EDITORIAL : THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD, NEW ZEALAND

 

Act coup is great news for Key

 

In the brutal world of coalition politics, it's all about the numbers.

That's the cruel truth that caught up with Rodney Hide this week, when he was toppled as the leader of the Act Party by a man who was not even a party member, much less a Member of Parliament.

The third caucus vote that rolled Hide was that of the disturbingly blurred Hilary Calvert (who may be less handsomely rewarded than she hopes when the party's list is compiled in a few months).

But the numbers stacked up that way because Hide had long lost the authority to lead. He was the perk-buster who took his fiancee to London on a taxpayer-funded holiday; the campaigner for transparency who connived in the cover-up of a colleague's grubby past; the buffed buffoon in a television dancing show who had been credibly criticised as a bully and led a caucus whose members were barely on speaking terms.

Brash was right to say Hide's brand had become toxic.

Those alarmed at the political resurrection of the former Leader of the Opposition seek to remind us of what they see as Brash's toxic past.

Certainly, he comes with baggage, but he's happy to display it: his agenda, unchanged since 2005, involves slashing public spending and when he speaks of delivering tax relief it is not the interests of the poor he has in mind.

But the reincarnated Brash is a different animal from the 2005 version. He is not seeking to be Prime Minister but the leader of a small, right-wing party that wants to, in his words, "give some spine" to its senior coalition partner in a National-led Government.

He does not need to carry the country with him; just more than 1 in 20 voters. And he will have a ready-made constituency of disaffected Act voters who have been desperate for some reason to return to the fold.

The scenario that is unfolding is such good news for the Key Government that it is not hard to imagine that National Party strategists had a hand in its design. Put simply, there is no downside for Key in what is happening. He can advance unpopular policies, such as asset sales, and use Act as his excuse.

A week ago Key was contemplating entering an election campaign with his only natural coalition ally doomed to extinction. And as his allies on the right melted down, storm clouds were gathering on the left. Hone Harawira's Mana Party, born in Auckland yesterday, poses a political threat to Key every bit as serious as the death of Act would have.

If Harawira wins in Te Tai Tokerau, he could bring a handful of MPs with him. If they and surviving Maori Party members do a deal with Labour, they could add up to numbers that would keep the Nats awake at night.

Key will give a nod and a wink to Act's candidate in Epsom - the electorate held by Hide and as good as promised to former Auckland mayor and National MP John Banks. But if things get tight, Key might need to consider doorknocking for Act.

Recent polling may translate into a seating plan that shows more than half the House to be blue, but the electorate has not come close under MMP to letting a major party govern alone and it's not about to start now. Before NZ First even turns the ignition key, it looks like being an interesting election.

We are too quick to take offence

 

By any reasonable reading, Breakfast newsreader Peter Williams' remark about equestrian Mark Todd was not intended as a derogatory comment about homosexuals.

Williams made the off-the-cuff remark in reference to Todd's enormously impressive achievement in winning the Badminton Horse Trials for the fourth time at the age of 55.

A veteran sports journalist, he observed that some sports - golf and snooker were examples - depended less than others on cardiovascular fitness and that "Mark Todd's personal habits" included having "had the odd fag over the years".

Williams and co-presenter Corin Dann spent the next minute giggling at what was plainly an accidental double entendre: Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper alleged in 2000 that Todd had snorted cocaine with a rent boy.

But GayNZ.com spokesman Jay Bennie objected to the use of a term "used to denigrate in every connotation".

Bennie, who reportedly had not bothered to see the coverage before passing judgment, works in a noble cause as a defender of gay rights, but his assertion betrays a dim grasp of etymology.

The word "fag" as a derogatory term for homosexuals is less than a century old; its application to cigarettes - initially "fag end" for the last remnant of a cigarette - goes back to the 16th century. Gay rights activists are on shaky ground in claiming ownership of the word so they can decry its use.

Any follower of equestrian sports knows that Todd has been an enthusiastic cigarette smoker - an Olympic champion with nicotine-stained fingers is a rare sight.

But Bennie's comment typifies our increasing predilection for finding offence where none was intended.

Lobby groups of all persuasions stridently object to careless but harmless terminology, as Blues lock Ali Williams found to his cost when he remarked that his teammates' encouragement on his comeback from injury made him feel "like a special-needs victim".

Deprecation and demonisation of minority groups can certainly threaten our social cohesion, and hate speech should be treated with the contempt it deserves.

But rubbing along together in an increasingly complicated world also calls for a sense of perspective. Looking for offence in every syllable uttered by others is in nobody's interest.

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

Time for stand-down in Libya

The embattled Libyan leader has apparently come to know his limitations. His change of tone and vocabulary, as he called upon the NATO to negotiate a ceasefire, cannot be shrugged aside as a ploy.

Surprisingly enough, he was defiant to the core and rejected any preconditions for talks and even excluded the possibility of his exit any time soon. Subsequently, his assertion that rebels battling his forces are mercenaries and terrorists, and their strings are being pulled from Algeria, Egypt and Afghanistan is more than enough to land any rational person in a fix. Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s odd mix of concession and defiance is neither going to secure his regime nor bring around peace in the strife-ridden country. The facts that Gaddafi deliberately prefers to ignore are: that his country is in a state of war, his writ of governance has collapsed and he is faced with a huge opposition at home, who are willing to wage a guerrilla warfare to ensure his early exit from power.

Notwithstanding the merits or demerits of Gaddafi’s urge for a dialogue, it is a moment of deep introspection for the NATO and the United States. The undeniable fact that the Libyan dictator and his war machinery have survived weeks of aerial bombardment and are quite capable of unleashing a long witch-hunt against rebels reflects the tangible elements of his regime. The West, which at least wants to see Gaddafi go in exile and has even proposed a number of safe havens, cannot keep mum over his audacity for talks, and would have to respond to it either in a diplomatic or a military jargon. This silence of the deaf from the West when it comes to exploring an amicable way out is quite toiling. Keeping in view that their objective to defend the civilians in Libya is not working as per the mandate of Resolution 1973, and hectic use of firepower, the NATO has to come out with a new and categorical stance of its own.

This exercise of warfare split between destruction and demonisation is unworkable. What started off in Libya as an uprising for fundamental rights is now a civil war, coupled with foreign aggression, to say the least. It is incumbent to explore a common ground between the warring factions and the sooner that is done, the better. Gaddafi’s offer can make a good beginning if that boils down to rebels disarmament and his exit from power, simultaneously. Let there be a quid pro quo.

Is Saleh’s volte-face wise?

 

President Ali Abdullah Al Saleh’s threat to pull out of the Gulf Cooperation Council deal to resolve the political deadlock in Yemen is quite unfortunate.

While talking to ‘Russia Today’ Television, Saleh has laid some serious charges against Qatar for fomenting unrest in Yemen. Moreover, he also accused the Gulf state to have been funding unrest in Syria, Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world. These are serious charges, indeed, especially when they appear unfounded and not backed by any credible facts. It may be that Saleh’s disgruntlement with the GCC proposal lies in stepping down a month after the formation of the unity government. The besieged president’s actions and words only highlight his growing desperation at this point since he now faces an inevitable departure from the highest office in the country. Whether he decides on a peaceful and honourable exit as offered by the GCC or one that is paved with further desertions and more bloodshed, the writing on the wall is clear.

The people of Yemen are no longer going to be appeased with Saleh’s promises of stepping down on his terms. In fact, the Yemeni opposition groups’ agreeing to the proposal was a major achievement since the mood on the street was anything but conciliatory with demands for Saleh’s immediate exit growing louder by the day.

Instead of displaying maturity Saleh has now turned on even those who have been painstakingly involved in brokering a safe exit for him and helping Yemen regain stability.

Saleh’s recent actions could only be interpreted as another sign of clinging on to power and trying to find excuses to not sign the transition deal at the eleventh hour. It will be extremely unfortunate if this happens since Yemen has for the past many months been racked by violence and bloodshed. The country’s political and security challenges not to forget its dismal economic conditions cannot afford this. It is the principal reason the GCC decided to offer mediation between Sanaa and the opposition groups. Despite the regime’s high-handed tactics and the recent killings of civilians, the opposition has displayed enough political acumen and responsibility in agreeing to the power transfer deal. There is only a limit to what even friends can offer in terms of mediation and helping solve a domestic crisis. It is now up to Saleh and his ruling party to either take the most non-violent way out or face the consequences.   

EDITORIAL : THE KOREA TIMES, SOUTH KOREA

An unwelcome guest

Koreas could ill afford to give cold shoulder to Carter

Jimmy Carter and three other ex-heads of state may be regretting their unfruitful trips to Pyongyang and Seoul last week.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il didn’t give them an “audience” leaving just an oft-repeated message, just before their departure at that. Nor did Kim’s South Korean counterpart, who never liked the idea of ``third-party” mediation from the start.

All this had been somewhat foreseen since Washington made it clear that Carter was not traveling on behalf of the U.S. government. A day after the former U.S. President conveyed Pyongyang’s willingness for both bilateral and multilateral talks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the North to mend ties with the South first (by accepting Seoul’s preconditions).

Some U.S. hard-liners minced no words in ridiculing their former leader as a shameful ``spokesman of Kim Jong-il” and chided he is up to ``more mischief.”

Despite, or because of, these criticisms of his journey, most regretful and disappointing for Carter might be his failure to meet the North Korean leader one on one. One can’t see much reason for Kim’s repeated refusal to speak face to face with the former American leader, following an abortive meet last August, considering the dire situation facing his country.

Kim of course must have known Carter’s visit couldn’t be anything more than a personal mission, from the responses of both Washington and Seoul. But Kim should have at least explained the situation and position of the communist regime on major issues, using his visit as a major opportunity for good publicity. Kim’s father, North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, went as far as to defuse the first nuclear crisis through the same U.S. visitor in 1994.

That Kim Jong-il didn’t do so might reflect the son is a far worse, less caring leader than the father, and the former would not, or cannot, dissolve his nuclear arsenal at least for the moment, unlike 17 years ago when Pyongyang was just a fledgling or would-be nuclear power.

And this means the current crisis could be far more dangerous than the previous one, calling for the need for more active negotiations if not engagement. As always the Lee Myung-bak administration was mired in a petty game of one-upmanship, downplaying the mission of four elder leaders and setting up walls to block potential ripple effects beforehand.

It would be easy for both Koreas to neglect Carter, as the American hawks do, as just a naive idealist who wants to either engrave an indelible legacy or even make up for his less than perfect presidency with post-retirement activities throughout the world.

Yet we can also see the better sides of this octogenarian Nobel Peace Prize laureate and his co-travelers, if we believe in the time-honored truth that humans get wiser and less selfish, if somewhat slower in realistic calculations, as they age. Especially noteworthy in this regard were their appeals for humanitarian aid to starving North Koreans, including the children, women and aged citizens.

At Camp David in 1978 the then incumbent President Carter managed to broker a historic Middle East peace deal between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, with an appeal, ``Don’t you want our descendants to live in peace?” At a news conference here Thursday, Carter also said, ``… I just hope that South and North Korean brothers by blood would lead better lives.”

We Koreans have long attributed foreign invasion and intervention to most of our national tragedies. The rude undiplomatic treatment of senior foreign mediators by both Seoul and Pyongyang shows the fingers should be directed to none other than ourselves.

Public figures' privacy

To what extent should the privacy of public figures, including top entertainers, be protected? In other words, to what extent can the public’s curiosity in these stars’ private lives be allowed? This basic query is filling the pages and airwaves of local media these days. In question are two different cases. One of the two involved was the nation’s biggest pop idol in the 1990s, and still is for some. Seo Tae-ji introduced rap and hip hop to Korea and earned the nickname of ``cultural president” for it. His secret (or just unpublicized) and brief marriage and consequent divorce is stirring ire among his fans and, more likely, anti-fans. The so-called scandal, made public by his former wife-cum-TV actress’s alimony suit, has swept all other ugly news, including one on President Lee Myung-bak’s suspicious property deal in the past, under the carpet to be top news of both print and electronic media. Is that worth it? Of course, Seo should apologize for trying to sue a newspaper 15 years ago for what he then called the ``false” (actually correct) reporting of his marriage, to fans and the media outlet. Keeping his privacy is one thing, and distorting the truth is another. But that must be about all he needs to do, and the masses and mass media must free, should free him, and let Chung Hyun-chul (Seo’s real name) live the life of an ordinary person who marries and brings up children without having to be conscious of other people. The public should stop digging into the private lives of Seo and his former wife Lee Ji-ah, who dropped the suit and took to hiding under enormous popular pressure. The other case is about the latest heartthrob who volunteered to serve as a tough marine instead of avoiding conscription or wanting to work as one of the ``entertainer-soldiers.” Hyun Bin’s decision is of course commendable, but some commentators and women legislators are calling it ``noblesse oblige” that went too far, in view of equity and nondiscrimination with numerous other marines and even conscripts for other armed services for that matter. It just stuns us to see his each and every move, from the decision to join the marines to five-week training and posting, make big headlines. Compare this with Elvis Presley’s relatively quiet army life and Prince Harry’s secret active service in Afghanistan. Hyun wishes his two-year service to be a period during which he regains his self as Kim Tae-pyong. Let’s allow him do so. An excessive pursuit of stars reflects one’s empty inner self. This vanity, when expanded to national proportions, is just a mass disgrace.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY TRIBUNE, THE PHILIPPINES

 

 

One scapegoat down

Click to enlarge

After acceding to Noynoy’s demand to resign, Ombudsman Merceditas (Merci) Gutierrez’s move is now being ascribed by the same people seeking her resignation to a strategy to save Gloria Arroyo from court cases. And there was yet another reason: Merci no longer would face the impeachment court she protected Gloria by resigning, as Noynoy’s allies said the Senate court proceedings would have inevitably led to the sins of Gloria.
Such an insane argument was being spearheaded by former state prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, saying the resignation of Gutierrez deprived the nation of a venue to get a glimpse of the pieces of evidence against the Ombudsman under trial that would have linked Arroyo.
With her resignation, the doors are expected to open for cases against Gloria, so says her demonizer, Noynoy. How then does her resignation save Gloria?
The mindset of Villa-Ignacio exposes the whole strategy for the impeachment trial of the prosecutors who are made up of Noynoy’s allies. And that is to use the Senate court as a venue to start a political assault on Gloria.
It also exposed the ploy that the impeachment proceedings would have been used likely for political grandstanding with proving the basis of articles of impeachment against Gutierrez only secondary.
Before Gutierrez was impeached, almost the same individuals made a lot of noise about the incapability of the Ombudsman to issue a decision against her perceived political patron, Gloria, and thus the need for her resignation.
Now that she has resigned, these pretentious lot behind Noynoy is now alleging a sinister motive behind it.
Noynoy got what he wanted and the appointment of a new Ombudsman would be his most anticipated next move.
Villa-Ignacio must be making a lot of noise now with a moist eye on the recently vacated post.
Nonetheless, the nation expects Noynoy to step up on his anti-corruption effort, now that Merci had given way to him. He and his cohorts had indicated that the campaign to end corruption under Noynoy’s administration and the impeachment of Merci go together like peas in a pod and Noynoy has always said that Merci is the biggest stumbling block in his anti-corruption fight.
Merci’s resignation, thus, takes away a major alibi for his administration’s lackluster record, thus far, in the effort to end corruption.
Of course, Noynoy would continue to pound away at his other scapegoat, the majority of the Supreme Court justices, whom his aides have branded as the Arroyo court, if his anti-corruption efforts continue to stall.
The Truth Commission which Noynoy had formed supposedly to probe allegations of corrupt practices against Gloria remains in limbo as the Supreme Court had declared the executive order that formed the body as unconstitutional.
Noynoy had openly criticized the high court for throwing out a series of edicts he issued although legal experts blame the sloppy crafting of these executive orders for their failure to hurdle the tribunal.
Nevertheless, the Palace is making it look like a hidden agenda among the SC justices that was behind the junking of Noynoy’s orders.
The biggest drawback against Noynoy always blaming somebody else whenever he cannot get anything moving, is the growing perception that he lacks the commanding presence as a leader nor does he have the will to have people in government to do the things that he claims to want done.
With Merci out of the way and the anti-graft body no longer an obstacle to him, Noynoy would be expected by many to start filing the supposedly many charges that his wards had withheld from Merci in the belief that this would not be handled properly.
Let’s see Noynoy and his wards put the money where their restless mouths are.

EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

 

A quality read

"THERE is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry
This Traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul."

Though written sometime in the 19th century, Emily Dickinson's poem above has resonated with anyone who has ever had the experience of opening windows through the mere opening of a book -- travelling in space, time, universe, and emotions, just by riding on the written word. And, having discovered the secret to this magical journey, most are bitten by the travel-bug, and few can resist its pull.

But as with travels of the flesh, travels by book can sometimes be bumpy, depending on how well or badly the journey has been planned and organised. Storylines that have not been carefully thought out or are carelessly sewn together can cause the traveller to get lost and confused -- gaining nothing from the trip. Grammatical and spelling errors serve as tour-guides that one cannot comprehend -- or even worse, one thinks one understands them, but actually, one understands wrongly.

That is why book-publishing statistics can be misleading. Malaysia is currently ranked first in book-publishing in the Asean region, and 16th in the world by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). For the last three years, Malaysia has churned out an average 16,000 books per year, and about 25 per cent of these are children's books -- resulting in an astounding 11 new children's books a day. But, for all that, the local book market is riddled with low-quality children's books. Take a random leaf-through some of these and one is accosted by not only appalling grammar and spelling, but by phenomenally boring storylines and storytelling. That these books sell nonetheless is probably a testament to the children's desperation for something, anything, to read. And that is heart-wrenching.

The government's move to set aside RM2 million every year to buy locally-published books directly from authors and distribute them to public libraries is a commendable idea. But it means nothing if the books that are bought are of sub-standard quality, for such a helping-hand would only encourage mediocre writers to continue churning out their garbage. If this spending is to have any worth at all, it should be focused on bringing quality books to libraries, and bringing quality libraries to the people. In fact, more should be spent building and filling libraries. E-books may be all the rage for the rich, but access to quality reads should at least be enabled for the poor, even if on a borrowed basis. To read or not to read should not be an option.

EDITORIAL : THE JAKARTA POST, INDONESIA

 

 

The week in review: A royal wedding and a state visit

 

Indonesia is not even part of the Commonwealth, but like many other countries around the world, the people here also attentively followed the royal wedding procession of British Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday. The wedding even sidelined the important state visit to Indonesia by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

The guessing game that had been lingering all this time was finally over after Kate walked down the aisle to marry her prince charming at Westminster Abbey in London. All questions were answered. Kate looked elegantly beautiful in her white lace gown. Queen Elizabeth, William’s grandmother, awarded the newly weds the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

An estimated two billion people around the globe, including Indonesia, watched the British royal wedding. Many compared the occasion to when William’s parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, wed some 30 years ago.

The much-awaited wedding usurped all attention, outshining media coverage of Premier Wen and his visits to Malaysia and Indonesia. Wen arrived in Jakarta late Thursday on a mission to boost bilateral relations between Indonesia and China.

The implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) in early 2010 has significantly increased bilateral trade between Jakarta and Beijing, with trade volume reaching US$42.75 billion last year, an over 50 percent increase from 2009. However, there are several sectors that have suffered from the agreement, and thus it has become the Indonesian government’s responsibility to help those businesses bounce back and secure benefits from the bilateral trade.

In an interview with journalists from Malaysia and Indonesia prior to his visit, Wen praised ACFTA for offering mutual benefit and bringing win-win results to all parties concerned.

As the economies of the United States and Japan are presently still in decline, China has strengthened its position as a surging economic power, and thus Indonesia should be able to draw more investment from their giant neighbor to create jobs and push the domestic economy to higher rates of expansion.

Wen has mentioned China expects to intensify cooperation with Indonesia in the energy sector, infrastructure development and other important areas, including manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries. He also said cooperation in defense would be another point to focus upon, especially in joint anti-terrorism exercises and military training.

Improving bilateral ties with China was not the only matter concerning Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. As extremist movements have seemingly been on the rise, preaching radical religious and political ideologies, Yudhoyono called on the nation to preserve the country and protect the people. The President also warned the public of the serious threat of terrorism, asking all stakeholders to actively take part in preventive measures against violence.

The National Police have been busy across the country launching a major crackdown on the outlawed radical Indonesian Islamic State (NII) movement. The police have their reasons for doing so, citing the aborted plan to explode a 150 kilogram bomb beneath a gas pipeline in the Serpong area west of Jakarta.

The police have actively called on universities across the country to monitor their students’ activities, in fear the NII movement might have been successful in infiltrating campuses.

The NII, which has existed since the early 1950s, aspires to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state. Allegations have surfaced that some of the more militant members have even targeted and brainwashed university students to convince them to join their cause. Some universities have set up crisis centers to enable students to report indoctrination efforts and recruitment activities allegedly conducted by the group.

The discovery of the group’s alleged brainwashing and recruiting activities has raised concerns that terrorism in Indonesia remains a real threat and may be evolving under different mechanisms. If that is the case, security officials and intelligence officers need to work harder to be able to facilitate early detection and prevention of any radical activities.

Indonesia may not be very powerful on the international soccer pitch, but the scandal at the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) has attracted attention not only from soccer fans, but also the general public. Prior to their May 20 congress, an agenda that would include an election for the next PSSI chairman after world’s ruling soccer body FIFA told chairman Nurdin Halid to step down, PSSI announced 19 candidates deemed eligible to run for the post.

Unfortunately, at FIFA’s request PSSI had to drop the names of business tycoon Arifin Panigoro and Army Gen. George Toisutta from the list of candidates. In addition to barring Arifin and George, FIFA decided to also ban Nurdin and  former vice chairman Nirwan Bakrie from the race for the 2011-2015 chairmanship.

Still in sports, last week was a memorable moment for national boxers Chris John and M. Rachman, as they had the chance to meet President Yudhoyono at the State Palace. During the meeting, the President called on the young generation to join boxing clubs or other martial arts dojos to channel their energy into positive activities, as demonstrated by both Chris, the WBA featherweight world champion, and Rachman, the WBA world minimum weight title holder.

Last but not least, besides the British royal wedding, the engagement of Yudhoyono’s youngest son Edhie Baskoro and Siti Ruby Aliya Rajasa, daughter of Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, on Tuesday also received significant attention. Their wedding, scheduled for Nov. 24th this year, is eagerly anticipated by the general public, as many have been skeptical, seeing their match as a “political marriage” between Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party and Hatta’s National Mandate Party (PAN).

 

EDITORIAL : THE BANGKOK POST, THAILAND

 

 

It's not too late for intelligent debate

 

The news last week that a joint task force made up of officers from the Internal Security Operations Command, the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission and the Crime Suppression Division raided 13 community radio stations in Bangkok and neighbouring provinces accused of broadcasting a speech allegedly containing comments offensive to the monarchy is troubling on several scores.

In the first place, it is almost impossible for the general public, and even the media, to know if such actions were justified because very few people outside the red camp have heard the speech. If the speech is truly offensive, it clearly should not be made public, and if it is not offensive, it is still dangerous for anyone to publicise it for obvious reasons.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajjiva quite rightly came out against politicians from all parties making any references to the monarchy in their campaigning. This should include accusations of lese majeste since the public has no way of knowing if they are justified.

Yet it is clear that the issue will not go away as long as army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha is determined to continue his campaign to stamp out behaviours he deems offensive to the monarchy. It was Gen Prayuth who ordered that lese majeste charges be filed against three United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders for their alleged remarks in their speeches marking the one-year anniversary of the day the UDD/red shirt protests turned lethal on April 10 of last year.

It is now up to the courts to decide their guilt or innocence. Lese majeste should not go unpunished, but the media and the public must resist any push to make this issue central to the upcoming campaign. Genuine acts or statements constituting lese majeste have almost zero support among Thais, no matter what their political affiliation. Therefore, this should not be a defining issue of the campaign; rather it is a non-issue.

It's not as if there aren't plenty of real problems for politicians to focus on. As pointed out in the Bangkok Post editorial yesterday, this is an ideal time to explore solutions to long-neglected labour issues including unemployment, workplace safety and a liveable minimum wage. Both major parties are suddenly talking about substantially increasing the minimum wage, which is a good place to start, although it remains to be seen if they will be willing to stand up to the captains of industry when they say it can't be done after the election. There is also an urgent need to look for ways to improve the standard of living of the country's vast informal labour sector, especially in agriculture. And any fair look at the labour issue in Thailand should consider the vast migrant workforce. New efforts should be made to register all migrant workers and ensure that their basic rights are protected. It is time to accept that they make a valuable contribution to the economy and in many cases would be very difficult to replace.

Education is another area where there needs to be an overhaul. Year in and year out we hear that the Thai education system lags behind other countries in the region, especially in science and creative problem-solving, an area crucial for national competitiveness, yet nothing is ever done about it.

Anyone reading this can add half a dozen or more other areas for urgent attention, including the unrest in the South and corruption, and obviously the solutions won't come in the remaining weeks before the election. But at least there is time to begin an intelligent debate, which admittedly is not often confused with an election campaign in Thailand or anywhere else in the world.

The truth is that the political situation in the country as exemplified by the wrangling between the red and yellow camps has pre-empted discussion, much less action, on so many matters that are crucial to the nation's true interests for almost five years now. The Democrats and their supporters are no more to blame than Pheu Thai and the UDD, who, for example, focus attention on government excesses in the crackdown on protesters in May last year while ignoring their own culpability in trampling on the boundaries of legal protest and taking a whole section of the city hostage.

As a result of all this wrangling, Thailand is struggling at a time when it should be thriving.

 

EDITORIAL : THE INDEPENDENT, IRELAND

 

 

Manners must be put on judges

 

WE are not in a good place when the judiciary begins to pose a problem to the good running of the State. It is nothing short of an abasement of Irish public life that, when it comes to their pensions, we must be put to the trouble and expense of a referendum to compel a set of judges, who appear to think they hold office in a similar manner to those medieval kings who ruled by divine right, to behave themselves.

Sadly, the reputation of our judiciary was further damaged last week by the revelation that Chief Justice John Murray had, at his first meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny, raised concerns held by judges over the impact of recent tax changes on their pensions. It is excessive to use words like seedy but anyone who recalls the era of Thomas Finlay would have felt queasy over a spectacle that bore far too close a resemblance to the exchanges a Taoiseach normally has with the Vintners Association.

Our judges have, courtesy of a shackled media and a cowed political class, acquired an increasingly sacerdotal hue. Like our former Catholic prelates, we are regularly told, in particular by our judges themselves, that they are no ordinary citizens. Our judiciary though should know that in all polities from the ECB to Machiavelli's Prince unbridled authority will, if it is not tempered by some form of accountability, eventually dawdle towards the seductive territories of self-interest.

The fact that the story appeared at all indicates that Mr Kenny, whose capacity to use the political knife has been consistently underestimated, appears to have sent the Chief Justice off with a flea in his ear. He was right to do so in private, and in public, for if our judges are fretting about how to survive on the 'widow's mite' of a €2.3m pension they have little to be worrying about.

Or to put it a different way, judges should be applying their minds to far more serious matters than their terms and conditions. The public have been scandalised by the vast carelessness with which our banking and economic elites ran their affairs. More seriously, the social compact has been compromised by our apparent inability to deal with these scandals.

In issues such as this a disillusioned, cynical public inevitably look to self-proclaimed pillars of the State for guidance. However, when it comes to our judges, we can apparently go whistle, for, with rare exceptions, the judiciary have been as mute as the famous three monkeys on these issues.

Judges, of course, should not act like politicians manqué and use the courtroom as an alternative legislative forum but, like the President, they can make their views known in a subtle fashion.

The Coalition's forthcoming referendum should have a wider brief than pensions.

Seeing as politicians, quite rightly, have to produce a register of interests when they are elected, it should include the setting up of a similar register and a judicial council for a judiciary who appear to be struggling to understand that in a republic everyone, including judges, is equal.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

The Ryan Plan for Medicaid

With Washington looking for ways to rein in costly entitlement programs and state governments struggling to balance budgets, conservatives have revived an old nostrum: turning Medicaid into a block grant program.
The desire for fiscal relief is understandable. Medicaid insures low-income people and in these tough economic times, enrollment and costs — for the federal government and state governments — have swelled.
Representative Paul Ryan, and the House Republicans, are now proposing to ease Washington’s strain by capping federal contributions. Like his proposal for Medicare, that would only shift the burden — this time onto both state governments and beneficiaries.
Still, some governors may be tempted. His plan promises them greater flexibility to manage their programs — and achieve greater efficiency and save money. That may sound good, but the truth is, no foreseeable efficiencies will compensate for the big loss of federal contribution.
Mr. Ryan also wants to repeal the health care reform law and its requirement that states expand their Medicaid rolls starting in 2014. Once again Washington would pay the vast bulk of the added cost, so states would be turning down a very good deal to save a lesser amount of money.
Here’s how Medicaid currently works: Washington sets minimum requirements for who can enroll and what services must be covered, and pays half of the bill in the richest states and three-quarters of the bill in the poorest state. If people are poor enough to qualify and a medical service recommended by their doctors is covered, the state and federal governments will pick up the tab, with minimal co-payments by the beneficiaries. That is a big plus for enrollees’ health, and a healthy population is good for everyone. But the costs are undeniably high.
Enter the House Republicans’ budget proposal. Instead of a commitment to insure as many people as meet the criteria, it would substitute a set amount per state. Starting in 2013, the grant would probably equal what the state would have received anyway through federal matching funds, although that is not spelled out. After that, the block grant would rise each year only at the national rate of inflation, with adjustments for population growth.
There are several problems with that, starting with that inflation-pegged rate of growth, which could not possibly keep pace with the rising cost of medical care. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that federal payments would be 35 percent lower in 2022 than currently projected and 49 percent lower in 2030.
To make up the difference, states would probably have to cut payments to doctors, hospitals or nursing homes; curtail eligibility; reduce benefits; or increase their own payments for Medicaid. The problems do not end there. If a bad economy led to a sharp jump in unemployment, a state’s grant would remain the same. Nor would the block grant grow fast enough to accommodate expensive advances in medicine, rising demand for long-term care, or unexpected health care needs in the wake of epidemics or natural disasters. This would put an ever-tightening squeeze on states, forcing them to drop enrollees, cut services or pump up their own contributions.
This is not the way to go. The real problem is not Medicaid. Contrary to most perceptions, it is a relatively efficient program — with low administrative costs, a high reliance on managed care and much lower payments to providers than other public and private insurance.
The real problem is soaring medical costs. The Ryan plan does little to address that. The health care law, which Republicans have vowed to repeal, seeks to reform the entire system to deliver quality care at lower cost.
To encourage that process, President Obama recently proposed a simplified matching rate for Medicaid, which would reward states for efficiencies and automatically increase federal payments if a recession drives up enrollments and state costs. The president’s approach is better for low-income Americans and for state budgets as well.

Mr. Geithner’s Loophole

 

Until recently, the big threats to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law came from Republican lawmakers, who have vowed to derail it, and from banks and their lobbyists, who are determined to retain the status quo that enriched them so well in the years before, and since, the financial crisis. Now, the Obama Treasury Department has joined their ranks.
In an announcement on Friday afternoon — the time slot favored by officials eager to avoid scrutiny — the Treasury Department said it intends to exempt certain foreign exchange derivatives from key new regulations under the Dodd-Frank law. These derivatives represent a $4 trillion-a-day market, one that is very lucrative for the big banks that trade them.
A loophole in the law — which the bankers and their friends, including the administration, fought for — allows the Treasury secretary to exempt the instruments. The arguments in favor of exemption, beyond a desire to please the banks, were always unconvincing. They still are. The Treasury Department has asserted that the exempted market is not as risky as other derivatives markets, and therefore does not need full regulation.
That claim has been disputed by research, but even if it were true, it would be a weak argument. For instruments to be relatively safer than the derivatives that blew up in the crisis, necessitating huge bailouts, hardly makes them safe. Worse, dealers could probably find ways to manipulate the exempted transactions so as to hedge and speculate in ways that the law is intended to regulate.
The Treasury Department insists its exemption is narrow and regulators will have the power to detect unlawful manipulation. In their spare time, perhaps? The financial crisis made clear what happens when everyone doesn’t have to play by the same rules. And it made clear that the taxpayers are the ones who pay the price.
The department has also said that because the market works well today, new rules could actually increase instability. That is perhaps the worst argument of all. It validates the antiregulatory ethos that led to the crisis and still threatens to block reform.
The Treasury’s plan will be open for comment for 30 days. Count us opposed.

 

Some Sunshine for the Campaign Jungle

 

When the Supreme Court legalized a new era of unrestrained corporate campaign spending, the court made a point of upholding disclosure of donors as an alternative safeguard for voters and the democratic process.
President Obama should take the court up on its transparency blessing forthwith and sign a proposed executive order that would require government contractors to disclose their donations to groups that support or oppose federal candidates. If they win, those would-be legislators or policy deciders will be able to reward these contractors with millions or even billions in government largess. The taxpayers have a right and need to know what favors are being curried.
The court’s Citizens United decision inspired a $138 million binge of hidden donors in last year’s midterm elections. It was a mere down payment by political machines that will flood the 2012 campaign with anonymous cash from corporations, unions and nonprofit groups.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an accomplished conduit for secret donors, is crying foul about the proposed executive order. But clearly the measure is needed to combat pay-to-play campaign abuses.
Democrats came close to passing a new disclosure law last year, but were stopped when Senate Republicans — who will benefit the most from stealth corporate donations — stood fast. The prospects with this Congress are, of course, far worse, and the checkbooks are already out.
Mr. Obama vowed to rein in campaign abuses. Now is not the time for him to flinch before noisy threats from the chamber and other deep-pocketed players.

 

Voice of the Derby Steps Down

 

In the theater world it’s called flop sweats. In thoroughbred racing, where Tom Durkin has been the signature voice of the Triple Crown for years, it was his fear of breaking down in the homestretch.
After valiantly struggling with nightmares of blowing the big call at the finish line, Mr. Durkin shocked the nation’s bettors and touts by bowing out as announcer of next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
“It’s a tough professional decision, but a great personal one,” a relieved Mr. Durkin told Joe Drape, the Times racetrack writer, in quitting the premier job as television’s Triple Crown announcer. He poignantly told of years of anxiety eating at him even as his voice soared wire to wire with the thundering fields at the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. All manner of therapy failed to stop his stage fright.
Derby day is when much of the nation enjoys the pretense of being deeply interested and knowledgeable about thoroughbred racing. Go into your local bar, and sample the authoritative chatter before post time. (“Ultraequus is going off at 5-to-2 and looks ready.”)
The day is rich with claims of sure things that fade in the homestretch. That’s the real sport of it. For the last 13 years, nothing quite beat the fun of having a drink in hand and craning toward the screen as Tom Durkin settled things with his rich baritone and quick, evocative narration: “They’re coming down to the finish! Can Smarty Jones hold on?! Here comes Birdstone!”
The new voice Saturday will be the veteran Larry Collmus. But Tom Durkin has already made Derby day special by retreating from it in plainly human terms. “Life is too short and precious,” was his parting call.

 

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE CHINA DAILY, CHINA

 

 

Population growth concerns

 

An annual population growth rate of 0.57 percent in the last decade, or a net increase of 73.90 million people, points to the necessity of further maintaining the family-planning policy and keeping the country's population growth rate at a reasonable level.

The net increase in the population was 130 million from 1990 to 2000, 56 million more than in the 2001-2010 period. So it is clear that family planning has achieved a great deal.

Given its great population, China needs to continue the family-planning policy as its population will continue to grow over the next two decades before it peaks at a predicted1.5 billion.  

The publication of detailed figures from the sixth national census on Thursday shows that the proportion of residents under 14 dropped by 6.29 percentage points in the last 10 years and those aged between 15 and 59 decreased by 1.91 percentage points. During the same period, the number of people over the age 60 increased by 2.93 percentage points.
The increasingly heavier burden of an aging population is a product of the successful implementation of the family-planning policy.
At the same time, the rapid dwindling in the population under the age of 14 suggests that a lack of laborers will pose a threat to the country's economic growth in the near future.
It is definitely right for China to maintain a relatively low birth rate. Yet, the country cannot afford to see its population growth rate drop as sharply as it has in the past two decades.
If that becomes a reality, it will certainly negatively affect the government's financial capability to subsidize the care of its aged population, which will continue to grow in the coming decades. It would also exert a heavy pressure on the younger generation.
What the government cannot afford to ignore is the younger generation's attitude toward childbirth, which must also have contributed to the rapid decline in population growth in the past two decades.
It can take several decades for a population policy to show its effect. Therefore, fluctuations in the population size must be closely monitored in the coming years. In addition, studies and surveys are also needed to discover young people's attitudes toward having children.
Then the adjustments to be made in the family-planning policy will be soundly based on solid data as well as sensible analysis and prediction of the population development trend.
This demonstrates what President Hu Jintao was talking about when he said on Wednesday, that the population issue is complicated and deserves long-term concern. 

Complicity in food crimes

 

We had no solid evidence when we said that the pork supplies from the Shuanghui subsidiary containing the banned substances ractopamine and clenbuterol were probably just the tip of an iceberg.

Nor when we made repeated predictions that melamine would continue to surface in milk powder despite all the promises, assurances and crackdowns.

Now we have all the evidence we need. Earlier this week, in Chongqing, more than 26 tons of milk powder containing melamine were confiscated.

While in Hunan province, police uncovered the production and transaction of ractopamine and clenbuterol as fodder additives, which involved more than a dozen provinces.

It is possible to take an optimistic view and say that the authorities succeeded in uncovering these food crimes. Yet, at the same time, such achievements prompt even more suspicions about food safety. One can easily, as some readily and regularly do, portray these as "isolated cases" that don't represent the "bigger picture", and assign blame to specific perpetrators.

The latest initiative for the authorities of the industry and commerce administration to assess the conduct of all players in the food industry and practice differentiated oversight accordingly is a step in the right direction. Preserving a complete record of a business' conduct and subjecting those found with stains on their character to special scrutiny sounds like a good way to enhance corporate consciousness, which we believe will be conducive to self-discipline in the industry.

Publishing and maintaining a "blacklist" of wrongdoers, as has been proposed, will not only satisfy consumers' right to know, but will make true the market's potential in eliminating dishonest players. With due information, consumer choices can effectively eliminate wrongdoers from the marketplace. But for that to happen, more needs to be done to share information.

We also agree with Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, who heads the State Council Committee for Food Safety, that it is necessary to substantially raise the price of violations. Heavy fines and severe criminal penalties are also essential.

The authorities' latest move to revise the national list of food additives is a welcome step. But their previous inability to detect dozens of chemicals on their list of prohibited additives does not inspire confidence and leaves a gaping hole that illicit businesses can take advantage of.

The authorities have an obligation to develop the capability to detect in a timely manner, if not pre-empt, potential new public health hazards.

So the real task is to ensure that government functionaries are independent and effective in checking the food chain and that those caught wrongdoing are also brought to account.

Officials must be convinced that local development will no longer be tolerated as an excuse for shielding illegal activities. And the potential consequences of extending an umbrella of protection must suffice to make them think twice. 

                                                                                          Dated on 29/04/2011

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

 

 

Britain's royal wedding could help revitalize monarchy

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The wedding ceremony of Britain's Prince William and Catherine Middleton, commonly known as Kate, was held in Westminster Abbey in London on Friday.

Prince William is the first son of the late Princess Diana, who in life captured the hearts of many people around the world, and Prince Charles. He is second in line to the throne after his father.

This is the first time in more than 350 years that a future king of England has married a so-called commoner. The royal nuptials were broadcast live around the world and watched by an estimated 2 billion people.

This shows public interest in the British royal family remains strong. The popularity of "The King's Speech," which won this year's Academy Award for Best Film, also helped shine a global spotlight on the royal wedding.

It appears, however, that Britons' feelings toward Friday's royal wedding are different from the sentiment that greeted the wedding of Prince William's parents 30 years ago.

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Royals haunted by scandal

The wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana swept people in up a fairy tale world, and set off a royal frenzy. In the 1990s, however, the couple separated and divorced, and Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997. These events brought to light a number of conflicts within the royal family that had been hidden from public view. The image of the royal family as Britain's ideal family--a portrayal carefully nurtured since the Victorian era of the 19th century--fell apart.

During the 1990s, the divorces of Prince Charles' sister Princess Anne and brother Prince Andrew also created an uproar and provided plenty of fodder for the tabloids and other media.

The British royal family is no stranger to marital scandal, including that of King Henry VIII, who separated the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

With the British royal family often in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the 1990s, some influential newspapers went so far as to call for it to be abolished.

According to recent opinion surveys, however, three out of four Britons support the existing constitutional monarchy. Prince Charles' conduct is sometimes said to have been a remote cause of events that ultimately led to Diana's death, but support for his taking the throne has increased to about half of the British populace.

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Moves to revise succession

The recovery in support for the British royal family apparently reflects a strong attachment to a constant institution in life during an age of radical change. The increase in Islamic immigrants and a new phase of stratification in British society also might have heightened people's desire to keep a symbol of integration in place.

Some members of the royal family have made efforts to get closer to the people.

Queen Elizabeth II herself now pays taxes, a gesture of cooperation with belt-tightening by the royal family. The royal family also has been keen to portray itself as open to ordinary citizens.

The right to the British throne has long been passed on preferentially to male lineal descendants of the royal family. But in recent years, there has been increased discussion of changing royal succession laws to allow the first child of a reigning monarch to take the crown irrespective of gender.

Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako canceled their scheduled attendance at the wedding ceremony in consideration of the hardships victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster are going through. Nevertheless, we hope the Imperial family will deepen its friendly ties with the British royal family. 

Safety still top priority for Tohoku Shinkansen

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Tohoku Shinkansen bullet trains resumed full operations Friday, 1-1/2 months after the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the Tohoku region on March 11.

This restores the main artery connecting the Tokyo metropolitan area and major cities in Tohoku. We hope it will help the flow of people in business and tourism return to normal and get economic reconstruction efforts into full swing.

All Tohoku Shinkansen trains had been stopped because the disaster damaged rails, overhead wires and other equipment in 1,200 locations. The new Hayabusa train became unable to carry passengers just a week after its March 5 debut.

Strenuous repair work brought Tohoku Shinkansen trains back in stages. Service on the last remaining section--connecting Sendai and Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture--finally resumed Friday.

There are about 10 percent fewer trains than before the quake. Because they are traveling at slow speeds in some areas, it takes about four hours to travel between Tokyo and Shin-Aomori stations, although the shortest time for this trip was formerly three hours and 10 minutes.

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Major boost to travel

Nevertheless, transportation to disaster-hit areas will improve dramatically, as people previously had to transfer to such vehicles as airplanes, buses and cars to reach them. Coming at the beginning of the spring travel season, the resumed Shinkansen services will certainly help fill the Tohoku region with tourists.

After the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, it took three months for the Sanyo Shinkansen to be fully restored. The Tohoku Shinkansen was revived relatively quickly because the aim was to finish restoration work before the Golden Week holidays, during which tourist travel is expected to be high.

But when the Tokyo-Sendai section was reopened Monday, services were suspended for nearly five hours due to off-and-on power outages caused by difficulties with electric power transmission. Services also were disrupted in some sections Wednesday due to power outages and other reasons.

We welcome the fact that operations were resumed quickly, but neglecting safety checkups and safe operations will lead to trouble.

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Local lines must be restored

At the same time, the reconstruction of local lines that supported the lives of quake-hit local residents must not be forgotten.

Conventional railway lines running along the Pacific coast in the region were directly hit by tsunami, with railway tracks and station buildings swept away or suffering devastating damage. In four prefectures from Aomori to Fukushima, seven routes operated by East Japan Railway Co., as well as so-called third-sector semipublic railway services, remain partially inoperative. There currently is no prospect for their full restoration.

The central and local governments jointly shoulder half the costs of restoring railways after a major disaster. But it is considered difficult for semipublic railway operators, most of which are in the red, to pay the remaining portion.

Routes operated by these entities might even close down if steps are not taken to deal with the situation.

To help disaster-hit semipublic operators of local railways, the government should introduce special measures to raise its share of reconstruction costs. JR also needs to make all-out efforts to revive routes that are essential to local people's lives and not abandon disaster-wrecked lines.

EDITORIAL : THE INDIAN EXPRESS, INDIA

 

 

A vote too many

 

For weeks it had been clear that the Public Accounts Committee was headed for a fracas — especially after Congress and DMK members took up their party line that once a joint parliamentary committee on telecom had been constituted, the PAC should desist from inquiring into 2G spectrum allocation. The argument was, and remains, flimsy. Yet, no one could have expected the meeting called to take a final view on the draft to collapse so fast into such unprecedented mayhem. After UPA MPs tried to force a vote, a move resisted by opposition MPs, PAC chairman M.M. Joshi adjourned the meet. But the UPA MPs — who with support from a BSP and an SP MP, held a 11-10 majority on the committee — stayed on and elected themselves a new chairman, Saifuddin Soz, and rejected the report. This is a tactic of such breathtaking recklessness that the UPA should consider what it implies for the committee system in Parliament and for the immediate need to bring a working civility to Parliament.

The PAC is a committee of long lineage, and after Independence it has been incrementally strengthened as a watchdog on the government’s finances. Early on ministers were kept out of the committee, and by the mid-1960s a convention was adopted of appointing an opposition MP as chairperson. It is a convention that’s mostly worked well, and it has served as a mechanism to nurture working relations between government and opposition so critical in a parliamentary democracy. This is why the UPA’s ploy of forcing a vote is so reckless — it threatens to wreck the consultative and give-and-take mechanisms between treasury and opposition benches that steel the legislature into the sum of more than the ruling party/ coalition’s numbers. Certainly, the current stand-off draws from the politically charged 2G context. And Joshi, as committee chair, could have done more to prepare the members for a more deliberative paragraph-by-paragraph reading of the draft, especially the contentious portions relating to the prime minister. He should have seen the polarised my-truth-versus-yours political environment and refrained from making his press conferences such a performance.

Insecure state

 

IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt of the Gujarat cadre filed an explosive affidavit with the Supreme Court, accusing Chief Minister Narendra Modi of deliberate inacti-on after the Godhra train burning in 2002 — even as communal riots tore the state apart. He also claimed that the SC-appointed special investigation team (SIT) had been reluctant to record testimony of those prepared to indict Modi, and were actively fudging facts and coercing witnesses. That’s a serious claim, and Bhatt better be fully prepared to back it up. However, if true, it would be devastating confirmation that the CM was intentionally, vengefully derelict in his duties, and that later, the state’s police and administration were under instruction to deny justice to Gujarat’s Muslims.

Whatever the truth-value of that claim, now that it has been made public, Bhatt has invited grave danger upon himself, in a state as polarised as Gujarat. However, the government has now withdrawn his security cover — one that he had to put together himself, with four men from the training college where he is principal. This, despite the explicit requirement that those deposing before the investigators should be given full protection.

 

 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

 

 

Caretaker government reform

Three month tenure non-negotiable

The controversy over the Awami League-proposed reform of the caretaker government centres not on three month duration of the CG's mandate but on the ruling party's suggestion that the failure to hold elections within three months would render a revival of the immediate past elected government.

Let's put the whole issue in perspective to arrive at a judicious conclusion.

BNP-led four party alliance raised the retirement age of judges only to have the incumbent chief justice head the caretaker government. Naturally, the opposition Awami League then had reasons to resent it. In these circumstances, President Iazuddin Ahmed ignored the other options to choose a chief adviser and himself appeared in the dual role of the president as well as the chief adviser.

The situation was further compounded by a flawed electoral roll with more than one crore non-existent voters in it, so that there was legitimate demand for an authentic electoral roll. Meanwhile, President Iazuddin declared emergency and ushered in a military-backed caretaker government. This interim government had before it the task of making a computerised authentic voter list with photographs.

Since all these circumstances are neither present nor likely to emerge in the future, the overriding provision of three month tenure of the CG can be put firmly and squarely in place. We already have an authentic voter list, all that it requires is updating before the next general election, which also happens to be a continuing process.

Hence, the AL's suggestion that the outgoing elected government would take over if the CG cannot hold elections within ninety days, does not stand to reason. It is basically contradictory to AL's original position on the caretaker government. Its demand for a non-partisan CG was based on complete no-confidence in an elected party government to hold general elections. How can it now reverse its stand?

So we take the view that 90-day tenure for CG should be non-negotiable. In these stipulated three months the CG should not only hold elections but also effect transfer of power to an elected government. All these should be stipulated in legally tight formulation.

Symbolism of May Day

Let quality of life improve for citizens

The memory of the 1886 Chicago Haymarket bombing and shootings lingers. And because it does, there is the symbolism set off by the assault on the working classes that we observe today along with the rest of the world. In Bangladesh especially, May Day has for decades been a potent hint of how much yet remains to be done in the matter of ensuring the rights of not just industrial workers but also of the struggling masses of the country as a whole. The message on the day is, therefore, loud and clear: the collective happiness of a society is in the end dependent on how society treats its most important means of production, namely, its workers and its peasantry.

It cannot be denied that over the years economic policies have taken a distinctive turn away from the command or mixed economy and towards a free market direction in Bangladesh. The growth of industry, the development of export goods in varied ways, the institution of the micro-credit system have all yielded results which have added substance to the nation's economy. And yet one must raise the question of whether such progress has satisfactorily been reflected in the lives of the working classes. There are still the safeguards, in terms of a healthy workplace environment and job security, that must be in place in ready made garments and in other sectors of the economy. Images of the young toiling away for a pittance at unhealthy factories are yet part of the social scene in this country. The very fact that tens of thousands of our citizens are compelled by economic reasons to seek low-paying, menial jobs in other countries is a broad hint of where we might have stumbled in promoting a society of equality.

May Day has always been a time for a voicing of legitimate demands. Today, let the demand be for a guarantee of all those measures that will improve the quality of life, for workers and peasants, for all citizens of Bangladesh.