.

A Shabby Crusade in Wisconsin

The latest technique used by conservatives to silence liberal academics is to demand copies of e-mails and other documents. Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli of Virginia tried it last year with a climate-change scientist, and now the Wisconsin Republican Party is doing it to a distinguished historian who dared to criticize the state’s new union-busting law. These demands not only abuse academic freedom, but make the instigators look like petty and medieval inquisitors.

The historian, William Cronon, is the Frederick Jackson Turner and Vilas research professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin, and was recently elected president of the American Historical Association. Earlier this month, he was asked to write an Op-Ed article for The Times on the historical context of Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to strip public-employee unions of bargaining rights. While researching the subject, he posted on his blog several critical observations about the powerful network of conservatives working to undermine union rights and disenfranchise Democratic voters in many states.

In particular, he pointed to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group backed by business interests that circulates draft legislation in every state capital, much of it similar to the Wisconsin law, and all of it unmatched by the left. Two days later, the state Republican Party filed a freedom-of-information request with the university, demanding all of his e-mails containing the words “Republican,” “Scott Walker,” “union,” “rally,” and other such incendiary terms. (The Op-Ed article appeared five days after that.)

The party refuses to say why it wants the messages; Mr. Cronon believes it is hoping to find that he is supporting the recall of Republican state senators, which would be against university policy and which he denies. This is a clear attempt to punish a critic and make other academics think twice before using the freedom of the American university to conduct legitimate research.

Professors are not just ordinary state employees. As J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a conservative federal judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, noted in a similar case, state university faculty members are “employed professionally to test ideas and propose solutions, to deepen knowledge and refresh perspectives.” A political fishing expedition through a professor’s files would make it substantially harder to conduct research and communicate openly with colleagues. And it makes the Republican Party appear both vengeful and ridiculous.
 

The Shame of New York’s Group Homes

Nearly four decades ago, amid repeated scandals, New York State closed the huge state hospitals that essentially warehoused the developmentally disabled. Now, an investigation by The Times has shown that New York’s group homes for the disabled — thousands of widely dispersed, state-licensed residences that were intended to replace and mitigate the cruelty of the warehouses — have themselves gone to rot.

The system, as Danny Hakim reported, operates with little oversight and tolerates shocking abuses. Employees who sexually attack, beat, berate or neglect patients can do so with little risk of punishment. Crimes are not reported, accusations are ignored by senior officials, repeat abusers are shuffled from home to home. A web of union rules shields problem employees.

There were 13,000 allegations of abuse in group homes in 2009 alone, though fewer than 5 percent were referred to law enforcement. The state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities prefers to investigate such matters internally, even though, as The Times reported, it does not use standard evidence-gathering techniques and its investigators generally lack training.

The results speak for themselves. The Times reviewed 399 disciplinary cases involving 233 state workers accused since 2008 of serious offenses like physical abuse and neglect. Each case involved substantiated charges against a worker who had already been disciplined at least once. In one-quarter of the cases involving physical, sexual or psychological abuse, the workers were transferred to other homes. The state tried to fire 129. Against stiff resistance from the Civil Service Employees Association, it fired only 30.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has already dismissed Max Chmura, who led the agency, and Jane Lynch, chief operating officer of the state’s Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons With Disabilities. There may be more dismissals and hearings. But the cleanup also has to be bottom-up, bringing not just better oversight but better employees.

Group homes cannot be havens for repeat offenders, and worker education and training must be improved. Caring for the disabled with autism and cerebral palsy is challenging work, requiring gentleness, strength and imagination. These are decent union jobs, but the state must ensure that qualified people fill them.

The answer is not a return to centralized control, to the disgraceful era of Willowbrook State School. The disabled deserve to live in surroundings as close as possible to those of normal family life. The answer lies in the state’s urgent obligation to protect those who cannot defend themselves.

 

Change in Yemen

There may have been a time when Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, could have maneuvered a more graceful departure from the office he has held for three decades. But he has lost his legitimacy and should go as quickly as possible. Continued instability is not good for Yemen or for the United States-led fight against Al Qaeda.

For nearly two months, Mr. Saleh weathered increasing pressure from youth-led demonstrations demanding his resignation and a more accountable and democratic system. The tide turned on March 18. At least 50 protesters were killed, apparently by snipers loyal to the regime.

Since then, a surprising number of high-level government officials, including military commanders and ambassadors, as well as tribal leaders, have joined the opposition. The most significant: Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, who this week directed his troops to protect the antigovernment demonstrators.

Protesters, so far, have rejected Mr. Saleh’s attempted concessions. They have little reason to trust him: He has long promised reforms and never delivered. Even now, he is sending mixed messages. On Thursday, he vowed to defend himself by “all possible means.” On Friday, he said he was ready to yield power but only if he could hand it over to what he termed “safe hands.”

Still, there is talk of a deal. In Yemen’s complex tribal culture, President Saleh, a survivor, may survive again. The Obama administration, using quiet diplomacy, at first tried to persuade him to respond peacefully and credibly to popular demands. Now with Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s patron, it should press him even harder to accept a quick and peaceful transfer of power to a caretaker government that broadly reflects Yemeni society. It would lay the ground for elections.

Yemen is a shaky state. It is running out of water and oil, and 43 percent of its people are impoverished. It is battling separatists in the south, insurgents in the north and — with Washington’s frequent participation — one of Al Qaeda’s strongest affiliates. A brutal civil war or a prolonged power vacuum will only make a bad situation even worse.

 

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

Educating ourselves on the need and value of dissent

At the opening of one of the world’s most beautiful Campuses -- the Peradeniya University, the Duke of Edinburgh spoke these memorable words, “We will be open more than usual”.

Looking back at Peradeniya and reflecting on University Education in our country today one wonders whether those words are true. Recently when the University Lecturers’ Union wanted to hold a news conference in the Colombo University premises it was not allowed to do so. This is in keeping with the Sri Lanka today governed by the 18th Amendment which replaced the 17th Amendment. In this context one should also remember that the discussion planned, in the run-up to the passage of the 18th Amendment in parliament, was abandoned.

 Perhaps we are paying the price for not learning from our past mistakes. During the past few decades because of this type of arrogant behaviour by the elders of our society those issues had gone underground. It was because of issues such as the educated youth in the North and South not knowing English and therefore unemployable that the country had to face the violence that erupted in the South and North. However the elders of our society appear to have forgotten this despite the Lakshman Jayatilleke Commission which attempted to touch base and go to the roots of the problems of the youth.

Today, we are told from high places and their disciples following the example set by George W. Bush after 9/11 that terrorism must be wiped out, we in Sri Lanka have a home grown remedy and therefore we are prepared to teach the world as to how terrorism has to be eradicated.

Along with India we in Asia are an ancient people. We have a rich heritage, culture and civilization. Our education was based on our homes and primarily centered on places of worship.  In India therefore we have the great tradition of Rabindranath Tagore, well known for his Gitanjali and the Noble Prize for Literature and the Shantiniketan. So let those who work under the 18th Amendment remember that stopping a meeting of University Students or lecturers is not education. Like the people of Japan rising from the ashes of the recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation the Sri Lankan mind cannot be stopped from participating in dissent and therefore in opposition. However like senior journalists or civic rights activists we may be shot dead during the heat of the day. However killing is the work of cowards and not the people who value and learn from dissent and opposition. Therefore it is the task of the media to stand up to the Vice Chancellors and their fellow travellers.

It is good to remember a slain editors farewell editorial in which he quoted a South American thinker, about not being there to protect those who need our help, then we too won’t have anybody not even the 18th Amendment to protect us when the assassin comes looking for us.

EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Kurram ambush

FRIDAY`S deadly ambush targeting a convoy of passenger vehicles in Kurram Agency seriously threatens to scuttle the fragile peace that has barely held in the region. At least eight people were reportedly killed while several were wounded as gunmen attacked vehicles on the Thall-Parachinar road in Baggan. Several people were also kidnapped. Reports indicate that most of the victims are Shia, which points to an overtly sectarian motive to the ambush as Shia and Sunni tribes have been at daggers drawn in the region bordering Afghanistan. Observers say this is the first attack inside Kurram proper since the Feb 3 peace deal was signed between the rival factions, though there have been several acts of violence in the surrounding areas. A few days earlier, militants kidnapped over 20 tribesmen from a village festival in Baggan while Thursday`s suicide attack in Hangu, in which five people, including a policeman, were killed, is indicative of the general insecurity that plagues the region.

There was guarded scepticism of the February peace deal — guaranteed as it was by the Taliban — when its details emerged. The TTP had welcomed it largely for ulterior motives, as observers said the sectarian conflict in Kurram was affecting the Haqqani network`s activities inside Afghanistan. As incidents of violence continued, tribal elders called upon the government to punish violators of the truce. Yet the political administration has failed to keep the peace and has not been able to protect vital road links. While it is true that the Taliban are not a monolithic entity and Friday`s ambush may have been the work of a militant faction not interested in honouring the peace deal, the fact remains that regardless of the militants` intentions, securing the area remains the state`s responsibility. The government`s lack of action has emboldened the militants.

The state — both the political leadership as well as the military — needs to be serious about securing Kurram and its surrounding areas. Though sectarian problems in the region date back to the Ziaul Haq era, matters have taken a turn for the worse ever since the Taliban arrived in 2007. Some say the military has focused too much on Swat, ignoring the security threats in Kurram. Also, critics point out that the security establishment claims the majority of Orakzai Agency — which borders Kurram — has been cleared of militants; if this is so why do the attacks continue? The state needs to prevent what is left of the peace process from completely falling apart. The ambush may well trigger retaliatory attacks and if the government fails to secure Kurram in the long run, this cycle of violence will never end.

Sign of a stable rate

THE State Bank of Pakistan`s decision to lift restrictions on forward booking of imports is a positive development and will protect importers against adverse and unfavourable exchange rate movements. The move completes the rupee`s transition to a free-floating currency as required by the $11.3bn IMF balance-of-payment loan agreement. The facility, according to a notification issued by the central bank on Tuesday, will be available to the `genuine` importers immediately against their letters of credit for a minimum period of one month. The bank had `temporarily` suspended this facility to importers three years ago in order to restrict imports on the back of fast-depleting foreign exchange reserves and rising price inflation, which had caused the rupee to shed 28 per cent of its value in the latter half of 2008. The restoration of the forward cover for imports, thus, signifies stability of the exchange rate on the back of growing foreign exchange reserves and an improving current account.

The bank`s initiative, however, is expected to increase the demand for dollars in the inter-bank market and increase downward pressure on the currency. A slight increase in pressure on the exchange rate is desirable because it will make exports cheaper and imports dearer. Additionally, it will ease pressure on the interest rates and help the bank maintain its key policy rate at the current level of 14 per cent even if it decides against lowering it in its forthcoming monetary policy review. The rupee has shown resilience during the current financial year because of the growth in exports and remittances from overseas Pakistani workers. Even the uncertainty regarding the continuity of the IMF programme and the rapid increase in global oil prices have failed to adversely affect the exchange rate. Yet the political conditions in the Arab world and the volatility in the global oil markets demand that the bank remain cautious and alert to avoid a freefall of the rupee as was witnessed two and a half years ago. Hence, it is advisable for the banks to put in place strong checks to prevent the misuse of this facility.

Timely warning

THE need for Pakistan and India to share intelligence has been felt for long. The Interpol chief`s disclosure about a terrorist plot to disrupt the cricket World Cup bonanza is further evidence that this intelligence needs to be spread wide and far. The revelation came amid threats to the Pakistani team by some right wing India-based groups. Shiv Sena is believed by some well-informed Indian quarters to be preparing to make things difficult for Pakistani cricketers should they reach the final, which is to be played in Mumbai on April 2. But more serious still, the arrested suspect was apparently planning to disturb the World Cup in Sri Lanka. This serves to reinforce the need for regional and international cooperation and the exchange of data to keep track of terrorist planning and pre-empt tragedy. Even though Ronald Noble, the Interpol chief, and Interior Minister Rehman Malik did not give details of the arrested suspect, Pakistanis typecast as the international terror-mongers must have been relieved by Mr Malik`s declaration that the suspect had `no connection` with Pakistan.

India and Pakistan had agreed in Havana some years ago to make sincere efforts to jointly combat terrorism. And addressing a press conference along with Mr Noble on Thursday, the interior minister said he had informed New Delhi that the Taliban had started their activity in India. The attack in Mumbai in November 2008 which was linked to the jihadi Lashkar-i-Taiba in Pakistan was preceded by the Samjhota Express carnage and the Malegaon bombing; the latter two incidents warned of the growing danger to India from homegrown terrorist networks. This tells us that typecasting a terrorist is an extremely hazardous profession. The terrorist threat has to be combated locally, regionally and globally in all manifestations.

 

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

What it looks like in Assam

Assam's two-phase Assembly election, scheduled for April 4 and 11, is quite different from any contest that the State has witnessed in the post-Emergency period: this is the first time an incumbent party is seeking a mandate for a third consecutive term. For Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, the contest presents an opportunity to make history — as the second Chief Minister in Assam after Bimala Prasad Chaliha to ascend the gadi thrice in succession. Assembly and Lok Sabha elections since 1991 have been overshadowed by insurgent violence and boycott calls but it is unlikely there will be any major disruption or sabotage this time. It augurs well for the democratic process that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) — weakened over time and more recently by the earnest crackdown on their bases in Bangladesh by the Sheikh Hasina government — have initiated talks with the government. The Paresh Barua-led faction of ULFA and the Ranjan Daimary faction of NDFB, which have kept out of the peace process, will be desperately looking for chinks in the security armour to carry out sporadic strikes to prove their presence on the ground and to win media attention. A recent bomb blast at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati by the ULFA faction and an ambush on Border Security Force (BSF) in Kokrajhar by the NDFB faction suggest there is no room for complacency.

Although the Congress and it fellow-traveller, the Bodoland People's Front (BPF), have not been able to come to an understanding on seat sharing, their post-poll alliance looks set to continue. There are also indications that in the event of falling short of the majority mark, the ruling party will fall back on the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), which caused an erosion in Congress vote banks among immigrant Muslim settlers in 2006. The Left parties were hoping that the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) would take the lead in uniting all non-Congress, non-BJP parties to present a viable alternative to the Congress-BPF coalition. This followed the General House of the AGP adopting a resolution calling for the severance of poll ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had made gains at the expense of the regional party in the 2009 Lok Sabha contest. Nevertheless, the vacillations of the AGP leadership continue. The regional party tried to push through its proposal of a ‘grand alliance' of all opposition parties, which was rejected by the Left and the AIUDF and by the BJP as well. The opposition parties claim there is strong anti-incumbency sentiment engendered by the scams and by alleged misrule in the State. However, in the absence of any pre-poll alliance based on an agreed minimum programme, it is the ruling combination that seems to have the advantage. 

Budget rollbacks and promise

The smooth passage of the Finance Bill by Parliament was facilitated by the slew of concessions extended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. As many as 47 amendments to the original bill were passed. The concessions aggregate Rs.1,500 crore, a large portion of this attributable to procedural changes in the method of levying and collecting taxes. For instance, the deferment by three months of a new procedure to collect service tax on an accrual basis instead of on actual receipts will mean less revenue than what was envisaged in the budget. Manufacturers of readymade garments, especially those in the small-scale segment, have got relief by way of higher excise duty abatement. By far the most anticipated announcement was the rollback of the 5 per cent service tax on certain grades of hospitals and diagnostic services in the private sector. This budget proposal drew a good deal of flak. Had it been implemented, it would have increased the already high health care costs. However, while the government will now forgo around Rs.300 crore, it was not just revenue considerations that were behind the proposal. The idea of bringing the various entities in the booming health care segment under the tax net has been around for quite a while. Besides, as the Finance Minister said, the move was meant to prepare the ground for the Goods and Services Tax (GST). It is unlikely that this sector will be exempted when the GST is finally in place. The principal idea behind the GST and the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) — the two key reform measures — is to have a tax structure with moderate taxes, minimum exemptions, and wide coverage.

Mr. Mukherjee has kept the promise he made in the budget speech by introducing a Constitution Amendment Bill to pave the way for the GST. Essentially, the Bill seeks to give powers to the States to tax services and to the Centre to levy duties beyond the factory gate. The Bill incorporates features that seek to resolve the sharp differences between the Centre and the States over the implementation of the far-going structural change. A GST Council, headed by the Union Finance Minister, and a GST Dispute Settlement Authority are proposed. In bringing the Bill before Parliament Mr. Mukherjee may have kept his word. But it will be over-optimistic to expect the GST to become a reality on April 1, 2012. The legislation, which will now go to a standing committee, requires two-thirds support in both houses of Parliament and to be ratified by at least half the number of State legislatures.

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

March 26 : Forty years on

We recall our leaders, our martyrs, our friends abroad

We celebrate today the dawn of an arduous struggle we launched four decades ago even as the might of the Pakistan occupation army sought to quell the spirit of nationalism in us by the genocide it had unleashed on the preceding night. United by a common resolve to be free and sustained by the thought that ours was a struggle that would surely end in triumph, we went to war to reclaim what had always been ours. This morning, we remember with pride the powerful, eloquent leadership provided by the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, at a time when the forces of darkness seemed to close in on us. His dream, together with the fashioning of battlefield strategy by his competent colleagues in the Mujibnagar government -- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, M. Mansoor Ali and A.H.M. Quamruzzaman -- was to carry our movement through to victory by the end of the year. We also recall the initial revolt by Bengalis in the Pakistan army and those in the erstwhile East Pakistan Rifles, who formed the early nucleus of our armed resistance. We recall too our three million compatriots through whose supreme sacrifices over a long period of nine months we came by the right to live as free citizens of a free land.

Our recollections of this day in 1971 will not be complete without remembering the huge contributions made to our cause by representatives of the global media then present in Dhaka. They not only highlighted the political negotiations that went on between 1 and 25 March but also, more importantly, our suffering as also our resilience of spirit following the army crackdown. Their reports and commentaries informed the world of the dimensions of the tragedy wrought by the state of Pakistan in Bangladesh and of the resistance our valiant Mukti Bahini, indeed our entire population, were putting up despite the superior firepower of the enemy. To them and to others --- men like Andre Malraux --- in the international community goes our gratitude.

On the fortieth anniversary of the declaration of Bangladesh's independence, it is only proper that we re-emphasise the necessity of a trial of the war criminals of 1971 to go ahead, quickly and judiciously. In the interest of justice, guided by the supreme need to have the collaborators of the Pakistan occupation army answer for their crimes committed forty years ago, let the trial commence under due legal process. A celebration of freedom without bringing the killers of our martyrs to account cannot quite be fulfilling.

Stop pre-polls violence

Onus is on political parties

Pre-polls violence has become a regular phenomenon in our country. Starting from union to upazilla level elections we witness pre-poll violence of some form or the other, sometimes even leading to large scale injuries, destruction of property and deaths of political activists and non activists alike.

With the Union Parishad polls closing in on us, intermittent pre-election violence is being reported from across the country. Only recently, at least 75 people were injured in pre-poll clashes between the supporters of rival candidates for chairmen in three upazillas in Patuakhali.

Union Parishad elections are important for ensuring a strong foundation of local governance and development institutions at the grassroots. To guarantee this, we need to do away with all kinds of provocation and intimidation among the followers of the candidates.

This sordid practice has created a dent in people's belief in peaceful elections, particularly at local levels, where the contests are of intense nature. Violence occurs even on Election Day, thereby posing a threat to the polls outcome. But, in essence, people have got used to exercising their right to franchise in ever increasing fervour. This trend has to be maintained.

Apart from the Election Commission and the government agencies, such as the police, Rab or even the armed forces, doings their bit, it is the senior leaders of the political parties and the contestants who should be active in keeping their supporters in check. Although local elections are supposed to be held on a non-party basis, party colours get nailed on them and so some confrontational element willy-nilly gets into the process. This must not happen.

The Election Commission has already held, with reasonable success, the Upazilla polls and elections to municipalities. It now devolves on all concerned to do everything possible to maintain that trend at the forthcoming polls as well.