EDITORIAL : THE JAKARTA POST, INDONESIA

ASEAN, a community away

There are great expectations for Indonesia’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As a founding member, the largest member and the most vibrant democratic nation in the 10-state organization, the privilege to hosting several high level ASEAN-related meetings this year is a measure of how Indonesia can truly lead Asia’s pre-eminent grouping.

Despite regularly hosting many high-profile meetings over the past two decades, organizational and technical preparations received a passing grade — but not with flying colors.

As reported by this newspaper, preparations were often chaotic and unprofessional. In the lead-up to the summit, for example, dissatisfaction was rampant among the press corps — locally and internationally — about the inefficient registration process. As a proud Indonesian institution, we were embarrassed by the less-than-positive comments heard.

Organizers should never forget that hosting such high- profile events offers a window as to the professionalism by which this country is measured. We hope the criticism that has emerged can be a source of introspection, as several more high-level events immediately lie in wait.

Substantively, there is room for concern amid the proud smiles of the leaders over the weekend. While ASEAN has been superior in creating structures and processes, it has found that instilling the values needed to implement these high visions are low in execution.

Indonesia’s chairmanship has been particularly challenging. With the deadline of an ASEAN Security Community just four years away, it must begin to cultivate a novel decorum among members beholden to the idea of a shared community.

The deadly border shootout between Thailand and Cambodia does not bode well for the future of the so-called ASEAN Security Community. Progress is not a matter of the leaders coming together in Jakarta at the summit to say they would resolve the dispute amicably. International diplomacy will always weigh in after the fact.

The fact that both parties so readily resorted to armed force to begin with was very disconcerting. With a multitude of overlapping disputes dotting the region, who is not to say that more than one place will soon become the next flash point?

We should further be anxious that parties involved in these conflicts would rather bring their dispute to international bodies, rather than seek a solution within ASEAN itself.

These events all indicate that in the face of acute challenges, ASEAN members are not fully ready to embrace the sacrifices — tolerance, cooperation, mediation and patience — needed to be part of a community.

Indonesia, as ASEAN chair, and in particular the Foreign Ministry, should be lauded for taking the initiative in helping to lower tensions and promote mediation within the ASEAN process.

But what happens when other members take the rotating chairmanship?

With Myanmar next, how much of a role can we expect it to pursue in aggressive foreign policy when the regime is still marred by international doubt?

Rather than conjuring new slogans such as “ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations”, perhaps it is wise to keep ambitions small. ASEAN will be judged not on how it responds to crises outside the region, but how it resolves its own conundrums.

If the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand cannot be truly resolved — not just suspended as is the custom in ASEAN — by the end of Indonesia’s chairmanship, we are skeptical that the vision of community will be realized by 2015.

It is irrelevant to talk about the ASEAN Community withering away, since achieving it is increasingly likely to be a wonderful but stalled idea, rather than a reality.

Police arrest 3 more in Cirebon bombing

Police have arrested a total of seven suspects in the case of a recent suicide bomb attack at a mosque in the Cirebon police compound in West Java, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said.

The police's Densus 88 antiterrorism squad recently arrested three more suspects, JH alias ZL, FD and E alias Baim, on Saturday at around 7:00 p.m.

"The three were arrested for supplying explosives," Boy said.

JH was arrested in Boyolali, Central Java while both FD and E were arrested in Depok.

"We are still investigating other suspects. We haven't put anyone on the police's wanted list,” he added.

He said that the police were still investigating whether their arrests would lead to the naming of other suspects in the case.

The police had previously arrested four others as suspects, including M Basuki, the brother of the alleged suicide bomber M Syarif. The other three are Arief alias Dede, Andri Siswanto alias Hasyim and Musholla. (fem)

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY TRIBUNE, THE PHILIPPINES

 

 

Noy’s grumblings answered

Click to enlarge

 

Eminent columnist William Pesek has something to tell Noynoy about his periodic tantrums on his supposed achievements in spurring growth in the economy not getting the appropriate media space.

If a local critic says that, which incidentally does say so, such would be dismissed by Noynoy and his Palace boys as “sour-graping.”

In gist, Pesek said these supposed achievements in the economy have no meaning unless the poor are actually benefiting from it.

Incidentally, the quarter before Noynoy took over had much higher growth rate. It was during his quarter and half term that the economic growth contracted.

Pesek noted that despite a seven percent growth, political stability, healthy banks and a narrowing budget deficit, the Philippines is still not shaking off its credibility lack in the international market, thus its persistent junk-bond status among credit rating agencies.

“If President Benigno Aquino wonders why the Philippines is not shaking its junk-bond status, a visit to the local supermarket may set him straight,” Pesek said in his column in a prominent business magazine.

Food prices, he noted, are surging and pushing more Filipinos into extreme poverty, which he said is the kind where they live on less than $1.25 a day.

Similarly, the Asian Development Bank in a recent study said 64 million more Asians may sink into poverty this year as a result of rising prices that it said would likely offset growth in the economies of the region.

The economic managers of Noynoy have been on overseas tours to court investments and at the same time persuade a possible upgrade in the country’s investment ratings which is crucial in determining the success or failure of such persuasion tours.

Pesek poses this question: What good is rapid growth if it is not getting to the neediest segments of the population?

He noted the Philippines, apparently referring to the administration of Noynoy, has yet to deal with this question in a meaningful way.

The recent inflation figures bear out Pesek’s assessment. The figures on price increases were the highest for a year at 4.5 percent in April.

The inflation upswing was the result of increases in the cost of transportation and communication services and fuel prices. Electricity rates were also up during the month and so were the cost of basic commodities such as meat, fruits and vegetables.

A 4.5 percent increase in prices negates a similar growth figure in the economy, meaning that the supposed increase in output which is usually measured in value rather than volume, was more likely the result of higher prices rather than an increase in production.

Several annual reviews on the corruption level in the country, that of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy and the recent Global Integrity Report all pointed to worsening perception of corruption in the country despite Noynoy’s regular lip service on eradicating graft in government.

The problem lies basically in his failure to match fighting words with action in removing those in government perceived abusing their positions when they are considered allies.

Pesek said poverty and corruption have credit-raters wondering if the nation is ready for prime time.

This poses a basic question on the capability of Noynoy to convince rating firms that indeed his administration has made the right moves to warrant an upgrade aside from engaging in mostly talks and promises about what his administration will do.

Similarly, it would require his ability to translate economic gains into improvement in the livelihood among the poor.

Thus far, Noynoy has not shown any signs that such quality exists in him.

EDITORIAL : THE GUARDIAN, UK

 

Biodiversity: It's the ecology, stupid

At every level, human civilisation is underwritten by the planet's countless and still mostly unidentified wild things

The water we drink falls as rain, usually on higher ground, often designated as a catchment area. The terrain would ideally be covered in vegetation, because otherwise the runoff would be muddy, the reservoirs would silt up and the valleys would flood. But plants depend on billions of insects to pollinate them. Insects also devour foliage, so forests depend on birds by day and bats by night to keep insect populations under control. To prevent a population crash, there must also be raptors to keep the insectivores in order – and the taps running. At every level, human civilisation is underwritten by the planet's countless and still mostly unidentified wild things – the jargon word is biodiversity – that pollinate our crops, cleanse, conserve and recycle our water, maintain oxygen levels, and deliver all the things on which human comfort, health, and security depend. Economists and conservationists have tried to put a value on the services of nature: if we had to buy what biodiversity provides for nothing, how much cash would we need? The answer runs into trillions, but the question is nonsensical. Without healthy ecosystems, there would be no cotton and linen to make banknotes and no bread or clean water for sale.

Last week the European commission unveiled its 2020 biodiversity strategy, and introduced the notion of a "green infrastructure" from Orkney to the Black Sea. A continent-sized strategy is indeed necessary: swifts, swallows and swallowtail butterflies do not care about national boundaries. It focuses on the economic value of forest, grassland, heath, wetland, lake, river and farmland ecosystems. The auguries are not encouraging. One fourth of all Europe's farmland birds flew away between 1990 and 2007; 40 or more of Europe's 435 butterflies are now fluttering to extinction. Yes, extinctions are a normal part of evolutionary history, but not on such a scale and pace. And who knows which species an ecosystem can do without, and still function for human benefit?

The EU in 2006 vowed to halt species loss by 2010, but in 2008 admitted frankly that targets would not be met. Around 18% of Europe's land area is protected, but governments and environment agencies need to think very hard about not just protecting but restoring habitats in much of the remaining 82%. Inevitably, those critics who do not condemn Brussels for the failure of its biodiversity policies so far will vilify it for fretting about dragonflies, toads and liverworts while economies stagnate and industries collapse. Both responses are wrong. Europe may propose, but the member states must implement. And although the cost of conserving biodiversity will be considerable, the price of not doing so could be truly terrible.

Liberal Democrats: The hard road back

The rose garden love-in a year ago was understandable in some ways but it was a political misjudgment

Looking at the opinion polls since the general election, and in particular at the results of last week's elections, many still ask why British voters are disproportionately punishing the Liberal Democrats and not their much larger coalition partners, the Conservatives. This is the wrong question. Conservative voters are not punishing the Conservative party because, broadly speaking, they like what the coalition government is doing. As a result, the Tory vote held up across Britain last week. The same did not happen for the Liberal Democrats because, quite simply, it is Liberal Democrat voters, or more accurately, a significant proportion of them, and not the electorate as a whole, who are punishing the Lib Dems. One in three people who voted Lib Dem in 2010 did not do so again on Thursday. Most of them switched to Labour, though with how much lasting conviction only time will tell. But the Lib Dems have to try to win them back, and they have to convince the two out of three who stuck with the party last week, some with many misgivings, that they were right to do so. The party needs to reconnect with them. It isn't complicated.

Nick Clegg began the task of reconnection with a strong performance on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday. The tone, the positioning and the main themes had been well trailed by other senior Lib Dems since well before last week's voting. The coalition would go on. The deficit reduction strategy was inescapable. The relationship with the Tories would be more businesslike. The distinctive and moderating Lib Dem voice would be louder. And there would be substantial and significant changes in the government's NHS plans.

These are the bare minimum of the messages that Mr Clegg needs to get across if he is to have serious hope of redressing last week's election setbacks and rebuilding confidence. Not that mood music is unimportant. If more attention had been paid to it earlier, the Lib Dems might be in a less grim position today. The rose garden love-in a year ago was understandable in some ways but it was a political misjudgment. So was the very public enthusiasm with which the then chief secretary David Laws embraced the deficit-cutting programme a few days later – memories of that are so strong that the often mooted return to office by Mr Laws would send a bad signal to the Lib Dems' lost voters. Even the arrangement of the Commons chamber, requiring Lib Dem ministers to be seen mingled with the Tories on the government benches rather than sitting in their own separate section, deserves attention. The Lib Dems need to be much tougher about mood and messages.

In the end, though, it is policies and discernible practical achievements that of course matter most. The damage that the Lib Dems did themselves over tuition fees remains huge. It may define the party for years, as the sterling crisis defined the Tories under John Major and the Iraq war Labour under Tony Blair. There is not a lot they can do about that issue now. But it only increases the need for the Lib Dems to draw and defend clear lines, within the coalition, on matters that are fundamental to liberal British voters. One of those issues is the future of the banks, where the party still has a chance to leave a truly progressive mark. Another is the priority given to the green economy. A third is an uncompromising assertion of the need to clean up the House of Lords democratically. A fourth is to hold the line on the Human Rights Act, one of the Lib Dems' important but unsung achievements so far. There are many others. But there is no disputing where the most important battle of the next few months will come. The destructive reorganisation of the NHS and the impact of the spending freeze are the immediate must-win battleground for Lib Dem credibility. Mr Clegg has to stop the Lansley reforms, and be seen to have stopped them. If he does not, then he and his party may pay an even higher price than they paid last week.

In praise of … Havergal Brian

His Gothic Symphony is the ultimate cult neglected work by a British composer forgotten by all but the fanatical few

After booking opened on Saturday for the BBC Proms 2011, 87,000 tickets were sold in the first 12 hours. Amid such Glastonbury-level demand, it is not surprising that seats for a few of the starriest concerts have now all gone – though uniquely, of course, there will still be 1,400 tickets available each night on the night. It's no shock that Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra were first to sell out the Albert Hall, or that the Verdi Requiem ran them a close second. No surprise, either, among the chamber concerts, that tickets for Bach's Goldberg Variations and the Yo-Yo Ma recital have now gone too. The truly remarkable news, astonishing even, is that the only other Prom to sell out on day one is a performance of an 84-year-old work that has only ever been played complete five times and has not been heard in London for 30 years. Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony is the ultimate cult neglected work by a British composer forgotten by all but the fanatical few. Everything about it is massive, from the 150-strong main orchestra, the 40 extra brass players and the nine choirs who will cram the Albert Hall to the Gothic's two-hour length. The rare performance on 17 July has clearly struck a suitably gargantuan chord. "Stunning recognition for Brian's magnum opus," was the Havergal Brian Society's verdict to the news. Those of us who missed out on Saturday will surely be crammed into the standing places or glued to our radios for this once-in-a-livetime symphonic extravaganza.

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

A Fatah-Hamas Deal

Ultimately, a successful Palestinian state will need to have all its people, from both the West Bank and Gaza, working together to build a stable and prosperous future. The recent agreement between the two main factions — Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority and has committed to peace with Israel, and Hamas, which has committed to Israel’s destruction — is not the answer.

We have many concerns about the accord, starting with the fact that Hamas has neither renounced its legacy of violence nor agreed to recognize Israel. The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he remains in charge of peace efforts and the unity government will be responsible for rebuilding Gaza and organizing elections. Whether that is Hamas’s vision is unclear.

Also disconcerting are suggestions that Mr. Abbas may have privately agreed to replace his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, who has done so much to build up the West Bank economy and institutions. There are big questions about the future of the two sides’ security forces.

The United States has spent millions of dollars helping the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority create a security force that Israel has come to rely on to keep the peace in the West Bank. Whether Hamas, which has terrorized Israel with rockets from Gaza, can ever be integrated into that force, or even work side by side, is a huge question.

Israel certainly has many reasons to mistrust this deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suspended tax remittances and is pressing Washington hard to cut off aid to the Abbas government. The Obama administration has reacted warily to the new pact but said its assistance will continue for now. Congress is talking tough.

It’s too early for a cut-off. The money is Washington’s main leverage on the new government. A cut-off would shift the political balance dangerously toward Hamas.

Other reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas have imploded, but Mr. Abbas seems to believe this will advance his push to get the United Nations General Assembly to recognize a Palestinian state. Above all, his sudden willingness to deal with his enemies in Hamas is a sign of his desperation with the stalled peace process.

Hamas’s goals are far harder to game, although there are reports of new frictions with Syria and a desire for better ties with Egypt’s new government. In an interview with The Times last week, Khaled Meshal, the Hamas leader, declared himself fully committed to working for a two-state solution. Just a few days earlier Hamas’s (supposedly more moderate) prime minister, Ismail Haniya, was out there celebrating Osama bin Laden as a “Muslim and Arab warrior.” Huge skepticism and vigilance are essential. But more months with no progress on peace talks will only further play into extremists’ hands.

So what happens now? The United States and the other members of the quartet — the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — need to put the new government on notice that all support will be carefully scrutinized and that firing Mr. Fayyad would be a big mistake. They need to tell Hamas that if it is serious about coming in from the cold, it must halt all attacks on Israel and recognize its right to exist.

At the same time Washington needs to press Mr. Netanyahu back to the peace table. A negotiated settlement is the only way to guarantee Israel’s lasting security.

For weeks President Obama and his aides have been debating how to revive the peace process — and how deeply the president should engage. (His peace envoy has not even been in the region for five months.)

The answer, to us, is clear. It is time for Mr. Obama, alone or with the quartet, to put a map and deal on the table. If Bin Laden’s death has given the president capital to spend, all the better. The Israelis and Palestinians are not going to break the stalemate on their own. And more drift will only lead to more desperation and more extremism.

The Debt Limit Negotiations

Republican leaders and White House officials will meet on Tuesday to continue talks on the federal debt limit. They need to tread very carefully here.

The Republicans have long insisted on deep spending cuts — ignoring the fact that a failure to raise the limit by August at the latest would disrupt financial markets and endanger the recovery. The administration understands the danger, but giving in to overly deep spending cuts and making unwise tax concessions would also be damaging.

Both sides have indicated that a probable deal would impose a budget target and enforcement triggers, like automatic spending cuts, if the target was not met. A deal built on such mechanisms could keep markets calm, but they can also be a trap.

Democratic lawmakers and the White House must reject targets and triggers that rule out tax increases, because without higher taxes, the burden of cutting would fall largely on lower- and middle-income Americans. Some Republicans also have said they want the deal to include many of the spending cuts in the House-passed budget. That would be a disaster for vulnerable Americans and for the fragile recovery. Farm subsidies for rich farmers can go but not food stamps and Head Start.

Targets and triggers that do not allow for tax increases could make it even harder to reach a comprehensive deficit-reduction deal in the future. They would reinforce the Republicans’ fantasy that the deficit is solely the result of spending. And once automatic spending cuts are locked into the budget process, Republicans would feel no pressure to accept a tax increase.

Any targets must also be realistic. One bipartisan Senate plan would hold spending to 20.6 percent of gross domestic product, the average over the last 40 years. That may sound reasonable, but it would mean destructive cuts because it ignores rising health costs, an aging population and other dynamics that were not issues in the past.

Negotiations on the debt limit are not the time or place to force a deficit deal. As ever, the Republicans’ positions have little to do with economic reality. Really tackling the deficit will require specific, thoughtful changes centered on raising taxes and controlling health care costs, neither of which Republicans support.

It would be better if lawmakers would pass a clean debt limit increase for another year or two, and use the time to work diligently toward a true budget deal. Unfortunately, seriousness of purpose is not on the table.

Boarding? Denied. Lock and Loading? Sure

Here is a chilling and potentially lethal fact of life: A person on the F.B.I.’s terrorist watch list is barred from boarding an airplane yet is quite free to buy high-power firearms and ammunition at any American gun shop.

This bizarre “terror gap” is starkly underlined by the latest federal data showing that 272 individuals on the terrorist watch list attempted to buy firearms last year, 
 and all but 25 were cleared to make purchases. Those rejected had records for criminal felonies, spousal violence and other threats stipulated in federal gun controls that still don’t use the terrorist watch list as a red-flag caution.

The administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama wanted to rectify the situation, proposing that the attorney general be given authority to block gun sales to those on the list, after they were investigated and deemed suspicious under careful guidelines. But successive Congresses rejected reform bills — cowering as usual before the gun lobby, which deemed it an “arbitrary” interference with its never-to-be-trumped right to bear arms.

The watch list is ever a work in progress and innocent citizens have too often complained of being barred from flying. But this shortcoming has nothing to do with the dangerous loophole that Senator Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, and Representative Peter King, Republican of New York, are again trying to close.

The last Congress, in its 11th-hour rush, showed no qualms about approving a ridiculous proposal requiring 9/11 responders and victims to be checked against the terrorist watch list before receiving federal health care benefits. If first-responder heroes must be put to the test, how can Congress continue to guarantee the gun rights of individuals already on the terrorist watch list?

Can You Explain the War Powers Act?

The Department of Education’s latest assessment of what young Americans know about civics shows that the light of democracy burns steadily in schools, if too dimly.

The test was given last year to 27,000 children in the 4th, 8th and 12th grades. “Basic” knowledge for an eighth grader meant being able to identify a right protected by the First Amendment. A “proficient” 12th grader could define “melting pot” and argue whether or not the United States is one. An “advanced” fourth grader could “explain two ways countries can deal with shared problems.”

The results show the needle stuck on mediocre. Most students had basic proficiency. But only about one-fourth in each group were “proficient,” and the tiniest percentages were “advanced.” Charles Quigley, executive director of the Center for Civic Education, says “the results confirm an alarming and continuing trend that civics in America is in decline.”

We see more hope, along with huge room for improvement. Yes, more than half of eighth graders muffed a question on the purpose of the Bill of Rights. But 74 percent could identify a right protected by the First Amendment. An equal percentage knew why a trial by jury was important. Fifty-seven percent of 12th graders understood the reason Congress approved the War Powers Act.

American schools certainly need to focus more on a vital mission: arming young Americans against propagandistic television and fringe activism, legislative crusades and chronic political pandering.

George Carlin used to say that he didn’t joke about bad politicians because it wasn’t their fault: “Ignorant citizens elect ignorant leaders, it’s as simple as that,” he said. Well, not exactly. But he had a point.

 

EDITORIAL : THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

China has heard these US cries before

The China-US diplomatic interaction appears to be following a set pattern: The US complains a lot about China's "manipulation" of currency, "unfair" treatment of US multinationals and, as always, China's "deteriorating" human rights record. Yet China keeps to its agenda and walks its own path to grow and improve.

Before cabinet-level officials of the two countries meet today in Washington for the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the US media and government officials have been drumming up the same issues in obvious attempts to coax and pressure China to give in.

It is not as if China has been deliberately trying to defy comments or suggestions that the US has raised. Notice has been taken of all the complaints and demands. But China cannot and will not simply follow US instructions. It will act in its own interest and at its own pace.

In the currency issue, for example, China has been adjusting the renminbi's value gradually, which is far from the speed and extent the US expects.

It is like a floodgate. China has absolute control of the floodgate. How much water should be released and when is for China to decide. What the US wants is a hand in controlling the floodgate, whereby every move will be based on their likes or dislikes.

Now, there can never be two keys to open or lock the gate, as China will definitely put its national interests ahead of everything else.

We hope the US becomes a "reasonable" country: When its politicians raise any issue, they consider China's situation and difficulties, not solely their own interests.

However, that will not happen. Each government is dedicated to the interests of its country. US politicians have no obligation to do something that benefits China more than their own country.

As China's economy grows and its international role becomes more prominent, its confidence to deal with disagreements between the two powers is increasing. The US is growing more impatient and, at times, hysterical, while China is quietly taking steps to deal with difficult issues.

There is no doubt that the US is the most powerful country in the world, and how it has come to occupy this position and kept up its momentum is a matter of continuing attraction to Chinese leaders and intellectuals.

China can learn from US schemes and experiences, but the architecture China is going to build has to be its own. A blind copy will never work better than what is created after careful exploration to meet China's specific condition.

Despite numerous disputes related to ideology, trade and geopolitical issues, the China-US relationship is headed in the right direction. The two powers have avoided a head-on confrontation like that between the US and the former Soviet Union.

There is a long list of areas for possible cooperation between the two countries. Besides raising strictly relevant issues and striving to resolve problems, the two countries would do well to keep the focus on the business at hand and avoid distractions dictated by domestic politics. 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

    

 

Sumo must eliminate doubts about match-fixing

The Yomiuri Shimbun

In place of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, an event that the Japan Sumo Association has dubbed the Technical Examination Tournament, begins May 8 at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

The JSA adopted this name as part of its efforts to make the tournament a venue simply to display the fruits of wrestlers' training, completely removing any commercial elements.

As a result of match-fixing scandals, the JSA could not hold the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament that was scheduled for March or have an ordinary May tournament. The fact that two regular tournaments had to be abandoned indicates the profound gravity of the crisis now facing the sumo world.

Tickets to the current tournament are free. Live television broadcasts have been canceled, and sponsors are not providing any prize money for individual bouts. Also, no trophies or prize money from outside the JSA will be presented to the final winner.

Seven wrestlers in the makuuchi division and 10 in the juryo division have been expelled from the sumo world as a result of bout-rigging. As a result, the JSA found it hard to arrange suitable match-ups, and the so-called technical examination tournament can be seen as preparation for resumption of full-fledged tournaments.

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Fans eager for sumo rebirth

The JSA plans to compile the banzuke rankings for the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July based on the results of the current test tourney. Bouts will be awarded the same importance as those in ordinary tournaments.

Yokozuna Hakuho is keen to win his seventh straight tournament, which would tie the record held by retired Asashoryu.

About 140,000 applications were submitted to the JSA's lottery for 30,000 free tickets. This appears to illustrate fans' strong hopes that sumo will be reborn.

At the same time, fans are likely be watching the matches with a sharp eye. More than a few people may still harbor suspicions that wrestlers other than those who were expelled were involved in bout-fixing.

JSA Chairman Hanaregoma has said, "We are determined to recover the public trust we lost by means of good bouts in the ring." All wrestlers should be true to Hanaregoma's word, and we hope to see them fight in earnest to dispel any lingering suspicions of match-fixing.

It also is very important for the JSA to adopt thorough, effective measures to prevent the recurrence of throwing or fixing bouts.

Until recently, the JSA insisted that bout-rigging did not exist, and it failed to investigate matches that were suspected by many of being fixed. First of all, therefore, there should be serious efforts to fix the sumo world's tendency to ignore bout-fixing.

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Help reinvigorate society

Beginning with the current tournament, the JSA has decided to station sumo elders tasked with checking for match-fixing in such places as the wrestlers' locker rooms.

How stern will the JSA be toward wrestlers when they fail to do their utmost during bouts? The JSA should demonstrate its resolve in a way that convinces the public it will prevent future bout-fixing.

Professional baseball, soccer's J.League and other members of the sports world have done a great deal to help reinvigorate Japanese society after the Great East Japan Earthquake. It is deeply regrettable that an ordinary grand sumo tournament cannot be held.

The JSA says it will invite about 3,000 people from disaster-hit areas to the technical examination tournament.

After the tournament, we hope the JSA will make a tour of disaster areas by holding exhibition matches there to cheer disaster victims. Such a contribution would help restore the public's confidence in sumo.

Britain under pressure to reform electoral system

The Yomiuri Shimbun

In a referendum held Thursday, British voters rejected a proposal to reform the first-past-the-post electoral system of the House of Commons, which has served as the basis for the country's traditional two-party system.

While 32 percent of voters supported the change, 68 percent opposed it.

The proposal was killed by the people because of their disappointment with the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in the coalition government that promoted electoral reform. The complexity of the proposed voting and vote-counting method, compared with the existing system, also pounded nails in the proposal's coffin.

Observers said the Conservative Party, which leads the coalition government, will have difficulty running the government because it strongly opposed electoral reform.

The referendum proposed switching to an alternate vote (AV) system, which Australia and some other countries have adopted. Although the AV system has a single-member district system like the current system, ballots are cast and counted through different methods to reduce wasted votes.

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Election jolted major parties

Although it would not go so far as the proportional representation system, in which the number of votes garnered are more accurately reflected in the number of seats won, the AV system, if introduced, would favor the Liberal Democrats, the third-largest party in Britain.

The referendum was held against the background of a shake-up in Britain's traditional two-party system.

The Conservatives and the Labour Party have garnered more than 90 percent of the vote in past elections since World War II. However, in the general election held in May last year, they only managed to win a combined 65 percent of the vote. As a result, neither party was able to secure a majority, creating a hung parliament for the first time in 36 years.

The two parties both approached the Liberal Democrats to form a coalition. The Liberal Democrats chose the Conservative Party because it accepted a proposal to hold the referendum.

However, the Conservatives did not want to replace the first-past-the-post system, which is to their advantage. As far as electoral reform is concerned, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have been sleeping in the same bed, but having different dreams.

===

Principles betrayed

The Liberal Democrats had to cooperate with the Conservatives to maintain the coalition by supporting such policies as spending cuts, which put a greater burden on the public, and restricting the entry of immigrants.

As a result, the Liberal Democrats strayed too far from their own principles and suffered a crushing defeat in local elections, which also were held on Thursday. The voters took their revenge on the Liberal Democrats' betrayal by rejecting the new voting system.

Nevertheless, the first-past-the-post system, which is advantageous to the two major parties, is losing its effectiveness as a mechanism to tap the voters' changing disposition.

The fact that the percentage of votes obtained by the Liberal Democrats approached those of the two major parties in the general election indicates an increasing number of voters are dissatisfied with existing politics.

Britain's electoral system, which has been a model for Japan, is certain to come under pressure to change.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

One for the road

The Transport Ministry is planning to introduce tough legislations including increased prison terms and fines on drivers and compensation for victims of road accidents, we hear. With many expressways coming up it is a timely move indeed…and “an effort to stem ever increasing road accidents and resultant deaths and injuries,” according to the subject Minister.

Good intentions. But the issue is far more complicated than just enacting laws.

As a first move the government should get rid of the old colonial fine sheets that are given out at the Post Offices. One of the offences in those sheets include “Driving without clothing (shirt)!” The papers are generally yellow. It is high time new laws are brought in, of course.

And then upgrade the existing Highway Code to suite the current technological and infrastructural environment.

According to existing regulations 50km/h could be considered high speed! while listening to audio is also illegal. We hardly see any vehicle that does not come with a stereo set? Moreover, now even the budget cars come with surround sound systems and even TVs!

Then the through and through corruption in the motor traffic related government departments to the traffic constable on the road.

Some say a shrewd traffic constable could take home up to LKR 7,000 a day! And then the driving school and examiner nexus that pass the inefficient drivers while failing the good ones for not giving the santhosams!

There is more to this issue.

Any driver would vouch that the main culprits are the private buses and the three-wheeler rickshaws.

One thing is that these drivers are from an underprivileged class and naturally lack the refinement and the educational background. But they are given licences and it has an economic aspect to it. 

Then, these vehicles–another consensus - mostly belong to Policemen (Now call taxi cars too!) and therefore many do not respect the highway codes.

The fact is reducing road accidents is a complex problem. It has a social problem built into it. Our traffic wardens do not drive, neither do they own vehicles. Hence there is always a social tension inbuilt when the two meet. And then there is a class which expects the traffic warden to be their servant who drive around with the attitude “Do you know who I am.” So where do we start?

It cannot be “stemmed by just introducing tough fines etc. That may increase the revenue of both the traffic constables and the State. But would it reduce the number of accidents we do not know?

True enough road accidents are an increasing social, economic and health issue with five to six deaths from around 150 road accidents occurring a day in Sri Lanka, according to the data furnished by the Minister. That shows there is a lot of potential for revenue generation for a cash strapped government.

But here is the punch line, when the news was broken on the Daily Mirror website these were what most of the readers had to say.

“How about the Ministers and their security vehicles killing innocent people? Will the Ministers too be prosecuted? There can't be two separate laws, one for the so called VIPs and the other for the ordinary citizen for the same offence. How do you identify their cars when it does not even have proper number plates! Police should ensure that the new laws are applicable to the politicians too! Mr. Minister first try discipline your security goons.”

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

Restoring Air India's health

After ten long and agonising days, the strike by the Air India pilots was called off, thanks mainly to the government turning sensible by opting for conciliation over a witch-hunt. With 800 pilots, mostly those who were originally with Indian Airlines, striking work demanding pay parity with their counterparts who had been with Air India prior to the merger, the rate of flight cancellation rose close to 90 per cent towards the end of the strike period. It was left to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to intervene, negotiate with the pilots union, and bring about a settlement — albeit a temporary one. Considering that the strike, which came at the height of the summer vacation season, resulted in a loss of Rs.150 crore to Rs.200 crore, it is difficult to understand why the government did not intervene earlier. The strategy and methods of the Air India management clearly worsened the situation. The basic demand of the pilots was neither new nor unreasonable: they have been seeking pay parity ever since the merger process began in 2007. It is hard to explain why the process should drag on endlessly and why most of the demands of the staff have not been seriously addressed for such a long time.

Under the interim settlement, the Ministry has given some concrete assurances. All the dismissed and suspended pilots will be reinstated; the de-recognition of the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association will be revoked; and all the other demands of the pilots will be addressed in a “time-bound” manner. The key issue of pay parity will be dealt with by the Dharmadhikari committee, which has just begun to look into the staff-related issues arising from the merger of the two airlines, and it has been required to give the report by November 2011. All categories of employees have been asked to approach it with their demands. At least this time, the Air India management must keep its word and resolve the issues by adopting a businesslike consultative process in all seriousness and sincerity. For their part, the employees and their unions must respond positively to the challenges that lie ahead. Though the national carrier has been claiming “operational profits,” the accumulated losses and its undue dependence on funding by government tell a different story. Air India needs to be run on sound commercial lines, which means it must not be discriminated against vis-à-vis the private airlines. For that to happen, it must set its own house in order, go ahead and complete its programme for aircraft acquisition, do everything necessary to restore the prestige of the ‘Maharajah' brand in a competitive environment, and win back customer loyalty.

Britain rejects reform

In a national referendum, the British electorate has rejected, by 69 per cent to 31 per cent on a turnout of 42 per cent, the Alternative Vote (AV) system for elections to the House of Commons. Under AV, voters rank candidates in order of preference, and if a candidate gets 50 per cent of first-preference votes, he or she wins the seat. If none reaches that figure, the second preferences of the candidate who comes last are redistributed, and so on until one candidate reaches 50 per cent of the total number of votes cast. The current simple majority (SM) system has been found wanting on many counts. Very few British MPs win their seats with even 40 per cent of the vote, which means the principle of representativeness suffers. Three quarters of seats are safe for one or the other of the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, which in practice means safe regions, such as the largely Tory south of England, and millions of wasted votes. Significant third parties such as the Liberal Democrats can record a quarter of the national vote-share but win only a few seats. The simple majority system tends to gift the main parties overpowering Commons majorities on aggregate vote-shares of about 40 per cent.

Unfortunately, the political context of the referendum obscured the issues. For one thing, it was held on the same day as elections to the local governments and to the Scottish and Welsh assemblies. Secondly, the LibDems, the strongest proponents of electoral reform, have paid a heavy price for their May 2010 decision to enter into a Tory-led coalition. They have lost backing from disaffected Labour voters, and have divided their own supporters through unprincipled policy compromises with Prime Minister David Cameron. This, in part, turned the AV question into a referendum on the LibDem leader Nick Clegg, and may have made the Labour leader Ed Miliband temper his public support for AV. The Labour Party is split on voting reform; many Labour heavyweights combined with Tories to attack it. The AV proposal was itself a coalition compromise; the LibDems favour the fully proportional Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. With AV decisively rejected, the United Kingdom will have to live with parliaments that do not represent the range of political opinion among voters. In 2001, a fully proportional system would have given the LibDems at least 120 MPs, instead of the 52 they got under SM. That would have virtually guaranteed defeat for Prime Minister Tony Blair's proposal to invade Iraq. There can be few better examples of the damage done to national policy by parliaments that are formally but not substantively representative of their people.

EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

`Banned` groups

IN Pakistan, supposedly `proscribed` organisations not only kill in cold blood and repeatedly get away with it, they also appear to be free to hold rallies and organise meetings — even in the country`s largest city — where their leaders can express their views. Two events that occurred on Friday amply back up this claim. The first was an early morning attack in Quetta in which some members of the Shia Hazara community were killed and a large number injured. A spokesman for the shadowy sectarian terror outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the attack. The other event was a rally taken out in Karachi after Friday prayers. Organised to eulogise Osama bin Laden and to “show solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, the rally made news when it was disrupted by gunfire. The gathering, organised by Jamaatud Dawa, considered a front for the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba, was attended by leaders and supporters of a number of sectarian and jihadi outfits, including the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat, the working title of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan which is also blacklisted.

The above are among the most recent examples of the ease with which banned outfits can function in the country with their leaders operating freely. The problems religious militancy has caused in this country have been enumerated countless times. Yet the bans and the action taken by the state against these concerns have been cosmetic and ineffective. Action is taken by the authorities only when there is external or internal pressure, usually following a major act of terrorism. Despite the bans, which date back to the Musharraf regime, the organisations resurface with new names and carry on as usual; this exercise fools no one.

If the state — specifi-cally the security establishment — is interested in rooting out militancy, it must do several things. The camps where extre-mists are trained must be dismantled while the militants` sources of funding, whether foreign or local, must be identified so that their access to funds can be cut off. The government must also plug legal loopholes to bring militant leaders to justice; at present, cases are either not registered or the state shows little motivation in pursuing them. Though tracking down each and every member of a sectarian or jihadi outfit is not possible, we feel that successfully prosecuting militant leaders and ideologues may go a long way towards compromising their ability to spread havoc. The twin ogres of sectarianism and jihadi militancy have done enough harm to Pakistan. It is time the state took serious steps to put these violent concerns permanently out of business, instead of merely `banning` them on paper.

Brutality in Syria

REGIMES in the Middle East once considered unshakable are now fighting for survival. Amongst these is Syria, where anti-government protests are being crushed with an iron fist by Bashar Al Assad`s forces. Syria has seen several incidents in the past where the state has crushed opposition groups — 1982`s infamous Hama massacre springs to mind. But contrary to the past when the Assad family had managed to maintain their decades-old grip on power, matters may not go as smoothly this time. A Syrian rights group has cited a number of protes-ters being shot by security forces in different cities on Friday. On the other hand, the government has claimed that `armed gangs` have killed several policemen. Midnight raids, in which security personnel have picked up dozens of activists, have also been reported. Details of events in Syria are hard to verify independently; already a police state, the Baathist regime has been added to the unenviable list of state press `predators` by Reporters Without Borders, with Bahrain, Yemen and Libya also in the picture. All these Arab nations have been rocked by anti-government uprisings with the advent of the Arab Spring; their governments have cracked down with varying degrees of brutality. One thing is clear: change, when it comes, in Syria will not be without a significant number of casualties.

Some have described the Syrian set-up as a `tribal regime` dominated by the Assad clan. Observers say that if it attempts reforms, as demanded by protesters, the system will collapse. Hence the regime will fight hard to maintain the status quo. Though many western regimes have criticised the Syrian government for its alleged human rights abuses (while offering only muted criticism of Arab allies facing similar protests), the Arab world is eerily quiet, as regimes fear that unrest in Syria will have wide-ranging repercussions in the region. Turkey feels that if Syria`s Kurds make gains, its own Kurdish minority will be emboldened. In Lebanon, Hezbollah may lose a key benefactor while Iran will also lose what is probably its only major ally in the Arab world. Israel, which still occupies the Golan Heights, is also keeping an eye on Syria. The world will be watching developments in Syria very closely.

Ineffective defence

IN Pakistan, it is rare for anyone to even consider the possibility of their own culpability when faced with errors or slip-ups. This is especially true in sensitive cases. It was therefore a rather courageous step by the Pakistan Air Force to explain why it had failed to detect the US helicopters used in the operation against Osama bin Laden. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman was reported as having said that the high-level radars along Pakistan’s western border had been inactive on the day in question, given that the country was not expecting any aerial threat from Afghanistan. A day later, PAF spokesman Air Commodore Tariq Yazdani said that the air surveillance system had neither been jammed nor had it been inactive. Given that he was unable to confirm whether the PAF had been aware of the helicopters’ incursion, we are left with even more questions.

Meanwhile, the list of Pakistan’s intelligence failures in terms of Bin Laden’s whereabouts constitutes a damning body of evidence. According to Bin Laden’s widow, he and his family left the tribal areas in 2003 to live in Chak Shah Mohammad, a settled area on the highway to Abbottabad, to which place they moved in 2005. This means that Pakistan’s security and intelligence forces somehow failed to take note of the presence of the world’s most wanted man in their backyard for over half a decade. Indeed, Afghanistan’s former intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, said on Thursday that Afghanistan’s intelligence service had suspected that Bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan’s settled areas but that when the then president Musharraf was informed, he refused to entertain the idea.

All these revelations are not just embarrassing; they also raise serious doubts about a defence and security establishment that
prides itself on its effective professionalism. On Thursday, the army chief ordered an investigation into the intelligence failures that led to Bin Laden’s undetected presence, and why US personnel were able to enter Pakistani territory without the country’s security forces noticing. A step in the right direction though this may be, more is needed to assuage the doubts of Pakistanis. Their faith in the effectiveness of the security establishment has been badly shaken. Terrorists strike across the country with impunity; now, it seems that external forces can also enter undetected. An inquiry is needed not only into the recent intelligence failures but also the gaps in the defence and security system. It is hard, after all, to overlook the huge percentage of GDP that is swallowed up by the defence budget, and at a tremendous cost. Are Pakistanis getting what they’re paying for?

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

           

 

India needs to deliver

Pranab's statement very welcome

We couldn't agree more with the Indian Finance Minister regarding the need for India to take steps expeditiously on specific outstanding issues between the two countries. We welcome the frank admission he made to the visiting Bangladeshi journalists that there has been delay and slippages in this regard.

While we very much appreciate the acknowledgement we fail to understand why it has taken so long on India's part, after the joint communiqué was signed by the two prime ministers in January 2010 that agreed in principle to address these issues urgently.

The Indian finance minister voices the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh when he says that people want to see more things visible done by the Indian side. It needs hardly be repeated that Bangladesh has been more than expeditious in making good on its commitment as per the joint communiqué.

The issue of transit and Indian insurgents in our territory, two issues that relate to India's two vital interests of security and economy, and which India had been seeking for a long time, have been addressed with the utmost rapidity by Bangladesh without even asking for a quid pro quo, whereas, there was strong opinion in Bangladesh that these two be used as give-and-take issues between the two countries. We fear that lack of reciprocity on India's part is likely to dilute the recent gains and lead to severe disappointment among the people of Bangladesh.

The outstanding issues are by no means intractable, but regrettably India's commitment is sometimes hamstrung by its internal dynamics. A case in point is the border killings by the BSF, which, in spite of assurances at the highest level, has not stopped. This is entirely unacceptable, and it is for India to remove the impediments, bureaucratic or otherwise, that stand in the way of the implementation of its policies and directives.

It is with great interest that people in Bangladesh are waiting for the impending visit of the Indian PM to Bangladesh, where announcements from the Indian side are likely to be made including on the Teesta and the longstanding and vexing border issue, according to the Indian finance minister.

Criminals targeting cars

Deal with them ruthlessly

As many as 159 incidents of carjacking were recorded by the police over the last three months. And all these incidents occurred in the capital. One is certainly surprised at the figures. The bigger truth, however, is that the figures could be higher. Be that as it may, the fact that such incidents have been going up in frequency points to the dismal state of law and order not just in Dhaka but elsewhere in the country as well. It is clear that organized gangs of criminals are at work and indulge in their acts in various ways. Sometimes they simply pounce on individuals in cars cruising on the road; sometimes they shadow a car before finding an opportune moment to terrorise the driver into parting with the keys. In many instances, car robbers have acted violently, leaving drivers wounded from attacks with sharp weapons.

Incidents of carjacking must necessarily be observed as part of a bigger picture of lawlessness. Of late, murder, kidnapping and rape have featured increasingly in the news. With car stealing or commandeering now coming into the list, it now becomes a critical question of whether the law enforcers are in a position to roll back the slide and, more importantly, willing to do it. Carjackings have happened earlier too, but the difference between then and now is that these days it is not empty cars that are stolen. The criminals today are not loath to go up to a car owner or driver and ask him to hand it over. Audacity has now taken over where stealth was once the pattern. It only shows the degree to which citizens' security has dwindled.

The police have certainly been nabbing car thieves. That is appreciable, but more to the point would be a sustained, ruthless operation against these criminals before they spread their tentacles any further.