EDITORIAL : THE GUARDIAN, ENGLAND

 

 

The next IMF boss: Inside job

The IMF to hold an open contest, otherwise the choice will be between two poor candidates

Ever since Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned last month as head of the International Monetary Fund there have been two related arguments. The first is that his replacement must come from Europe, on the grounds that only a European politician would be able to get up to speed with the intricacies of eurozone debt crisis and negotiate with the continental heavyweights. The second argument is that it must be someone from Asia, Africa or another part of the developing world, on the grounds that it was time for a non-European to have a pop at running one of the world's most important international financial institutions.

In both cases, nothing more is required of the candidate than that they bear the right passport. What has been notable about the feeble debate aired in the papers and on broadcast media over the past few weeks is how little it gets beyond questions of nationality and the vague, and vaguely offensive, notion of "representation". And the result is clear this week. The one European candidate to have thrown her hat in the ring is Christine Lagarde. The one developing-world runner to have left his blocks is Agustin Carstens. Neither is suitable, and both show just how poor the process is.

First, Ms Lagarde, the candidate of choice for David Cameron, Silvio Berlusconi and Nicolas Sarkozy. As advocates point out, the French finance minister is a poised performer. She has also had a role in the eurozone bailouts of the past year and so, friends claim, is well qualified to take up the biggest task that any new IMF boss will inherit. One might equally well argue that the utter mess the eurozone packages have become shows how ill-suited Ms Lagarde is for the job. The French minister has stuck up for the rights of banks and making implausible demands of bust countries.

Mr Carstens also makes a lamentable candidate. From Mexico, which most economists would no longer think of as part of the developing world (unless, of course, a job at the IMF depended on it), his record is poor. Senior at the IMF from 2003 to 2006, he was a key player in a period which the fund has itself described as characterised by "a high degree of groupthink, intellectual capture, a ... mindset that a major financial crisis in large advanced economies was unlikely". More recently, as central-bank governor of Mexico he has been disastrously hawkish on monetary policy.

Rather than choose a boss on the grounds of nationality, it would make more sense for the IMF to hold an open contest. And it would be sensible for observers to debate what role they want the fund and its head to play. Otherwise the choice will be between two poor candidates – which isn't much of a choice at all.
 
 

In praise of … winter fuel payments

They have warmed hearts who like to think state action can make a difference

Free money is a reliably popular policy, although not necessarily a good one. When Gordon Brown first wrote elderly people cheques for the winter, the priests of the technocracy lined up to dismiss a shameless con. Two-brained Tory David Willetts said he'd treat pensioners as grown-ups by doing away with the bung, and rolling the cash into the basic pension. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, meanwhile, suggested that piling yet another payment on to a creaking benefit system would achieve nothing more than alliterative headlines about Mr Brown's winter warmer. Well, a decade on, the institute has shown its characteristic determination to follow the evidence wherever it leads, and reached some startling conclusions. In the world of the wonks, people are assumed to possess the single-minded rationality of a robot. As such, they should recognise that every pound is the same, and spend it the same, wherever it has happened to come from or whatever it is said to be for. But the IFS found that if you give a pensioner a £100 fuel payment, they will spend well over a third on keeping warm, as against a mere 30th if the cash was not labelled this way. Doubts linger about the affordability of spraying cash on well-to-do 62-year-olds who use it to settle their Wine Society bill. But fuel payments have, at least, lent winter some real warmth. In the process, they've warmed hearts who like to think state action can make a difference, and to imagine people are something more than desiccated calculating machines.

Counter-terrorism: Prevention and cure

The coalition has fudged its answer to the conundrum of how to contain threats to democracy without damaging democracy itself

If there was a single area that might have been predicted a year ago as a major test of the unity of purpose of the coalition, it was domestic counter-terrorism strategy. Yesterday's unveiling of the new approach comes nearly six months after it was first promised. That indicates just how hard it was to hammer out an agreement that squared the old circle of containing a threat to democracy without damaging democracy itself. The result is a fudge. It is not all bad for the Lib Dems. In areas such as proscription of extremist groups, some sharp edges have been filed down. In other areas, the deliberate lack of clarity will leave organisations like schools, prisons and universities making sensitive judgments in a fog of uncertainty. And at its heart is an illiberal intolerance of ideas that amounts to a new curtailment on freedom of speech – one that will do nothing to end, among law-abiding communities, Muslim or otherwise, a damaging sense of exclusion.

For the last election, the Conservatives built a detailed counter-terror agenda around the idea – made explicit for the first time by David Cameron in his Munich speech in February – that multiculturalism had failed. Instead of mutual respect for difference, integration should be at the forefront of the strategy. At the same time it should be recognised that non-violent extremist organisations contributed to a climate where violent extremism became acceptable. Tories wanted Islamist groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir to be banned (still no progress there), along with any other organisation that supported attacks on British troops or incited hatred. They demanded a much more robust line on excluding visitors with extremist views, and deportations of those who incited hatred from here. After the election Lib Dem negotiators, reassured by a common resistance to Labour's control orders and detention without trial, signed up to most of the Tory programme. But then came Mr Cameron's Munich speech and the differences were launched into the public space. Nick Clegg went to Luton to argue for engagement rather than exclusion. The result of the trimming that followed is a convenient fudge over the precise definition of extremism that will leave some flexibility of implementation for Lib Dem ministers, and allow them freedom to pursue their policy of engagement at conferences where other speakers might be classed as extremists.

But what works at the top may create problems on the ground. Too hazy a definition of "extreme" will place a heavy burden on the university administrators Theresa May accused of being slack in an interview on Monday. More support to help schools and prisons identify the vulnerable is welcome, and it is true that earlier choices of groups that were selected for their capacity to represent parts of the Muslim community turned out to be plain wrong. But now funding choices will be made on the basis of a willingness to subscribe to "British" values, which puts politicians in the role of theological arbiter and risks sending the most challenging groups deeper into the shadows.

Counter-terrorist strategies are, inevitably, a continual process of reconstruction. Yesterday's sensible decision to separate out community cohesion programmes – whose inclusion in earlier Prevent packages had led to accusations of spy networks – is welcome. But the warning from MPs last year that a well-meant project to support Muslim social institutions had become tainted by negative association with counter-terrorism illustrates the difficulties of intervention in this area. Yet yesterday's proposal that NHS workers should be alert to terrorist activity among colleagues suggests the lesson hasn't been taken on board. It risks outlawing people who express legitimate opposition to foreign policy. By stifling debate it diminishes the chance of winning the argument. If this is the muscular Liberalism Nick Clegg promised last month, it is speaking through a muffler.

 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

    

 

Germany's N-policy flip-flop may blunt its industrial edge

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Germany's decision to abandon nuclear energy is a monumental policy shift that might threaten the competitiveness of German industry.

The country's coalition government decided Monday to abolish all of its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022. Older nuclear reactors built before 1980, which have already been taken off the grid, will remain offline permanently. The remaining nine reactors will be phased out when they complete their life span of 32 years.

In 2002, Germany's then center-left coalition enacted a law to phase out nuclear power. In a U-turn from this policy last autumn, the current center-right coalition government, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, decided to extend the lifetimes of the country's 17 reactors by an average of 12 years. This was based on the judgment that Germany would not be able to meet its power demand using only natural energy sources such as wind power.

The latest policy change--only about half a year after the previous reversal--spells out in black and white the profound impact the ongoing crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has had on the German people. In local elections held after the Fukushima nuclear crisis started, the antinuclear Green party made huge gains while the coalition parties tasted defeat.

Nuclear power is a key energy source for Germany and accounts for more than 20 percent of the country's power generation. To make up for the power shortage that will result from ditching nuclear energy, Germany plans to build additional thermal power plants for the time being and expand the use of natural energy sources in the long run.

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Uncertainties abound

But this envisioned course is full of uncertainties.

Wind-power generation, which Germany plans to boost, is concentrated in northern parts of the country, including the Baltic Sea coast. Building power transmission networks to carry the generated power to southern parts of the country will require massive investment. Natural energy sources could become more costly if implemented on a wide scale.

There are fears that the supply of natural energy sources could be unstable--a problem peculiar to them.

That is why German industrial circles are worried that dumping nuclear power could blunt manufacturers' competitiveness. Germany is a locomotive for the European economy. If German businesses lose their competitive edge, there are fears the entire European economy could be affected.

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Reliance on N-power remains

Germany can turn off the switch on its nuclear power because it can import electricity from neighboring countries not separated by sea. In fact, Germany already imports electricity from France, which relies on nuclear power generation for 80 percent of its power supply, and the Czech Republic, where old Soviet-type nuclear reactors still operate.

Although Germany has decided to abandon nuclear power generation, it will rely on electricity generated by nuclear power. The country is said to be still trying to sell its nuclear power technology. This is undeniably opportunistic.

The global trend is for many countries, including China and India, to turn to nuclear power to meet their growing energy demand.

Japan is an island nation, so its situation is different from Germany's. Japan cannot import electricity from neighboring nations.

The most realistic option Japan has for maintaining industrial competitiveness is to use nuclear power plants by improving their safety.

Grand coalition cabinet requires DPJ concessions

The Yomiuri Shimbun

To create a temporary, nation-saving cabinet through a grand coalition, both the ruling and opposition parties must expedite their preparatory efforts.

The secretaries general of the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party are now in step with each other over the grand coalition idea.

The latest development came as Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed his intention to step down in the not-too-distant future, removing an obstacle to realizing cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties.

Katsuya Okada, the DPJ secretary general, said, "It is desirable to create a structure where ruling and opposition parties cooperate within a certain time frame," to deal with such important issues as post-disaster restoration and integrated social security and tax system reforms.

Nobuteru Ishihara, Okada's LDP counterpart, also indicated his positive stance toward the formation of the grand coalition, on the premise of the two parties reaching an accord on such policy issues as national security.

This is a significant development. A grand coalition could make Japan's politics functional again.

Under the divided Diet, neither the DPJ nor the LDP has the strength or agility to tackle the issue of post-disaster restoration on its own.

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A historic opportunity

Both the ruling and opposition parties need to create a powerful political system in which to make plans based on a hard look at what things will be like 10 years from now. They need to promote such key policies as integrated social security and tax system reforms, deepen the Japan-U.S. alliance, and push participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade accord. Neither camp should miss this chance to form a grand coalition.

Before realizing a grand coalition, there are several challenges that need to be tackled.

First, it is essential for participating parties to agree on key policies. In order to do so, the ruling DPJ should make major concessions.

On policy issues, the DPJ must drastically review its manifesto for the 2009 lower house election. It must withdraw its dole-out policy measures, including the distribution of child-rearing allowances and the income compensation program for farming households.

It is also important to create a system in which bureaucrats could be used efficiently, by amending the DPJ's "initiative by politicians" policy that only serves to exclude bureaucrats.

It is also necessary to promptly rebuild a channel of mediation between the central government and disaster-affected local governments by reviving the practice of holding administrative vice ministers' meetings.

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A challenge for Kan's successor

Within the DPJ, Diet members who support former party leader Ichiro Ozawa continue to oppose any review of the party manifesto. Anyone who would succeed Kan as prime minister will need the political clout to join forces with opposition parties, while simultaneously holding back such intraparty opposition.

For a grand coalition, a clear time frame is needed. It will be necessary to dissolve the grand coalition once solid foundations for "nation-saving efforts" have been laid, and to seek the judgment of the people by dissolving the lower house for a general election.

The DPJ has an obligation to show first a road map for solving all these issues.

It may be only logical for Kan to step down at an early date to enable the DPJ to live up to this obligation.

To compile the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, and decide the issue of how to finance it, more full-fledged negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties are needed. Lame duck Prime Minister Kan should not linger in managing the administration.

EDITORIAL : THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

Gaokao exam acts as a great leveler

Some 9.3 million Chinese students are sitting gaokao or the National College Entrance Exam this week.

As one of the fairest social institutions in China, gaokao carries high expectations for millions of Chinese families. Despite diversified life options in wealthy regions, participating in gaokao still remains a make-or-break moment for most Chinese teenagers.

We have heard too many criticisms about the problems of gaokao, such as it robs children of their childhood and creativity and discriminates against students from regions with less education resources.

Nevertheless, a basic fact is that there is no better alternative to gaokao, given the current social environment. Hasty reforms like rapidly raising colleges' independent enrollment and giving extra marks to students with specialties may further undermine the fairness of the existing talent-selection system, as such flexibility can be exploited by those with powerful social connections.

As a result, Chinese society has been lingering between breaking the stranglehold of gaokao and safeguarding its fairness. Overcoming each problem of gaokao can create a new risk to its fairness. We have no choice but to continue with the gaokao system and minimize its potential unfairness.

In recent years, the number of registered gaokao takers has shrunk whereas college enrollment has expanded. In 1977, when the gaokao system was resumed after a decade of social turbulence, the average college enrollment ratio was less than 5 percent. This ratio soared to 72 percent last year, mirroring a fundamental change in the nation's higher education patterns.

The social anxiety simmering under the gaokao system is essentially dissolving. Colleges should not cut down enrollment quota, due to the shrinking number of gaokao takers. Instead, they should steadily promote the prevalence rate of higher education, which firmly bolsters the development of the nation.

Meanwhile, more enrollment quotas should be allocated to rural and less-developed regions. For many teenagers from poor families, gaokao is the only chance to scale up the social ladder.

It is very difficult to balance the allocation of college enrollment quotas among different regions, and it may solicit social unrest to rashly cut the quotas in big Eastern cities. Nevertheless, propelling higher education expansion and rapidly enhancing enrollment in underdeveloped areas should become a firm policy.

The soaring number of college students and diversified approaches to achievement help alleviate social nerves toward gaokao.

Such worries will ultimately be cleared up through rapid and even social development. This is actually the way many complicated issues are solved in China – as long as we walk ahead with a down-to-earth attitude, many problems may thaw in the trend of social growth and catch all of us by surprise.
 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

 

 

Marked by dignity

HUMAN rights and other legal norms require that suspects or indeed anyone in any brush with the law are treated with respect. That did not happen when the foreign women rounded up for allegedly working illegally at a karaoke lounge in Penang last week were "branded" with an "X" on their bodies, ostensibly to keep an eye on them so they do not slip away. Strictly speaking, the reverse should have been the case if the officers were mindful of the rights of these individuals, whose identities should have been protected in the event that they are, ultimately, found not guilty. This is a fair expectation, especially given that the suspects were apprehended outside the offending premises in a public place.
That investigations are ongoing and the officers alleged to have been involved in the incident are deskbound demonstrate that the police regard the perpetration of such indignities seriously. Obviously, the superiors are of the position that no excuses are acceptable when procedures -- which have been established due to the frequency of anti-vice or related operations involving gaggles of foreigners -- are ignored. Should the officers be found to have crossed the line, a commensurate punishment would be one that deters repetition by their colleagues. Of course, it is agreed that runaway suspects make for unnecessary difficulties. But the onus is on the police to overcome them without resort to brutalising measures. In carrying out their duty, no matter how onerous, unwarrantable short-cuts must be avoided. After all, is it not true that when procedures are not adhered to, an arrest can be contested?

Wayward police action, however, should not detract from the growing problem of women being trafficked for immoral purposes. Although laws have been amended, not enough appears to have been done to hold employers of illegal labour to account with a punishment so heavy that only criminal elements among them are willing to take the risk. These furtive workers tend to be exploited, which means taking a hard line against their bosses is a way of protecting the vulnerable. When the business has to do with the exploitation of women, then upholding the law becomes even more pressing. When the law is broken, it is only right that enforcement steps in and raids ensue. However, only professionalism and the highest standards should determine how these operations are carried out. Even when there exists a feeling that society's decency is being challenged, the integrity of the operation must be maintained and an integral part of that is the principle of innocence until proven guilty.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY TRIBUNE, THE PHILIPPINES

 

 

Doing a Marcos

With the Senate having approved the postponement of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) bill, and with even Noynoy kicking out the incumbents when their terms end and replace them with his appointees to serve out their unelected terms up till May 2013 -- with their option to run for the same posts, what is likely to happen?

Chances are high that those opposing the postponement of the ARMM elections are going to challenge its constitutionality before the Supreme Court which can either mean a continued postponement through a temporary restraining order (TRO) until a ruling is made, or the holding of the scheduled polls.

But if the high court does rule that the ARMM bill, as is, is constitutional, then the nation can expect Malacañang and the party in power to prostitute the electoral system even more.

Those who will be appointed by Noynoy to take the place of the ousted ARMM officials, if accounts are correct, while in position and influence, can still run for the positions to which they have been appointed, something which runs against the Spirit of the Constitution.

It is also being claimed by Noynoy that he wanted the postponement and replacement of the ARMM incumbents to initiate reforms in the electoral system as well as make the ARMM responsive to the needs of the poor in the region. But just what reforms can be effected in the ARMM by Noynoy’s appointees in less than two years?

To date, with Noynoy in Malacañang, there has been no effective reforms made by him and he has been in the presidential office for a year.

It has to be recalled that the reason a Philippine president only has six years in office with no reelection, was precisely to ensure that no president can again use the resources of government and his power and influence while running for a second term.

Yet the bill calls for Noynoy’s appointees being eligible to run for the elections in 2013, a situation which gives them that power and influence over the electoral system, in 2013.

What we disliked about the constitutional right of Ferdinand Marcos to run again and again for the presidency, we are going to have the same thing all over again and this time, introduced by Noynoy, who claims to have a loathing for Marcos and his dictatorship. So why is Noynoy following in Marcos’ footsteps?

And just who will be the appointed ARMM officials of Noynoy? His party mates to ensure the victory of the Liberal Party candidates?

And who is to be the appointed ARMM governor? A Christian and Noynoy’s leftist presidential adviser and ally Rolando Llamas? The MILF leaders who want power and position?

Funny, but Noynoy speaks of democracy and reform, yet he goes against the principles of democracy in the matter of the ARMM, because democracy is the system which gives the ARMM electorate the leaders of their choice, but Noynoy denies them that through this measure that gives him the power to appoint officials in the ARMM. That’s practically like doing a Marcos, especially during the martial law years, when he kicked out the elective officials and appointed his choices instead.

It is also the same thing that Cory Aquino, his mother, did, in the first year in office — and all on the claim that this was to be for the reforms of government. Incidentally, it was Cory who appointed Ampatuan Sr. OIC in that region.

There was never any reform effected. Neither will there be that reform Noynoy speaks about in the ARMM.

Frank Drilon, author of the ARMM postponement bill, claimed that Aquino’s power to appoint is a power vested in him by the Constitution.

What he does not say is that the presidential power to appoint refers only to appointees in the executive department, not anywhere else, which is why he and Noynoy’s allies now speak of “residual powers,” which certainly can be abused by any president, once this claimed “residual power” is upheld by the high court.

After all, if a president’s claimed residual powers can eject incumbent ARMM officials who even enjoy autonomy, what will stop that president from using his “residual powers” to eject local officials, such as mayors and governors then replace them with his appointees?

 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

Build a truly multi-ethnic nation

If the Rajapaksa regime is sincerely committed to the vision of building a new Sri Lanka from the blood and ashes of the war, then it must be a truly mult-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation where we see lasting unity in diversity. Like the human body or a flower garden, the beauty lies in the diversity where different communities work in different ways but with one common vision.

Regrettably at this year’s victory parade on May 27, though the main speakers proclaimed that the event united Sri Lanka as a Nation many observers and analysts noted that the scenes of May 2009 were not seen in the streets of Colombo. No crackers as such and certainly no kiributh.

Yet thankfully any division over the victory parade was not based on ethnic lines.  Even some from the majority community both the Sinhala people and Buddhists did not appreciate the manner in which victory day was celebrated, especially the heavy expenses at a time when millions of people are struggling to live. Several are the reasons. This event coming soon after this year’s special week-long Vesak celebrations which coincided with the 2600th anniversary of the enlightenment of the Buddha –  caused much inconvenience for the people. We saw traffic jams and the waste of expensive fuel on the roads. Public sector institutions and schools in the city were closed that day causing delays in urgent work.

Above all the Victory Day focused mainly on the war won by the security forces whereas those on the other side of the divide – the victims of the war  are still suffering in the Wanni. Another negative factor was that the man who led the war and was once described by government leaders as the best army commander in the world is languishing in the Welikada Jail and is being hauled to courts regularly though his health condition is known to be serious.

Those in the Wanni are wounded and hurting and they need help. Most analysts believe that if these people are not looked after in the Wanni, the Tamil Diaspora will continue to plague the Government of Sri Lanka. Independent analysts also say the government has to offer a genuine peace package. It must also not forget hundreds of thousands of people from minority communities are still in the country and are not part of the Diaspora. Therefore if the Rajapaksa regime is sincerely committed to nation-building the country must take on board all  people especially the hurt and wounded minorities. This calls for a paradigm shift from the euphoria of May 2009 and the celebrations in May 2010 and 2011. Otherwise there will be questions as to whether Sri Lanka is a united multi racial nation.

Such a state of affairs would not be good for sustainable economic development. Sadly some of the big development projects so far have been personal or family centered. Development does not appear to be for the whole country. Religious leaders have to come in to monitor nation-building and economic development.

Magnanimity in victory is essential for it to bear fruit and open the doors for a just and lasting peace.

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

Greening India

The National Mission for a Green India with a planned investment of $10.3 billion over the next 10 years can have a major developmental impact in more ways than one. Such a massive exercise can raise fresh natural capital that is so vital for the tens of millions of people who depend on degraded forests. It can meet the twin objectives of assigning forest land to tribal and other forest-dwelling communities to enable livelihoods, and relieving extractive pressures on core dense forests to aid conservation of wildlife and biodiversity. The overarching benefit to the environment will be in the form of carbon sequestration to combat climate change. The Ministry of Environment and Forests, which has grasped the imperative to balance these concerns, aims to add an impressive five million hectares of forest cover, and also improve the quality of forests over a similar area. The experience gained from the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes of the past will be invaluable. The JFM measures did not live up to their promise in most States and, in some cases, existed only on paper. In the main, they left forest communities feeling alienated. That nearly 40 per cent of open forest remains degraded today reinforces the need for a vastly improved management system.
A central role for local communities in forest restoration and expansion is envisaged under the new plan. This can help correct the historical imbalance in their role in managing the commons. It must be emphasised, however, that the whole exercise needs to be rooted in scientific practices. Several dedicated young scientists have been working in degraded areas of the Western Ghats to re-introduce endemic plants. These conservation groves, often sitting cheek-by-jowl with plantations and habitations, shelter a lot of endangered animals and birds. This shows that many more eroded ecosystems can harbour the biodiversity that is under pressure. The potential to expand horticulture in these sites, including disused mines, through fruit tree cultivation is worth exploring. Local communities can also be involved in the campaign to control invasive plant species that have been unthinkingly introduced into the environment. These plants suppress indigenous varieties and have overrun vast tracts of forests, reducing their productivity. Overall, the Green India plan, which is expected to provide a higher forest-based livelihood income to three million households, is significant for its attempt to give people a central role in restoring forest health. The legacy of mistrust between the Forest departments and tribal communities must give way to a joint management framework that is grounded in good conservation science.


Inconclusive exit in Yemen

After months of dodging promises to step down, President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has exited — in a somewhat unexpected manner — after being wounded in rocket fire by opposition forces targeting the presidential palace in Sana'a. While his departure has led to rejoicing in Yemen, the next steps in a volatile country where al- Qaeda is feared to have a significant presence are far from clear. From January 2011, anti-government street protests put increasing pressure on Mr. Saleh to remit office. It is unlikely that the Yemen strongman, who ruled for 33 years beginning as the President of North Yemen in 1978, will return to his country from Saudi Arabia where he was flown for treatment of his wounds. Even if he overcomes his injuries, Saudi Arabia, which shares a border with Yemen and is nervous that the protests in its neighbourhood may spread to its soil if not ended swiftly, will do everything to prevent his return. An indication of this came with the Saudi regime joining the United States in the call for the swift implementation of a Gulf Cooperation Council plan for a transition in Yemen. The GCC plan envisages Mr. Saleh's resignation in return for immunity for himself and his family members, and a caretaker government that will hold parliamentary elections within 90 days. Three times he accepted the plan only to change his mind at the last minute, setting his forces on the protesters, raising the spectre of a civil war as Yemen's fractious tribes joined the fighting on both sides. It may be easier now to persuade him to sign on the dotted line. Indeed, the first step in the plan, handing over the reins of government to the Vice-President, has already been accomplished with his exit. But Mr. Saleh's family members remain in charge, with control of the intelligence service and the Army. Making them cede power peacefully may not be easy.
In these circumstances, a democratic election is hardly in sight. Unlike in other countries touched by the “jasmine revolution,” the mass protests in Yemen do seem to have an identifiable leadership. Initially propelled by youth and ordinary people, the movement could not have survived six months but for the backing of an important opposition leader from a rival tribe, Hamid Al Ahmar, a telecom tycoon who is said to have funded the protests. His brothers are also key figures in the movement. An important military general also defected and has claimed to support the protests. What is of concern here is that their opposition to the Saleh regime is based more on tribal and personal rivalries than on any commitment to democratic values. If Yemen is at the cusp of real change, it is as yet hard to see.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

             

 

PM's open door on CTG

Opposition must reciprocate gesture

The intensity with which both the ruling party and the opposition are focused on the caretaker government issue says something about their attitudes to the problem. The prime minister has in these past few days been reiterating her position that the door is open for negotiations between the government and the opposition on the ways and means of arriving at a solution. It is certainly appreciable that Sheikh Hasina has now assured the opposition that no one-sided solution will be imposed. Her invitation to the BNP to return to the Jatiyo Sangsad and present its own formula towards finding a way out of the crisis is perfectly in order for the simple reason that at this critical moment both sides need to reach a compromise in the larger interest of our future.

The BNP, which has already observed a hartal on the caretaker issue, is keen that the system should stay in place. The Supreme Court has already spelt out, that the next two elections may be held under caretaker arrangements. However, given that the SC has also made known its reservations about judges being part of the caretaker government, it is extremely important that the BNP join the ruling Awami League on the format of the next caretaker administration or two. The BNP is in opposition and has been vocal about its opposition to any scrapping of the system. But politics is also about coming up with alternatives, in all their substance and formality. Since the BNP has a significant presence in parliament, it remains its responsibility to present its own formula in the JS and engage in a meaningful debate with the ruling party over it. The prime minister's flexibility is an opportunity the opposition ought not to miss.

Begum Khaleda Zia has reportedly asked for formal communication from the government on the latter's proposals vis-à-vis a solution. The government, in light of the prime minister's recent pronouncements on the issue, can surely oblige the opposition here. For the BNP, the important thing is to acknowledge the primacy of Parliament rather than a deliberate ignoring of it. Let it return to the JS and test the sincerity of the ruling party.

Protecting whistleblowers

Law by itself not enough

The parliament has passed a bill titled Public Interest Related Information Disclosure (Protection) Act, 2011. Although enacted by a voice vote, hopefully, all clauses of the bill have been carefully crafted to make the law into a user-friendly piece of legislation. That is where the law's efficacy will be tested in the first place. So, the enactment of the law, though highly welcome as catering to a long-felt need, may not be enough by itself.

It will have to be accompanied and underpinned by awareness-building among the public about the law, procedure for disclosure and mechanism whereby a protective umbrella will be cast around a person or persons volunteering disclosures.

Where genuine witnesses shrivel from helping prosecution build up its case or where prosecution depends on procured or so-called professional witnesses encouraging whistleblowers to come out of their shells is not going to be an easy job.

This is not being cynical but merely pointing at the challenges of implementation which require to be met in order to derive optimal benefit from the law. Yes, the majority of the citizens being victims of wrongdoing by a miniscule minority have an inherent motivation to spill the beans for common social good. They abhor corruption, abuse of power and poor delivery of public services while keeping lot of leads and incriminating information close to their chest for fear of stirring the hornet's nest or outright reprisal. If they are assured of protection of their lives and limbs or against any harm-doing in concrete visible terms, there is no reason why they would not come forward with information of any foul play. The latter may not directly relate to them yet it afflicts the society. More than provision for incentives we need providing an infrastructure for protection.

The law will have the best chance of implementation if people can be motivated at the community, NGO and local body levels to volunteer information.