EDITORIAL : THE DIARIO FINANCIERO, CHILE

Nuevas aperturas bursátiles

Las aperturas de nuevas empresas al mercado bursátil han sido la tónica del presente año, al punto que el proceso, pese a que queda aún mucho por recorrer, ya está ad-portas de marcar un nivel récord. Sólo en la primera mitad del año se consolidarán alrededor de US$ 1.000 millones en nuevos instrumentos disponibles para los inversionistas, cuestión que habla del buen momento de liquidez que registra el mercado, de la confianza que éstos tienen en las compañías que se están abriendo y, por cierto, del buen estado de salud y los ambiciosos planes de inversión de esas empresas, que han observado una demanda por títulos que excede con creces la oferta.

Con todo, el proceso de apertura de compañías tiene otra dimensión virtuosa que se menciona menos, pero que es tanto o más importante que la señalada. Se trata del avance hacia un mercado de capitales más profundo y densamente poblado por compañías; de un mercado en donde la estructura de propiedad corporativa está más atomizada, permitiendo, en cierta forma, a más personas ser empresarios y capitalizar los beneficios del emprendimiento privado: y de un mercado en donde se expanden atributos virtuosos, como son que las empresas se abran a un mayor escrutinio, entre otros, de inversionistas institucionales; que se confirmen dispuestas a contar con gobiernos corporativos más heterogéneamente generados; y que se muestren dispuestas a aportar información pública de calidad.

En suma, lo que se está dando es un círculo virtuoso, que reafirma que el empuje privado es doblemente beneficioso cuando eleva estándares y permea al conjunto de la sociedad.

El avance de las ventas on line en el mercado chileno

Los chilenos le están perdiendo el miedo al comercio electrónico. Así lo dejan de manifiesto las cifras que se manejan a nivel público y que dan cuenta que el gasto per cápita se eleva a US$ 152, cifra que representa un alza de más de 45% respecto a 2009.

Tan dinámico ha sido el desarrollo del e-commerce chileno que para este año se espera que el país supere los US$ 800 millones, lo que supondrá un aumento anual de 30% frente a lo anotado el ejercicio pasado.

Pero pese al crecimiento que se ha experimentado, aun falta mucho por avanzar, ya que las ventas por Internet representan hoy sólo el 10% de la facturación de las compañías más importantes del mercado nacional. La aspiración de los expertos es que por lo menos en el retail, el 25% de las compras se haga por internet.

Pero pese a que la tecnología pueda brindar los mejores servicios, la principal tarea que tienen por delante las empresas es bajar el nivel de desconfianza que tiene una parte importante de los consumidores. Que el producto no llegue, que se demore más de lo que se ha señalado, que los datos que se ingresan no sean del todo confidenciales, son algunos de los temores de una parte de la ciudadanía. Cambiar eso, dependerá de las empresas.

EDITORIAL : THE TAIPEI TIMES, TAIWAN

Repatriation deal raises questions

Fourteen Taiwanese alleged fraud suspects, deported from the Philippines to China in early February, are soon to return home to face the music. However, they are not the only ones who should face some intensive questioning.

The Chinese government agreed to hand the 14 over after months of effort to secure their return by Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council said late on Thursday. It said the suspects were being returned in accordance with the Agreement on Joint Crime--Fighting and Mutual Legal Assistance Across the Taiwan Strait, which was signed by the Straits Exchange Foundation and Beijing’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait in 2009 (but only “referred” to the legislature for lawmakers’ reference, not approval).

However, the low-key nature of the announcement should raise questions about just what kind of groveling went on behind the scenes, especially after Government Information Office Minister Philip Yang (楊永明) quoted Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) as saying the controversy surrounding the 14 should not be labeled an issue of sovereignty. Instead, Wu apparently said that people should be more concerned about crime-fighting efforts because focusing on sovereignty would be “unfavorable for international cooperation in investigating and cracking down on crime.”

So what are people to think about all the administration’s blustering, posturing and pontificating back in February and early March, with demands for an apology from the Philippine government, sanctions imposed against Filipino migrant workers (albeit temporarily) and warnings that Taipei-Manila ties had been severely damaged? Remember President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) agreeing — although with “a heavy heart” and only because “the friendship and cooperation between the Republic of China [ROC] and the Philippines are important” — to meet a Philippine envoy, former senator Manuel Roxas II? Ma told Roxas that the Philippine officials had “lied openly” about the matter and the nation had not behaved the way a democratic country should.

Meanwhile, several legal experts pointed out — in this paper and elsewhere — that while Taiwan could ask China to hand over the 14 Taiwanese suspects, based on Item 6 of the cross-strait crime-fighting pact, it was very unlikely Beijing would accept the possibility of a not-guilty verdict in any trial in Taiwan and so it would be likely to demand that Taiwan agree to several conditions before repatriating the suspects. The Republic of China’s Criminal Code states that a citizen who commits a crime abroad is only liable for prosecution in Taiwan if the offense warrants a jail term of three years or more. China’s Criminal Code, however, covers any criminal act that is committed in China or has consequences in China. After all, Chinese prosecutors do have a long tradition of almost 100 percent conviction rates.

The 14 Taiwanese, and their 10 Chinese codefendents, are suspected of complicity in an international fraud ring both Beijing and Manila said targeted people in China and Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan, and netted the ring an estimated US$20 million. However, the majority of the victims appear to have been Chinese, not Taiwanese.

So just what was discussed in all those cross-strait negotiations on the return of the 14 suspects? What promises were made? So far, the 2009 pact has been used largely to repatriate fugitives wanted by Taiwan to stand trial for crimes committed in Taiwan or those who fled after their convictions to avoid imprisonment. Taiwan appears to be entering new territory with the return of the 14 suspects. Let’s just hope it is not a territory labeled “Taiwan, Province of China.”

Barriers on the path to civil service

In the procedures for the Taiwan Police College’s 30th session of student enrollment, it is plainly written that the second round of exams includes a physical fitness exam and standards for an oral examination. For the physical fitness exam, it stipulates that potential students are not allowed to have tattoos on any part of their body. Among the standards for the oral examination, it says potential students will be excluded and disqualified if they “look improper,” specifically listing pockmarked faces, blemishes, moles, scars or birthmarks larger than 2cm on the neck or above that seriously affect outer appearance.

So people with facial scars look improper and people with tattoos will not pass the physical exam, even if the tattoo is not located in a visible spot on the body or the images or words are inoffensive. However, none of these requirements are relevant to becoming a student at a police college, receiving a police education or even a person’s competency to work as a police officer.

Such restrictions have already gained approval from the Ministry of Education even though they are all forms of discrimination based on physical appearance and facial features. Apparently, a certain sensitivity is lacking in the way education officials perceive “discrimination.”

After students graduate from police school, they have to pass a special examination from the Examination Yuan before they can obtain a position in the police force, even though Article 39 of the People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法) requires the Examination Yuan to abolish unfair restrictions against civil servants with disabilities.

Nevertheless, there are still 12 civil service examinations that require physical exams. Besides the restrictions against police officers having tattoos, anyone taking the special examination administered in the Ministry of Justice to become a prosecutor is similarly not allowed to have any “serious facial deformities.” They claim that the restrictions take into consideration the sidelong glances that such deformities would easily attract when a prosecutor collects evidence for forensic investigations.

However, is it really necessary to set such restrictions in an age when cosmetic surgery is so common? And are they not contradicting Article 5 of the Employment Services Act (就業服務法), which states that discrimination against facial features is not allowed? Obviously, all of these restrictions are in serious need of re-evaluation.

In many cases, it is never explained how certain parts of a physical exam are related to a particular position. For example, people with color blindness cannot register to take the civil service special examinations for diplomatic, journalistic and business personnel because when personnel are stationed abroad, they need to be able to drive and chauffeur Taiwanese and foreign VIPs; moreover, color-blind people might also be unable to differentiate the colors of the flag for the county in which they are residing. These are not the central duties of diplomatic personnel, yet the government is still imprudently using bureaucratic regulations to exclude the employment rights of a segment of our citizens.

Judicial personnel, including judges and prosecutors, must take a physical exam and be excluded as incompetent if they have certain disabilities, such as any serious physical impairment, which includes vision worse than 20/200 or hearing loss higher than a 90 decibel hearing level.

The diplomatic games they play

Several Taiwan watchers reacted in anger earlier this month when the Presidential Office said it would turn to the European Parliament for help over the “Taiwan, Province of China” name controversy at the WHO. Why, several asked, would President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration not turn to its oldest ally, the US, for help on the matter and seek succor instead from the Europeans, whose assistance could be expected to bring but the most marginal of results?

It would be easy to assume that Ma’s decision was in fact based on the expectation that the EU would do nothing that risked causing anger in Beijing. By so doing, Ma, who is seeking re-election in January, would meet expectations at home that he do something to redress the slight, while ensuring that the outcome wouldn’t undermine relations with Beijing, which remains the core of his current and future policy.

While there may be some validity to this contention, the context in which the controversy emerged provides alternative explanations. Ma very likely wanted to seek assistance from the US on the matter, but may have been dissuaded by Washington, or US officials in Taiwan, from doing so. The reason is simple: Just as the crisis risked boiling over, General Chen Bingde (陳炳德), chief of general staff for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), was arriving in Washington on a groundbreaking visit to mend military-to-military ties amid fears of China’s “rise.” The last thing Washington wanted at this sensitive juncture was for a name flap at the WHO to interfere with what the Pentagon and other US agencies saw as a very important visit. Given China’s propensity to call off meetings in retaliation for support of any kind for Taiwan, we can assume that any intervention on Washington’s part at the WHO could have derailed the whole visit, which was months in the making and necessitated well-calibrated preparations.

Rather than always assume the worst from the Ma administration, we should pay more attention to the environment in which it operates and the immense challenges it faces in terms of its relationship with the US. History is replete with precedents in which larger political imperatives prevented governments from adopting what otherwise looked like what should have been “rational” and “logical” policies. Britain’s and India’s official silence when the PLA invaded Tibet in the early 1950s is such an example, with both governments forced to take the crisis in Korea, among others, into consideration.

Which brings us to another issue over which the Ma administration has faced heavy criticism: arms sales.

Over the past three years or so, Ma has made several headline-grabbing calls on Washington to release the 66 F-16C/D aircraft requested by Taiwan — so often, in fact, that a number of analysts (this author, included) have come to regard the whole exercise as nothing more than cynical signaling for domestic consumption.

As it turns out, however, incompetence, rather than lack of will, appears to have been the main cause for the lack of results.

Information obtained by this author reveals it is unlikely the Ma administration was being disingenuous in its calls for the F-16C/Ds and diesel-electric submarines. Reliable sources say there is every reason to believe that Taipei genuinely wants them and understand clearly the downside should it not secure the commitment from Washington. In fact, in all meetings at the senior level with Taiwanese officials attended by sources consulted for this article, the officials were “singing from the same song sheet.”

EDITORIAL : THE NINE O'CLOCK, ROMANIA

Borderline personality

The fact that Emil Boc unsurprisingly won a second term as president of the Democrat-Liberal Party seems to have sealed his fate at the Victoria Palace. A scenario circulated through political and journalistic environments, yet formally denied, that was what Traian Basescu gave him back in return for his PM’s office. An apparently honourable exit, if we were to judge from the point of view of the not at all easy mission he has to accomplish in Modrogani: win back the PDL electorate in the year left until the local and parliamentary elections.  Staying in power is crucial to the presidential party which, in its three years of rule, has managed to expand its influence to the entire society by an unprecedented politicisation of central administration – including public media organisations – and local administration, by distributing budget funds based on criteria of political affiliation, as the opposition vehemently accuses.

PDL is therefore not ready to surrender power, although, the way things look right now, it should at least start getting used to the idea. For the time being, it is as bad as it can be, with opinion polls showing PDL in free fall, approximately 30 per cent behind the Social-Liberal Union.

From that point of view, the president’s insistence in imposing a technocrat as a PM is understandable. In spite of his recent statements that the PDL score in the polls is no longer his concern, Basescu still wants an apolitical PM at Victoria Palace exactly because he needs someone to assign all the voters’ dissatisfaction to. However, it is highly unlikely that an apolitical head of government may be enough to cause the population to forget that the government was led by a PDL leader for three years. Apart from the hard core of PDL supporters, made up of relatively young people with an above the average living standard, Boc’s party has lost the sympathy of all social and professional categories, one by one, because of the tough measures taken against them. Starting with the retired people, whose pensions not only have not been updated to include inflation since 2009, but were also taxed by 5 per cent in the general context of massive food price rise and exploding fuel prices, continuing with the unions whose rights were diminished through the new controversial Labour Code, with the public sector workers whose salaries were slaughtered by 25 per cent and not forgetting the massive lay-offs in education and transport sectors. The police are definitely not going to forgive the government for its (failed for now) plan to lay off 9,500 Interior Ministry employees.  Therefore, a change at the helm of the government is likely to be regarded by the great majority of the public as a mere PR stunt.

Miming democracy, the PDL National Council voted for ‘continuity’, with Vasile Blaga’s support faction being eventually brought to order and integrated into the leading structures of the party. The ‘reformists’ claiming the needed moral cleansing of the party, grouped around MEPs Monica Macovei and Cristian Preda and MP Sever Voinescu, came back to their senses and aligned themselves in a disciplined order behind with Boc’s supporters before the vote. That’s another way of demonstrating ‘verticality’ because, one has to admit: asking for privileges and offices from the position of a supporter is one thing, while doing that from an opposing position is a totally different matter.
It is more than evident that the endorsement of Emil Boc’s candidacy was just a strategy with ramifications going all the way to next year’s elections. Otherwise, no one could possibly understand why the party chose to elect the same person under whose leadership it collapsed to the lowest level in its entire history, on the one hand, and who ‘saved Romania’ from the financial and economic crisis, on the other hand. Boc’s campaign for the internal PDL election dwelled exactly on the rhetoric of coming out of crisis. While the PM has this ‘outstanding merit’ in the eyes of his colleagues, and was therefore rewarded with a new term as head of PDL, the same colleagues say – most likely at the president’s suggestion – that the government needs a new, ‘credible’ prime-minister, able to ‘revitalise the government’ as a PDL Deputy was stating earlier this week. This inconsistency of positions gives the impression that PDL is suffering from a dissociative identity disorder: on the one hand it praises Boc in the party and, on the other hand, it is digging his grave at the government.

Another signal announcing Emil Boc’s possible departure came from central bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, who, on Wednesday, criticised the ‘babbling’ of the government on the front of economic crisis. The governor says the decision to hike VAT affected the entire population and delayed the end of recession. With such signals, Traian Basescu’s plans to bring in a technocrat are running before the wind again.

Tokes to open Szekler Land’s diplomatic representation in Brussels

Social-Democrats ask the government and the Foreign Affairs Ministry to adopt “a firm stand” as soon as possible.

Three UDMR MEPs headed by European Parliament Vice President Tokes Laszlo want to open a Szekler Land diplomatic representation in Brussels. The three also issued an invitation to MEPs and the press to the opening, Realitatea TV informs, quoting dcnews.ro. The invitation bears the EPP heading, a European Parliament group that PDL is a member of. Bishop Laszlo Tokes has been an open supporter of the Szekler Land’s autonomy.

Catalin Ivan, the leader of Social Democrats MEPs, states that the situation is worrisome but people should not “become hysterical” either. “A kind of small embassies, diplomatic representations of cities and micro-regions, can be found alongside European institutions. But they represent the administrative-territorial units of those states, units that are recognized by law, by constitutions. This Szekler Land thing is silly. It also may be a provocation, an issue that would sound good for some. Almost everything bad that happens at European level usually has to do with an internal situation, with a crisis. I don’t know why Mr. Tokes is doing this. It probably also has to do with the fight between the two Magyar parties in Romania,” Ivan stated. He expressed his belief that the initiative of UDMR MEPs will not generate concern among the Democrat-Liberals, arguing that PDL is the one that supported Tokes in his bid for the office of EP Vice President. “We always knew that UDMR is looking more towards Budapest than towards Bucharest,” Catalin Ivan concluded.

Senate Speaker Mircea Geoana (PSD) was somewhat blunter than the leader of PSD MEPs. Yesterday he asked the government to adopt a firm position on this issue. “The initiative (…) represents a worrisome situation that has gone beyond normal attitudes and approaches in a state characterized by rule of law. The fact that Mr. Tokes and the other two UDMR MPs have already issued invitations for this event can even be considered a provocation. Although I believe a calm and rational approach is necessary at this point, I believe the Romanian government has to adopt a firm, clear-cut, unequivocal position on this issue. I want to remind you the fact that article 1, paragraph 1 of the Romanian Constitution points out that our country is a “national, sovereign, unitary and indivisible state,” Geoana pointed out in a press communiqué quoted by Mediafax, opining that the opening of this diplomatic representation in Brussels is “an illegal, anti-constitutional and anti-European thing.” In his opinion, the fact that Tokes is Vice President of the European Parliament and that his invitation bears the heading of the European People’s Party risks generating confusion for the Romanian and European public opinion that could be led to believe that the event is endorsed by the European Parliament or the European People’s Party.

Olguta Vasilescu, spokesperson of PSD departments, accused in her turn the government’s lack of reaction. Moreover, Vasilescu stated that Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Baconschi shows no reaction to “the provocations that target the national, unitary, independent and indivisible character of the Romanian state.”

UDMR MEP Iuliu Winkler said the Szekler Land representation in Brussels would not violate the Constitution because “it’s not European lawmakers’ representation, it’s the two counties’, Romania Libera reports. Winkler added that he “firmly denies any kind of nationalist discourse about the initiative,” saying that the matter simply requires “us to admit that Romania’s regional development has a big problem and that the 7 per cent EU fund absorption rate is also due to development regions’ inefficiency.”

Senate Deputy Speaker Cristian Diaconescu on the other hand thinks UDMR MEPs’ action is “an offence to democracy in Romania, to Romania and the Romanian people, but also a useless provocation to the EU, which will undoubtedly be forced not to recognize the status claimed by Romanian MEPs.”

EDITORIAL : THE KYIV POST, UKRAINE

Bad seeds

Farming in Ukraine, home to some of the world’s richest soil and great weather conditions, should be a breeze.

It should be very profitable for farmers and traders alike. It should also help feed mouths in Ukraine and abroad.

Unfortunately, due to crony state policy, farmers have had a bad taste in their mouths from planting to harvesting.

Due to misguided protectionist policies – namely export restrictions imposed last year – and murky insider dealings, it has become increasingly risky for cash-starved farmers to work.

Unsure if exports will be sanctioned and if they will be able to sell their crop to grain traders for the highest price, agribusiness has for many in Ukraine become a loss-making venture.

With such uncertainty sprouting up instead of more crops, citizens have found themselves spending more on basic foods.

It was “too little and too late” when Ukraine’s government announced this week that export quotas on grain will be lifted.

The restrictions were unnecessary in light of a reasonabe 40 million ton crop harvested last season.

The restrictions also, according to industry estimates, incurred losses of “hundreds of millions of dollars” on domestic and foreign agribusinesses that have invested billions of dollars in past years to help Ukraine reclaim its reputation as the “Breadbasket of Europe.”

Looking forward, President Viktor Yanukovych says he will sign into law duties on grain exports ranging from 9-14 percent, and lasting until January 2012.

Why is this necessary, in light of government forecasts of an even bigger harvest this year? What purpose did the recent restrictions serve?

To find the answer to why such policies exist in Ukraine that damage the interests of the majority, one needs only to follow the money trail to the murky dealings where the minority insiders close to government profit handsomely, and, according to some, corruptly.

When will Ukrainian government officials be able to clearly explain why a previously obscure quasi-state company called Khlib Investbud received a large share of export quotas when most companies were left to count losses?

Why was this company chosen to buy grain for the state reserve?

Why can’t government officials or the company identity their private shareholders?

Will it happen again?

If it does, a select few may get richer, but the nation won’t stand a chance of attracting the investment needed to realize its agribusiness potential.

Exceedingly sad

If anyone needed more evidence of the Yanukovych administration’s descent into authoritarianism, and Prosecutor General Viktor Tshonka as one of the useful tools in the process, they got it this week.

Prosecutors charged ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on May 24 with exceeding her authority in not only negotiating natural gas deals with Russia during the 2009 crisis, but in getting a bad price to boot – costing the nation $440 million in losses.

Let’s roll back the clock to those fateful three weeks in the winter of 2009, when Russia cut off gas to Europe in another price war with Ukraine.

Had the crisis gone on any longer, parts of Europe would have been in critical danger of freezing.

Ex-President Viktor Yushchenko and current President (then opposition leader) Viktor Yanukovych were not only no-shows in solving the crisis, there was evidence they played an obstructionist role.

How so? Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may have had them in mind when he talked about interference in the gas talks to preserve the role of controversial intermediary RosUkrEnergo, co-owned by Russia’s Gazprom and Ukrainian billionaire Dmytro Firtash.

“Today’s situation highlights the high criminalization of its authorities,” Putin said on Jan. 8, 2009. “What (they) are fighting for today is not the gas price, but a chance to keep their middlemen in order to use the dividends obtained for personal ends and personal enrichment and in order to receive financial resources needed for their future political campaigns.”

Of course, with his nemesis Yushchenko safely out of power, Putin rarely resorts to such heated words today about corruption in Ukraine.

Whether Tymoshenko reached a bad deal or a good one, she doesn’t deserve to be charged criminally.

Tymoshenko is the only Ukrainian politician who showed any leadership back then.

She got the gas flowing again and, in a great public service, she got Putin to knock out RosUkrEnergo from the gas trade between the two nations.

As for price, Yanukovych and his Party of Regions, who rode to power on promises they can broker better deals with Russia, have given away too much to the Kremlin without getting any big discounts on the price of Russian gas.

Moreover, the administration has failed to get Kremlin concessions on the pipelines that bypass Ukraine’s gas-transit network, potentially costing this nation hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

A crime? No. Incompetence? It sure looks like it.

EDITORIAL : THE CITIZEN, TANZANIA

CURB THEFT OF DRUGS

The theft of drugs meant for distribution to public health facilities by the Medical Stores Department (MSD) is cause for grave concern.It is thus not surprising that the department has been pleading for public assistance to curb this particularly obnoxious form of pilfering of public property.

Most of the stolen drugs end up in private pharmacies, where they are sold at a tidy profit for the crooks, and at the expense of millions of people, particularly in the rural areas.Drugs distributed by the MSD are heavily subsidised to make them affordable to the poor. Their availability is a matter of life and death to those who cannot afford drugs sold at pharmacies and other private outlets.

This is why we reiterate the MSD’s appeal for public support to ensure that all drugs distributed by the department reach the targeted end-users.The drugs are stolen through an elaborate network. The possibility of some crooked MSD staff being involved in the racket cannot be ruled out.While it is very much in order for the MSD to seek the public’s cooperation to nail the culprits, we feel it is time the department embarked on a thorough campaign to rid itself of undesirable elements.

POLICE FORCE IS NOT BEYOND REDEMPTION

The Police Force has once again featured negatively in the latest research findings of a human rights monitoring non-governmental organisation. The Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) 2010 Report names the force as the most corrupt institution in the country, and a major violator of human rights.

It was the case also in previous LHRC reports, and it shows that a lot still needs to be done to reform this important state agency.  It will be recalled that in 2009, Inspector General of Police Saidi Mwema launched a much-publicised drive to clean up the force. However, we are not sure if this has led to any tangible achievements so far.

That the force is rotten to the core insofar as corruption is concerned is a well-known fact.  Traffic police officers openly take bribes from motorists, as if it is their birthright.  Corrupt officers have also turned police stations into cash cows, and it is not unusual for suspects to be set free after tidy sums of money change hands.

It is now virtually impossible for ordinary people to get assistance at police stations without giving some sort of  “incentive” to the officers.  Senior officers sitting in their plush offices at Police Headquarters in Dar es Salaam are no doubt aware that police stations have become no-go zones for people in need of assistance, but who have no money. But what are the big guns in the force doing about this?

The force also stands accused as a major human rights abuser.  Examples of this abound, the most recent being the shooting dead by police of five people at the North Mara gold mine in Tarime District.  As if that was not enough, the way police handled the aftermath of the killings has done nothing to endear them to the public, particularly the bereaved families.

Early this year, police violently broke up an opposition demonstration in Arusha, killing four people in the process.  Is it any wonder then that the force is a permanent fixture in these damning reports?

  

EDITORIAL : THE EL UNIVERSAL, COLOMBIA

Primer paso para organizar el deporte

Rige la Ley 1445 del 2011, que reglamenta la organización asociativa para el deporte profesional colombiano y protege los derechos laborales de los deportistas. La presentó oficialmente esta semana el presidente Juan Manuel Santos como resultado de un esfuerzo conjunto entre Gobierno y dirigentes deportivos.

Uno de sus propósitos principales es garantizar los derechos de los deportistas profesionales, especialmente de los futbolistas, cuya situación laboral desventajosa está en primer plano hace varios meses a raíz del retraso de varios clubes en pagarles los salarios a sus jugadores.

El presidente Santos despejó las dudas sobre el tratamiento del Gobierno a los clubes profesionales, al afirmar que aunque hasta ahora habían sido generosos con ellos, a partir de ahora serán “muy severos” en caso de que no cumplan con las disposiciones nuevas, con sanciones como la pérdida del reconocimiento deportivo de Coldeportes a los que incumplan con el pago por más de 60 días.

Pero lo más importante en la Ley 1445 es que los clubes con deportistas profesionales deberán organizarse como corporaciones o asociaciones deportivas, o como sociedades anónimas.

No hay duda de que, además de un deporte, el fútbol es un espectáculo y un buen negocio, cuyo funcionamiento no estaba estructurado ni sobre él se ejercían controles suficientemente estrictos para impedir abusos.

La alternativa de los clubes de fútbol profesional de convertirse en sociedades anónimas permitirá no sólo capitalizarse para financiar sus costos altos, sino que abre las puertas a una democratización accionaria, lejana del esquema excluyente de hoy.

El modelo nuevo promoverá la participación en el fútbol de socios reales y no de papel, los que han permitido la entrada de dineros mal habidos. Con el aporte de capital, podrá estructurarse un negocio próspero, que le saque provecho a las marcas, a la taquilla y a la publicidad de manera legítima y transparente, y sobre todo, permitirá elevar su calidad como espectáculo.

También hay que resaltar que la Ley 1445 establece correctivos drásticos a la violencia que se ha tomado los estadios colombianos, a través de multas y sanciones fuertes para quienes promuevan o realicen actos agresivos, incluso verbalmente y para quienes causen daños a la infraestructura deportiva.

Se introdujo, además, un conjunto de sanciones a quienes intenten meter a los estadios o tengan en su poder durante espectáculos deportivos, alucinógenos, armas y objetos peligrosos.

Por supuesto, como muchas otras leyes que existen en Colombia, su eficacia depende de que se logre cabalmente hacerla cumplir, que las autoridades judiciales no se dejen enredar en la maraña de estrategias leguleyas para asegurar la impunidad de los vándalos y los violentos o para burlar los controles a las finanzas de los clubes profesionales.

Sería bueno que la Ley 1445 de 2011 sea difundida y que todos los colombianos la conozcan a fondo, para que se conviertan en garantes de que se cumpla.

El primer paso para organizar y legitimar el deporte profesional está dado. De todos depende que se den los demás.

EDITORIAL : THE BUSINESS DAY, SOUTH AFRICA

Bank will stick to inflation targeting

ON THE face of it, there was nothing new in the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy review this week. It highlighted the difficulties which the Bank will face making interest rate decisions in the months ahead, describing the process as "a fine balancing act".

But dig a little deeper and it is clear that the Bank has signalled that it will stick to its inflation targeting mandate, even though the mandate has become "flexible". This is a reassuring message to the markets as it suggests that the Bank’s credibility will not be called into question if SA’s growth remains modest while inflation soars.

There has been speculation that the Reserve Bank could keep interest rates steady in that scenario, to support job creation and investment, which are both lacklustre. Local markets are pricing in a certain interest rate hike at the Bank’s policy meeting in November, and its rhetoric this week suggests that this is a real possibility.

It all depends on the trajectory of inflation, and the extent to which price pressures are driven by the rising cost of oil, electricity and food — described as "cost-push factors".

Bank governor Gill Marcus said at the release of the biannual monetary policy review that there was little that monetary policy could do to stifle inflation driven by these factors. But the review repeated the mantra of the Bank’s last monetary policy meeting — it would not hesitate to take "timeous" action if inflation moved out of its official 3%- 6% target range on a "sustained basis". "Timeous action" at this point is code for interest rate hikes.

When asked what a "sustained" breach of the inflation target meant, Ms Marcus said inflation would have to "continue to move away" from its target range.

The Reserve Bank has predicted that inflation will breach its target in the first quarter of next year, reaching a peak of 6,3% in that period.

So the remarks suggest two things would trigger a rate hike: first, the Bank’s forecasts for inflation will have to be revised up once again. Second, it would have to exceed the limit for longer.

So, if either happens and the Bank doesn’t raise rates, its credibility will be tarnished — Ms Marcus has nailed her colours to the mast.

Upward revisions to inflation would be likely to stem from so- called "second-round" effects — a term for price increases in other parts of the economy, which the Bank wants to nip in the bud.

If food prices do not run away and oil prices hover at current levels, these may not materialise.

The wild card, as always, is the volatile rand.

The currency’s strength has been the bane of manufacturers as it makes their exports less competitive. But it has been a boon for inflation, helping to mute the effect of soaring oil prices.

This week, the rand weakened beyond R7 to the dollar — a trend which may continue.

If that happens, it would put upward pressure on inflation by making imports more expensive.

The Bank’s review cited potential "adjustments" to the exchange rate as one of the key risks to inflation this year — a subtle shift from its previous stance. Before that , its officials had pointed out the benefits of rand strength for inflation. This was the first warning about fallout from a weaker currency this year.

In theory a weaker exchange rate would make it easier for the Bank to raise interest rates as it boosts the "carry trade" appeal of the rand. Investors buy the rand for the returns from its higher yield, which exceed other assets.

By the same token, a strong rand makes it harder for the Bank to raise interest rates because it would boost demand for the currency further, making it much too strong for the comfort of local exporters.

The Bank would be in a very difficult position if the rand weakened so much it added significantly to inflation pressures. Its credibility and commitment to its inflation target mandate would be in jeopardy if it did not raise rates at that point.

Greek and Swazi parallels

HOW much of a risk is the fiscal crisis in Swaziland to SA and the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu)? In some ways, the Swazi fiscal crisis is to Sacu what Greece is to the European Union. Economically, it is small, but a dramatic failure could start a chain reaction.

As far as one can tell, the Swazi crisis is worse than the Greek crisis. Swaziland’s budget deficit stands at more than 14% of gross domestic product, or $565m for 2011, for example. In Greece’s case, there has been speculation about dropping out of the euro, but the line from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Greece itself is that this won’t happen. Not so in Swaziland, where the World Bank, no less, has already warned of currency devaluation.

The consequences of doing so would be enormous. Sacu has existed for over a century. Whether it helps or hinders the BLNS countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia) is debatable, but since none has dropped out of it, presumably they recognise some value in the union.

However, in other ways, the comparison between Swaziland and Greece does not follow. In Europe there is a string of countries that have fiscal crises of their own. By contrast, within Sacu all but Swaziland, and perhaps Lesotho, are fiscally stable.

The politics are also different. The euro area is a grand experiment and its members have a huge incentive to see it succeed. On the other hand, SA’s government, one suspects and hopes, is sensitive to the public protests taking place in Swaziland, and about the need for political reform.

The other difference is that the fiscal crisis in Swaziland is rooted in the customs union arrangement, the opaque formula by which the proceeds of imports and exports are divided between Sacu members. Although it’s hard to tell how the formula works, what is clear is it constitutes at least half the kingdom’s government revenue. This revenue is also many times more than its pro rata share of trade.

Because of this dependence on the customs union, Swaziland’s finances are geared to regional trade, which declined during the recent economic downturn. As far as one can tell, SA has up till now been generous and increased regional revenue by more than the BLNS pro rata share. But faced with fiscal problems of its own, this attitude has apparently changed.

That might be fiscally laudable, but it has thrown Swaziland into a financial crisis, which Swazi authorities are trying to borrow their way out of by appealing to the African Development Bank for a $100m loan. But that will only cover deficits for a few years, so spending must decrease. Mass retrenchment of public servants could follow soon and the government has cut public servants’ pay by 10%. Understandably, there will be more protests.

Swaziland needs a holistic solution that includes political and economic reforms. SA has to be a key player in that process, but for that to happen, the government needs to be more attentive to the problem than it apparently has been up till now.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY NEWS EGYPT, EGYPT

It's not revolution fatigue, but…

CAIRO: Watching the live transmission from Tahrir Square Friday morning as hundreds of Egyptians gathered to “realign the path of the revolution”, I’m heartened by the fact that they have drowned out voices calling for an open-ended sit-in dubbed “the second revolution of rage” in the past two weeks.

Despite the emotional outbursts and the deliberate attempts to instill fear in potential participants, the polarization of society since calls began for a mass protest on May 27 is perhaps a blessing in disguise. The two sides of the spectrum clearly defined their stances: one showing little or no confidence in any of the achievements so far, hence demanding a second revolution and a presidential council to replace the army council; while the other choosing to continue along the same path of applying pressure to shape the current and future path of the country. And as zero hour approached, it was clear that the two sides had agreed to disagree, which in itself is a dramatic compromise.

Even though I still have reservations regarding holding elections before having a constitution, like the four million others who voted no on the March 19 referendum on the constitutional amendments, I am resolved to respect the results of a democratic process. However, from day one I summarily rejected framing May 27 as “a second revolution”, with all its combative, confrontational pitting of the people against the ruling army council, but supported this protest as a basic human right to associate and as a means of drawing the military council’s attention to some fundamental issues that continue to be shrouded in mystery.

Where are, for example, the results of the investigations into the alleged torture of protesters by military police last March? Why has there been no serious police probe into the sectarian crimes that took place in Muqqatam and Imbaba in Cairo and the village of Sol in Helwan? And if investigations were undertaken, why is there no transparency in publicizing the results and referring the criminals to court? Why has the military prosecution not kept its promise of reviewing the cases of protesters given prison sentences in military courts? Why do other protesters continue to be tried before military courts and given suspended sentences?

When it comes to the prosecution of the ousted president and his family, the recent decision to refer Mubarak and his sons to the criminal court for killing protesters and financial corrutption, have allayed fears of a possible amnesty, in which case the whole country would have legitimately gone back to Tahrir Square and very legitimately embarked on a second revolution.

But that didn’t happen. And as I type these words now, there is talk of Mubarak being moved from Sharm El-Sheikh to Tora prison hospital. Exactly when this will take place and how Mubarak’s court proceedings will be conducted, reportedly some time in the next two weeks, are topics of endless speculation, but will be finalized soon enough.

More than any other time since Mubarak’s ouster, and despite various clashes between protesters and the army, it is clear that the army council is intent on appeasing the public. Its decision to steer clear from areas where protests were taking place Friday and its decision Thursday to release a draft of the amended People’s Assembly law for public discussion before its final endorsement are positive steps in the right direction aimed at casting off the impression that the army is making unilateral decisions without seeking general consensus.

But the point we have reached now did not come from a vacuum; it is the result of the power of continued peaceful public pressure and of course a little help from the G8, the International Monetary Fund and the US and the UK, which have promised billions of dollars worth of investments, debt swaps and waivers as long as the country continues along a path of democratic reform.

In the final analysis, it’s all going to boil down to the economy. To guarantee that Egypt’s spring doesn’t turn into a deadly tsunami the interim government must use the money to create jobs and reinforce the institutions that will guarantee accountability, transparency, fight corruption and impose the rule of law.

We have won the battle against a decadent regime, let’s hope we can win the war against poverty, apathy, marginalization and worst of all, our own inability to engage in serious, open and sincere dialogue to reach consensus and rebuild our country.

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

A New Flood, Some Old Truths

The thousands of people forced to abandon their homes in recent weeks to floodwaters are victims not just of nature but of human error as well. Years of mismanagement of the vast Mississippi River ecosystem — the relentless and often inadvisable construction of levees and navigation channels, the paving over of wetlands, the commercial development of flood plains — have made the damage worse than it might otherwise have been.

The Obama administration is now completing an overhaul of the guidelines governing dams, levees and other water-related projects built with federal money. In 2007, Congress ordered the guidelines, unchanged since 1983, rewritten to require federal agencies to take environmental as well as economic concerns into account.

Historically, projects had been shaped by two main factors: the Army Corps of Engineers’ conviction that nature can be subdued by levees and dams, and its reflexive green-lighting of any flood control project that encouraged commercial or agricultural development. The new rules, Congress said, should require the Corps and other federal agencies to give equal weight to less easily measurable benefits like wildlife habitat and to “nonstructural” solutions to flood control like preserving wetlands, flood plains and other “natural systems.”

To give the Corps its due, it has performed nobly in the present emergency. Its main-stem levees have held. Its decision to blow holes in levees guarding the New Madrid floodway in Missouri clearly saved Cairo, Ill., and other places downstream; similar maneuvers in Louisiana helped protect New Orleans. These tactics had long been part of Corps emergency plans, and they worked.

The question the environmental community and many in Congress are asking is whether this would have been necessary if the river had been better managed. In populated areas, levees were a necessary response to the cataclysmic floods of the 1920s. But some were built solely to attract more development, while others closed off flood plains that could have acted as a natural safety valve.

Meanwhile, over the years, the upper Mississippi watershed has lost millions of acres of wetlands that could have served as a natural sponge for floodwaters. Some experts also believe that dikes, jetties and other structures designed to channel the river and speed navigation have also helped raise water levels to dangerous levels.

So-called 100-year floods seemed to be hitting the Mississippi with scary regularity — a $16 billion flood in 1993, a bad one in 2001, another in 2008, and now this one. Climate change, which some suspect of causing torrential downpours, may be part of the problem, though the connection is unclear. What is clear is that we should learn from our mistakes, let nature help out where it can, and not build or farm in places where it makes no sense to do so. As the saying goes: Nobody ever beats the river.

Albany Needs Ethics Reform — Now

The first item on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s post-inauguration to-do list was ethics reform. He’s been in office five months, and we’re still waiting for the bill.

While the governor has been negotiating behind closed doors with legislative leaders (shouldn’t transparency top the list of reforms?), others are acting.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli have announced plans to use their offices’ resources to investigate anything suspicious that involves the use of state funds. That includes no-show jobs, illegal expense reports, pension padding and bid rigging for government contracts.

The Schneiderman-DiNapoli idea is a good one, but not enough. Here’s what is needed, as Mr. Cuomo laid out in his campaign “Plan for Action”:

¶An independent ethics commission with powers to investigate and punish legal violations by lawmakers and members of the executive branch. No more self-policing.

¶End “pay to play,” with stiff contribution limits for contractors and lobbyists, immediate disclosure of contributions and real punishments for breaking the rules.

¶Full disclosure by lawmakers of outside earnings and clients — with no exceptions. Lawyers whose clients have business before the state must come clean. As Mr. Cuomo wrote, “Voters cannot have complete faith in their elected representatives if they cannot assess where else those representatives are earning money.”

¶A complete overhaul of campaign finance laws, including a move to public financing of elections, limiting contributions to party “housekeeping” accounts, closing other loopholes and giving the attorney general jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute violations.

Mr. Cuomo and the Legislature have about 10 more working days before they are scheduled to leave town for the year. It’s going to take a lot to clean up Albany’s sleaze. But without real ethics reform, it isn’t possible. 

Another War in Sudan?

The world breathed a sigh of relief in January when southern Sudanese voted overwhelming to secede and the government in northern Sudan accepted the results. But with the July 9 independence date approaching, north and south Sudan are on the brink of war over the oil-rich border region of Abyei. The United States, the United Nations and the African Union will have to press hard to get the two sides to back down.

The January vote was part of a 2005 American-backed agreement that ended two decades of fighting between the Arab Muslim north and the largely Christian south that killed two million people. The fact that it went off reasonably peacefully was a testament to American and other international mediators who worked assiduously to persuade President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to forgo disruption and violence — at least then.

The question of who would control Abyei was left unresolved. It is quickly descending into chaos. On May 19 southern Sudan forces ambushed a convoy of northern army troops escorted by U.N. peacekeepers. President Bashir, author of the murderous war in Darfur, reacted excessively, sending more forces to bombard and occupy Abyei’s main town. Thousands have fled. Mr. Bashir also unilaterally disbanded a north-south civilian council that was jointly administering Abyei.

Abyei is one of many unresolved issues, including borders, citizenship protections for minorities and how oil earnings — the south has 70 percent of the reserves — will be shared.

The two sides need each other to succeed. Southern Sudan needs the North’s pipeline to get its oil to market. Northern Sudan needs oil money to help pay its bills. Both need foreign investment and the North in particular needs debt relief. They have a better chance of winning international support if they are at peace.

The Obama administration set out a road map for removing Sudan from the terrorism list and normalizing relations with Khartoum. That must be held up until Mr. Bashir negotiates a settlement for Abyei. To get maximum benefits, progress on a peace settlement in Darfur is also required.

International mediators must make clear to southern Sudan that international assistance will not be forthcoming if it continues to pick fights with Khartoum. The U.N. needs more competent troops.

Mr. Bashir and Salva Kiir, the president of southern Sudan, need to resume negotiations on all issues, starting with Abyei. We are encouraged by reports that the two sides will meet with mediators from the African Union on Saturday. Another war serves no one’s interest. 

Dodd-Frank in Limbo

Congressional Republicans could not be clearer about their intent to undermine the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. They’re not helping consumers, so we have to assume that their goal is to protect the bankers.

Senate Republicans told President Obama that they would not confirm any nominee to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless Democrats first agreed to gut the bureau’s power. House Republicans continued their attack on Elizabeth Warren, the consumer advocate and Harvard law professor who is setting up the bureau, charging last week that the bureau — and Ms. Warren — wield draconian powers.

She does not, nor will the bureau, which by law has significant constraints on its authority. When she rightly pushed back, they accused her of lying about her role. The Republicans will keep pushing. The only question is when Mr. Obama will start pushing back.

It has been nearly a year since Dodd-Frank became law, but the White House has yet to nominate leaders for several agencies that have to oversee the reforms. It says it is working on nominations. There is no time to waste.

At the consumer bureau, only a Senate-confirmed director can write the new rules envisioned in Dodd-Frank. No director has been nominated, though Ms. Warren is the obvious choice for the top job. A successful nomination fight would clearly demonstrate Mr. Obama’s support and could be his only option, since Republicans have blocked his ability to use a recess appointment over the Memorial Day break.

There is no nominee for bank supervisor on the Federal Reserve Board, a post created by Dodd-Frank. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees national banks, is being run by an acting director, John Walsh, who appears steeped in the pro-bank, anti-consumer ethos that pervaded the agency before the financial crisis. The White House also hasn’t nominated anyone to run the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation when Sheila Bair, a strong reformer, finishes in June.

If Mr. Obama is committed to Dodd-Frank, he will nominate qualified candidates and fight for them through filibusters if need be. Without strong leaders at these key agencies financial reform doesn’t have much of chance.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE, NIGERIA

BANKING REFORMS - AN ENDLESS EXERCISE?

IN spite of reforms and injection of public funds into ailing banks, the banking sub-sector of Nigeria’s financial system has continued to constitute a source of worry to both depositors and investors. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was recently reported as saying that the number of banks in the country was likely to drop to 20 because the four remaining banks supposedly bailed out might not be able to make the recapitalisation target at the end of this round of reforms. What this means is that the public funds injected into them have gone down the drain.

THE 1990s witnessed bank failures at an alarming rate. This prompted the recapitalisation cum consolidation programme introduced by the CBN under Professor Charles Soludo’s watch. The exercise was celebrated as a feat and the final solution to the many problems of Nigeria’s banking industry. It did not, however, take too long before it became manifest that the consolidation process had its own defects and was not without abuses. In the course of the acrimony which broke out later, the CBN was accused of approving the conversion of depositors’ funds to shore up the shareholders’ capital of one of the six banks that came together to form the Springbank. The CBN was also said to have refunded the “Mandatory Liquidity Deposit (normally held statutorily for all banks by the Apex bank) to help the favoured bank to refloat its liquidity.” These acts of favouritism and compromise of standards gave an unfair advantage to the favoured bank in the determination of the ownership structure of the Springbank. What was not clear while the altercations and revelations were going on was whether the Springbank’s case was an aberration or a tip of the iceberg.

THE startling discovery which Sanusi announced on his assumption of office as CBN governor showed that the state of affairs in the banking industry was not what it was hyped to be. He discovered that some banks were permanently hooked up to the CBN for sustenance.

Immediately he severed this link, they started tottering on the brink of colapse. He had to inject public funds into them to stave off another round of bank failures. He sacked the top management of the affected banks and replaced them with his own appointees. The media has since been awash with criticisms, allegations and counter allegations. Sanusi is also being accused of pursuing a predetermined agenda.

THE affected banks’ chief executives have been accusing Sanusi of pursuing a hidden agenda and unjustifiably taking over their businesses. They have, however, not explained why their banks were clinging to the CBN the way a leech attaches itself to other creatures.

ON his own part, Sanusi should see the likely disappearance of four ailing banks from Nigeria’s financial landscape as a failure of his own efforts to put the affected banks on the path to recovery and ensure unshaken confidence in the banking industry. There have been allegations that those he appointed to replace the top management staff of the affected banks have been enjoying the same outrageous remunerations as their sacked predecessors. It was reported that sacked managing director of Bank PHB, Mr Francis Atuche, was entitled to collect $450,000 (N70 million) as offshore leave allowance in four years. The receipt of a huge sum as annual leave allowance by the new CEO of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Lai Alabi three months into office also readily comes to mind.

THIS gives rise to certain vital questions. What is the annual remuneration package of these bank heads? What is the annual remuneration of their directors and management staff? What is the average annual profit of these banks where CEOs receive such unbelivable sums as salaries and allowances?

THIS means that the injected funds have been going into individual pockets as salaries and allowances. It has for long become apparent that the crises in the financial system have resulted largely from various forms of abuses which the regulatory agencies have failed to contain. The CBN inspectors’ physical presence in the banks has not stopped the declaration of paper profits. The apex bank looks on while outrageous remunerations deplete the resources of banks. This is why banking reform is becoming an endless exercise. It is unlikely that any banking reform will produce the desired result unless the regulator itself is reformed.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY OUTLOOK, AFGANISTAN

                  

 

Struggling to Revamp Frayed Relations

Less than a month later than Al-Qaeda terror network's mastermind in Pakistan, several high ranking US officials have paid trips to Islamabad to restore trust and cooperation between the two countries in fight against extremism. The United States Foreign Secretary, Hillary Clinton, arrived in Islamabad on Friday May 27, 2011 to meet Pakistani officials on the recent developments.

Acknowledging Pakistan's sacrifices she said that both the countries needed to "redouble efforts" to counter extremism and terrorism. Terming the "Al-Qaida syndicate" still a threat after the killing of its leader Osama bin Laden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "The United States and Pakistan have worked together to kill and capture many terrorists on the Pakistani soil." She said it could not have been possible without the close cooperation between the two governments.

Secretary Clinton said that relations between the United States and Pakistan had reached a turning point after the killing of Osama bin Laden and Islamabad must make "decisive steps" in the days ahead to fight terrorism. Clinton was joined by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, to deliver a twofold message. The United States wants to soothe nerves and hurt feelings following the raid nearly a month ago by U.S. Navy SEALs on bin Laden's compound, a strike that was kept secret even from Pakistan's top Army and intelligence officials. But Clinton and Mullen also were telling Pakistan it must show renewed commitment to U.S. security interests, chiefly to eradicate safe havens for militants who attack U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The US foreign policy administration immediately began revamping relations with Pakistan after Osama's murder in Abbattoabad brought about harsh criticism against the Pakistani government for failing to aptly fight terrorism or even having links with the notorious network. In the early days after the blowing news of Osama hunt by US forces near the Pakistani capital, analysts said the US-Pakistani strategic partnership was on the verge of a crucial change. Pakistani presidents' trip to Moscow and China was, by some experts, interpreted as a possible U-turn in US-Pakistan fragile relations.

On the other hand, US congressmen asked Obama administration to rethink the country's relations with Pakistan. However, Pakistan's strategic significance for the US-led war against terrorism remains unquestionable. No need to say, the war on terror is far from over unless militancy is uprooted in the region. For getting the job done, the international community needs to get Pakistan's role in the process reinforced. The US administration has frequently reiterated that, despite tense relations with Pakistan, the US will not risk any damage in bilateral ties with it. In spite of edgy relations between the two allies, both sides agree that they need to considerately carry on cooperation to bring an end to the scourge of terrorism.

Fighting against terrorism has served as axis for cooperation between the two states and this very factor asks both parties to actively work on the long exhausting mission. However, responsibilities need to be based on transparent mechanisms to avoid further blunders such as those committed during the last decade.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Policy Challenges

Afghanistan's foreign policy and diplomatic machinery shoulder the critical responsibility of defining and shaping the country's short-term and long-term relations with the outside world.

This has assumed greater significance for our country given the extensive involvement of the international community in Afghanistan in military, political, economic and social spheres. Moreover, the country continues to remain heavily dependent on western countries and international organizations for a variety of reasons from security provision to paying for the government's daily expenses. However, this dependence cannot be an excuse and a reason for having a foreign policy and diplomatic machinery that lacks the ability to initiate and independently pursue its own goals.

Afghanistan's foreign policy and the bureaucratic machinery that is in charge of crafting and executing its foreign policies have rather been inflexible, passive and inconsistent in recent years. This means that the country's foreign policy makers and our diplomatic machinery have most of the times been only reacting to events and foreign policy compulsions rather than initiating and taking the lead in affecting the events before the events affect Afghanistan. For example, the countries in the region have serious concerns about the presence of foreign military forces inside Afghanistan. Moreover, they see it as a grave threat to themselves; the presence of a government in Afghanistan that is heavily dependent on the west and, in their view, will act as the west's regional agent and strategic protégé. Such fears and apprehensions have naturally led to a wall of distrust towards Afghanistan being erected by them.

Much of the country's ills over the past one decade can be, in one way or another, traced to this lack of mutual trust. Needless to say that it has been the responsibility of the country's foreign policy makers and our diplomatic apparatus to have duly addressed these genuine concerns of our neighbors over the past years. What we see instead is that they have largely failed to achieve this imperative over the past many years. Time and again, it has been the inability, inconsistency and a passive approach to foreign relations that have crippled Afghanistan's foreign diplomacy machinery. In order to quell the Taliban insurgency and make Afghanistan a viable state in the region, the role played by the country's foreign policy and diplomatic apparatus is as important as the international coalition's relentless battle against the Taliban and their allies. These two are more or less the two sides of the same coin.

Afghans hope that the government of Afghanistan can make up for the past shortcomings and re-energize its foreign policy apparatus so that Afghanistan's foreign policy can be realistic, balanced and more important, able to make use of available opportunities in a pro-active manner.

The Old Course, the Old Tricks

It is becoming more evident that neither diplomatic approaches nor any military warnings can put off intentions of the Islamic Republic of Iran to complete the controversial Uranium enrichment process. Iran has consistently denied allegations that it seeks to develop a bomb. Yet many in the international community remain skeptical. Despite a U.S. intelligence finding in November 2007 that concluded Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, the Bush administration warned that Iran sought to weaponize its nuclear program, concerns the Obama administration shares. Nonproliferation experts note Iran's ability to produce enriched uranium continues to progress but disagree on how close Iran is to mastering capabilities to weaponize.

In its most recent report on Iran nuclear program, the international nuclear watchdog says it has unspecified evidence Iran worked on technology designed to set off a nuclear weapon. The New York Times reported the revelation came in a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency released Tuesday. The Times quoted the report as saying the organization has evidence Iran conducted work on sophisticated nuclear triggering technology, but did not say where the evidence came from or provide many details.

However, as a usual response to such reports, Iran's nuclear chief has dismissed the report, calling it a "fabrication." Tehran has been slapped with a series of UN Security Council resolutions demanding a halt to its uranium enrichment, none of which has produced any palpable changes in Iranian officials' decisions. The UN Security Council hit Tehran with a fourth set of sanctions on June 9 last year over its nuclear program, and the United States and European Union followed up with tougher punitive measures targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors.

In addition to ongoing tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic, hopes for diplomatic talks glimmered as Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmadinejad took the office for a second term as president. The country is severely persisting against the international calls for halting its nuclear enrichment program. Staying unwavering, Iran has said it will never give up its right to enrich Uranium. But it had announced previously that it could suspend higher-level work for several years if a long-delayed fuel swap can be agreed with foreign powers.

Iran has held no substantive talks with world powers since it struck a fuel swap deal with Russia, France and the United States in October. The diplomatic talks seemed to have reached a deadlock. There are, however, calls for peaceful approaches to the subject despite the rigidity demonstrated by both parties. Indications suggest that, having demonstrated no alterations in mindsets, the negotiation parties will reiterate their previous positions. Negotiation annals say that the western party attends meetings to encourage Iran to halt the enrichment process and, on the contrary, Iran has repetitively marked the enrichment program as non-negotiable. So, the process will keep going controversial and up in the air unless the two sides are dealing on some considerable concessions, a requisite denied by both parties so far.

 

EDITORIAL : THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

Focusing on Libya

As the fighting in Libya rages on with NATO having intensified attacks, a ceasefire offer has come from Libyan ruler Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

The latest ceasefire is likely to be dismissed again by the Libyan rebels as it was by the Europeans. The ongoing G-8 Summit in France has brought forth renewed US and French pledges to  oust Gaddafi at all costs. This follows US President Barack Obama’s meeting in London with British Prime Minister David Cameron where both pledged to turn the heat up on Libya.

On the other hand, the African leaders have strongly criticised the  NATO operations.  Demanding an end to the air strikes, the African Union (AU) called the NATO operations in Libya a violation of the UN resolution. The regional leaders also expressed indignation at being denied “any significant role in searching for a solution to the Libyan conflict”.
Whether this clear and equivocal opposition from a significant regional organisation will have an impact on the NATO mission is the question. Even Russia’s strong opposition has hardly deterred the strikes. Russian efforts to broker a ceasefire between the Libyan rebels and Gaddafi’s forces, however, are continuing.
A previous ceasefire proposal by the African Union that entailed a transition period before elections was agreed to by Gaddafi but rejected by the rebels who are insistent on his exit before any deal.

In the midst of all the political wrangling and the firepower being rained from the skies and that on ground — as a result of the infighting between the rebels and the pro-Gaddafi forces — the Libyan people are the ones suffering. Mass exodus of refugees and dismal living conditions are but natural consequences of the war that has caught Libya in flames.

Irrespective of how Gaddafi has brought this about on his self and his countrymen, the legality of the NATO operations is a sticking point. The varied perspectives offering glimpses of the reason for the war — some citing oil and others water — neglect to offer a feasible solution. By the time a ceasefire is agreed on by both sides, Libya may have been pounded to the ground, given the indicators from NATO  and the reprisals  by the Libyan military. It is indeed unfortunate.

AU chief Jean Ping made a valid point when he  urged an end to the NATO operations — that only seem to have strengthened Gaddafi’s resolve to cling tenaciously onto power and fight harder. This is why the AU is insisting on the inclusion of the African states in a roadmap to end the fighting and bring stability back. A resolution to the conflict is not possible without a negotiated political settlement, one that must involve the regional states’ mediation.

It is important that the international community realises this sooner than later.

Nationality counts at IMF!

In the yesteryears hardly anybody cared of how the IMF chief was chosen or named. But it has gradually become an issue of real-politik.

This is not so because of the high office of one the world’s largest donor organisations has anything to do with power politics, but owing to the fact that the capitalist template — that was streamlined in the shadows of World War II — has changed for good. The rise of developing markets and the shady manner in which the developed West has conducted financial business has irked the world at large.

Moreover, the Bretton Woods arrangement that was supposed to strike a balance between the haves and the have-nots has miserably failed in attaining such an objective. Thus the call on the part of the emerging economies to have a say in world monetary decisions is not without credibility and substance.

The unfortunate and disgraced exit of Dominique Strauss-Kahn has opened a pandora’s box of its own. Though the European nations, as per the dictates of an unwritten understanding, are more than eager to name a consensual candidate from the continent, it is unlikely to have a smooth sailing this time around. To this day, all of the 10 IMF managing directors, since its inception, were European. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and German banker-of-repute Axel Weber are some of the prominent names in the contest, and as  all is set to get an endorsement  from the United States, the die is yet to be cast.

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Mexico’s Agustin Carstens, too, have staked claim to the managing director’s role at the IMF. It goes without saying that saner voices from Brazil, India, South Africa and China are contesting the apartheid that is in vogue, and which does not seem to be settling without a bargain.

This is a serious moment of policy-making for not only Europe, but also the United States, China and Japan. The greed of Wall Street has proved beyond any doubt that a new world financial order is in need of being chalked out. And as far as the eurozone is concerned, it is in need of a visionary man who can further the agenda that Straus-Kahn had pursued by bailing out the ailing economies. Not only the IMF boss’s nationality, but also the organisation’s lending formula, its SDR tranches and bone-crunching conditionalities for the Third World economies will certainly be up for review. It’s time for an open debate at the IMF.