EDITORIAL : THE CHINA DAILY, CHINA

 

Celebrate Party democracy

The development of intra-Party democracy epitomizes the road the CPC has taken over the past 90 years, from a fledgling political entity to the world's largest ruling political force.

Of all the things that have made this Party increasingly stronger and healthier, intra-Party democracy is the most worthy of mentioning, particularly during the past three decades.

Democratic centralism has been consecrated as the basic principle for decision-making within the Party. Yet, there was a time when too much centralized power in the hands of individuals in the CPC history led to major mistakes which had adversely affected the country's social and economic development.

To be honest, the CPC has been constantly promoting intra-Party democracy in various ways, as top leaders from Deng Xiaoping to Hu Jintao have realized how important democracy within the Party is if it is to continually improve its governing capability. "We will expand intra-Party democracy to develop people's democracy and increase intra-Party harmony to promote social harmony," said Hu Jintao at the opening of the 17th National Congress of the CPC in 2007.

Deng Xiaoping, architect of China's economic reform and opening-up, set a good example by retiring from both his Party and government posts and setting up a retirement system for top leaders in the early 1980s.

This was followed by the introduction of ways to democratically select officials within the Party, methods to increase the number of candidates for certain positions, the public or democratic recommendation of candidates and direct election of Party committees at village level and now township level on a trial basis in some parts of the country.

The sixteenth National Congress of the CPC in 2002 pointed out that intra-Party democracy was the lifeblood of the Party. And it was further emphasized as a prerequisite for increasing the Party's vitality at the 17th National Congress of the CPC in 2007. Yet, its importance to the future of the CPC and the nation is yet to be fully realized despite the achievements that have been made in recent years.

Further efforts need to be made to bring home the awareness among CPC members that economic growth alone will not bring about long-term stability and prosperity unless intra-Party democracy is further developed to really integrate the interests of the Party and the people. That is the most solid base for sustainable development and political stability.

This is because more intra-Party democracy will be conducive to collective decision-making, tighter supervision over the exercise of power and thereby better coordination between the Party and the public.

Last but not the least, the building of institutions and mechanisms for intra-Party democracy is of vital importance if the Party is to retain its historical vitality and lead the nation and its people to further prosperity.

Calming troubled waters

A political storm continues to gather over the South China Sea issue despite China's restraint and efforts to bring the disputes under control.

No sooner had Beijing and Hanoi sent a positive signal on Sunday that they were easing their tensions over the maritime territory, than the Philippines and the United States made a reckless move to escalate the situation.

The two launched a naval exercise on Tuesday close to the disputed waters. Both sides emphasized it was an annual event aimed at deepening their defense ties. But given the simmering territorial row, their show of force has inevitably raised the temperature and does a disservice to attempts to find a peaceful solution.

Given that Philippine President Benigno Aquino earlier this month called for US help in containing China over the South China Sea issue, Manila will regard the joint exercise as a sign of US support, which will no doubt fuel its infatuation with some islands in the South China Sea.

At the same time, in a blatant move to meddle in the issue, the US Senate approved a nonbinding resolution on Monday that deplored the so-called use of force by China against Vietnamese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea.

China has made clear on many occasions that it has not instigated the current round of tensions in the disputed seas and the US Senate's criticism is ill-founded and only testifies to Washington's growing desire to become more involved in Asia affairs.

This interference from non-claimant countries runs counter to the regional consensus that the South China Sea issue should be solved at the bilateral level and through peaceful negotiations. Worse, it will aggravate dissension and tensions in the region.

Despite Washington's claim that it has a national interest in these troubled waters, it will not go too far over the issue. A direct conflict with Beijing over the dispute would jeopardize its interests in the region and the world at large. As a result, countries like the Philippines are being pushed to the forefront and will eat the bitter fruit in the end.

It should be made clear that China's legitimate right over the entire South China Sea is indisputable. Its sovereignty over the maritime territory is in full conformity with international laws.

History shows that among countries adjacent to the South China Sea, China is the only nation that has exercised continuous, meticulous and effective jurisdiction over the maritime territory.

Disputes over the seas did not break out until the 1970s and have since been driven by some claimant parties' political and economic ambitions.

The disputes should be resolved by the claimant parties themselves through peaceful means. Outside interference will only exacerbate frictions in the region.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

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Diplo-muts drag Lanka towards disaster   Since the non-violent people power revolution of 1956 brought the S.W.R.D Bandaranaike government to office, the bedrock and cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy has been the hallowed, time tested principle of non-alignment. Successive governments of both the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United National Party essentially followed this policy, though we saw tilts to the socialist east block during the Sirimavo Bandaranaike era and to the capitalist western block during the J.R. Jayewardene era when Sri Lanka adapted the globolised capitalist market economy policy for which the people are still paying a terrible price. S.W.R.D Bandaranaike said non-alignment was not just a passive fence-sitting attitude or approach to international affairs but a commitment to the hilt – a commitment to dialogue and accommodation in conflict resolution and to a more equitable distribution of the world’s wealth and resources. Political giants like Yugoslavias Jozef Tito, Egypts Gamal Abdul Nasser and Cubas Fidel Castro played a major role in building and consolidating the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). For Sri Lanka the high point came in 1976 when the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government hosted in Colombo the summit of the 102 nation NAM. In recent months, especially in the aftermath of the report of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s panel of experts who probed alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksa Regime appears to be in a foreign policy muddle and drifting away if not damning NAM. Two weeks ago – amidst increasing pressure from the United States, the European Union and even India for the setting up of an international independent court to probe alleged genocide here – President Mahinda Rajapakse visited St. Petersburg in Russia to attend a summit of what appears to be a new Sino-Russian political and economic bloc. While the west and India are often known to play double games or treble games to achieve their own geo-political and economic agendas, the role of China, Russia and other countries may also be the same. The difference is that despite all the deception and double standards in the west, the principals of democracy are kept alive through checks and balances among the executive, the legislature and the judiciary with good governance, transparency and accountability ensured to  a large extent by a vibrant free media. This is not the case in China and Russia. Trade and exports are vital in developing a new Sri Lanka and 90 percent of our trade and exports are with the west and India. The government is also relying heavily on a tourism boom and it must be aware that last year only about 15,000 tourists came from Russia and China while as many as 150,000 came from the U.S and E.U countries. Instead of taking reactive decisions which have dangerous long-term consequences the government needs to work out a clear-cut foreign policy and remain on the middle path of non-alignment.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

      

 

Cabinet changes do littleto help disaster recovery

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has finally clarified his hitherto vague "conditions" for resigning his post.

At a press conference on Monday, he said he is ready to step down after securing Diet passage of the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, as well as passage of two bills. One bill concerns special measures to promote renewable energy--by obliging utilities to buy electricity generated by renewable means--and the other bill would enable the government to issue deficit-covering bonds.

But it is questionable that Kan will be able to get these bills passed without a hitch. He would have to unite the government and the ruling parties under the new Cabinet lineup he has just decided on, while also winning the cooperation of opposition parties.

Kan must not let the political vacuum or policy paralysis drag on any longer. We once again call for Kan to quit soon.

In the process of making the slight change to his Cabinet lineup, Kan made a tentative overture to Shizuka Kamei, leader of the People's New Party, a junior partner to the DPJ in the ruling camp, to become deputy prime minister. By bringing Kamei, who had opposed the idea of Kan's resigning, into the Cabinet, Kan probably hoped to reinforce the foundation of his administration.

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Barely holding it together

But Kamei has been at odds with the leadership of the Democratic Party of Japan, which Kan heads, over key policies, as he opposes a hike in the consumption tax rate. It is hardly likely that a united front of the government and the ruling parties will be built.

In the end, Kamei declined the offer but instead agreed to become a special adviser to Kan. It can be said, however, that the latest appointment only ended up exposing the decline in Kan's leadership and the political confusion in the last days of his administration.

Meanwhile, Kan appointed Kazuyuki Hamada, a Liberal Democratic Party member in the House of Councillors, as parliamentary secretary for internal affairs and communications. As it looked as if he were trying to win over members of the main opposition party one at time, this also created a stir.

The LDP has been much offended, with some members calling Kan's appointment of Hamada a direct challenge to the efforts to form a consensus between the ruling and opposition parties.

Such a move would only bring about a contrary effect at a time when the ruling camp badly needs to cooperate with the opposition parties.

As part of a new system to tackle post-disaster reconstruction, Kan also named Ryu Matsumoto to the new post of minister in charge of reconstruction, the linchpin of the reconstruction implementation headquarters. Matsumoto is to serve concurrently as state minister for disaster management.

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Get to work on reconstruction

Meanwhile, Kan also appointed Goshi Hosono, his special adviser, as state minister in charge of dealing with the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

It is undeniable that the appointment came too late, as 3-1/2 months have already passed since the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.

The reconstruction implementation headquarters must make up for the delays in reconstruction efforts as soon as possible, in what little time is left before Kan steps down.

One of the important tasks Matsumoto faces is to improve communications between the central government and disaster-affected local governments, which have had a strained relationship recently, to come up with effective reconstruction measures.

It is also necessary for the central government to present a road map for reconstruction soon, to help local governments determine what should be done first.

Hosono has to bring the nuclear crisis under control as soon as possible by cooperating closely with Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the troubled plant.

We hope Hosono will soon compile what Kan calls an outline for preventing a nuclear accident from recurring.

Draw up effective steps to deal with gigantic tsunami

The Yomiuri Shimbun

How should lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake be used for future disaster response measures? An expert panel of the Central Disaster Management Council, an advisory body of the Cabinet Office, has put together a package of recommendations that call for the central and local governments to overhaul their assumptions about future tsunami.

The size of the tsunami triggered by the March 11 earthquake--and the destruction it caused--was far beyond what governments over the years had expected. The number of victims and the extent of damage were greater than had been assumed because many people could not evacuate in time.

The panel quite rightly acknowledged that the danger of tsunami had been underestimated. The central and local governments need to map out practical tsunami countermeasures as quickly as possible.

In its interim report on tsunami countermeasures, the panel calls for past tsunami to be examined in detail to help calculate the heights of future tsunami and anticipate which areas they will hit.

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Ancient data disregarded

In concrete terms, the panel recommends analyzing ancient documents that mention tsunami and digging along coastlines to search for traces of earlier tsunami. If the results of this work suggest that another huge tsunami could strike this nation's shores, the report proposes strengthening countermeasures in areas likely to be affected.

Until now, countermeasures had been based on experts' assumptions about the possible size of tsunami. Little attention was paid to ancient documents and other data because they provided few specifics.

Conventional defenses prepared for the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes--which are thought to be very likely to occur--were based on the assumption that the quakes would happen separately. But studying past documents and other data has raised concern that the three earthquakes could happen together. If they struck at once, tsunami taller than what has hitherto been predicted would hit various parts of the country, according to a research report.

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Review past assumptions

The government must quickly reexamine assumptions about tsunami in these areas. Many local governments feel anxiety about the current assumptions and countermeasures made based on them.

The report proposes two types of countermeasures depending on the size of tsunami, which are classified as either "gigantic tsunami" that are assumed to occur once in 1,000 years or "great tsunami" that happen every 50 to 150 years.

Gigantic tsunami cannot be dealt with by civil engineering measures alone, such as seawalls. Placing greater emphasis on having residents quickly evacuate, the report calls for constructing evacuation buildings that can withstand tsunami in coastal areas. The panel said these efforts need to involve both "hardware" and "software."

Almost all the students at primary and middle schools in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, safely escaped the March 11 tsunami. Their disaster response education, including evacuation drills, proved its worth. Their escape has even been touted as "the miracle of Kamaishi."

The report says conventional "hardware" measures against "great tsunami" that mainly involved constructing seawalls have had some effect and will be continuously expanded.

Nonetheless, these measures require a huge amount of money. The central and local governments must use their ingenuity to prioritize countermeasures and make them as effective as possible.

EDITORIAL : THE HINDU, INDIA

The CAG's mandate

As auditor to a nation whose institutions of oversight are weak and underdeveloped, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India is more than just the keeper of our national accounts. It is, in many ways, a conscience-keeper and a watchdog, which may not bite but can bark and warn ordinary citizens that something is amiss in the wider affairs of state. Like the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, the CAG has managed to protect its integrity and independence despite pressure from various arms of the state. If conducted freely and fairly, a robust audit can serve as a catalyst for corrective action. The CAG's report on Bofors in 1989 had major political consequences. Its explosive 2010 report on the allocation of 2G spectrum led to the filing of criminal charges against politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen. Other reports may have had a less dramatic political impact but they have been equally useful. The CAG's observations may be politically embarrassing to the government but they clearly contribute to the public good. Democratic India must ensure that the government takes the work of this constitutionally sanctioned institution very seriously and removes the obstacles placed in the path of a more effective and efficient audit process.

Aware of the limitations of its mandate, the CAG has asked the United Progressive Alliance government to make three broad amendments in the 1971 Audit Act, which governs the functioning of the audit authorities. The first amendment is intended to ensure that government departments reply to audit enquiries in 30 days rather than in the open-ended manner as now. Secondly, the CAG wants the statute to stipulate a clear timeframe for the tabling of completed audit reports on the floor of the relevant legislature. The Act, as it stands today, gives the Central and State governments wide latitude in this regard and it is hardly surprising that this freedom has been abused to delay making public the audit reports that contain embarrassing observations. The third set of proposed amendments is aimed at bringing the CAG's legal mandate up to speed with the changes that have taken place in the way public money is spent. Since the 1971 Act was passed, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution have been adopted, adding a layer of decentralised governance — and hence expenditure management — to the institutions of the state. Liberalisation has meant public money is increasingly utilised in joint ventures and public-private partnerships. Because of ambiguities in its mandate, the CAG feels unable adequately to audit this vast area of public economic activity. The government should deal with the call for a modernised Audit Act proactively.

Give Palestine its due

Palestinians have yet again been denied their due. The recently concluded session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee rejected the first-ever Palestinian nomination. While it considered proposals from six West Asian countries, it overlooked Palestine's proposal to include the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one the oldest functioning churches, in the world heritage list. The proposal was rejected not on merits, but because UNESCO did not consider Palestine a sovereign state. Getting world heritage status has been critical to improving the protection of heritage sites. In 2002, the Israeli forces besieged and damaged parts of the Church of the Nativity, which is more than 1500 years old and a site of importance for Muslims as well. In 2005, experts listed many more instances of wanton destruction. For example, the Israeli Military Command destroyed 22 historic structures in the old city of Hebron, and permanent structures were built atop the archaeological site of Tell Rumeida. As recently as in 2010, instances of illegitimate appropriation of Palestinian monuments were reported. The hope was that a formal international recognition would serve as an additional deterrent and help Palestinians in nation-building.

Realising the urgent need to protect the cultural sites, UNESCO started training Palestinians to identify important heritage structures and implement the World Heritage Convention. In 2005, a list of 17 monuments located in historic cities such as Bethlehem and Nablus was published. Unfortunately, when it came to the critical phase of nomination, UNESCO, which might plead its hands are tied by convention and the limitations of international law, failed to demonstrate the innovativeness and progressive spirit expected of it. It needs to revisit the founding moments of the World Heritage movement. About 50 years ago, the world came together to save Abu Simbel. Collective concern and gravity of the situation compelled the international community to act creatively and boldly. UNESCO demonstrated some of these traits in 1981, when it overruled Israel's objection and accepted Jordan's proposal to nominate the old city of Jerusalem and its walls for the world heritage list. The reality is that many of the identified heritage sites are in areas administered by the Palestinian National Authority, which is an internationally accepted representative of the Palestinians, and the formation of Palestine State is inevitable. There is no convincing reason to further deny Palestine heritage sites the protection and recognition they deserve and urgently need.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

ICC warrant against Gaddafi

Stalemate deepens in Libya

The warrants of arrest issued against Col. Muammar Gaddafi, his son and his intelligence chief by the International Criminal Court raise two very important concerns. In the first place, how does the ICC follow through on its move since the Libyan leader is yet in charge in Tripoli and predictably will not give himself up? In the second, the ICC warrant creates a condition from which there is now a point of no return, either for Gaddafi or his pursuers. The stalemate which has lately seized Libya will now be prolonged, with a desperate regime ferociously trying to cling to power.

There is little question that Gaddafi and his associates are guilty of presiding over the widespread violence that has claimed the lives of thousands of Libyans in these past few months. Gaddafi, whose loyalists have been defecting in droves, ought to have followed the course taken by Tunisia's Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak. He did not. That complicated the situation, which was then made worse by NATO's move to bomb Libya in support of anti-Gaddafi forces. In a sense, both Gaddafi's desperation and NATO's increasing involvement in Libya have created a civil war-like situation, if not exactly a civil war. Sorties by NATO jets have left unarmed civilians dead. At the same time, with the rebels in control of Benghazi and Gaddafi forces holding on to Tripoli, it is in effect a fractured Libya the world faces today. Nothing could be worse for a people whose simple demand is for a decent change in politics.

The question now is whether the ICC can carry out the job of actually arresting Gaddafi. Its previous warrant against Sudan's Omar el Bashir failed to nab Khartoum's dictator. Given the new situation vis-à-vis Libya, one wonders if the African Union, in the formation of which the Libyan leader played a prominent part, can now have a role in defusing the crisis by persuading Gaddafi to relinquish power. Obviously, Gaddafi's refusal to go will leave his country battered beyond imagination. The regional as also global repercussions of the situation can easily be surmised.

Local poll violence

Sporadic, yet why?

The country is approaching the final phase of local polls. People with hopes and aspirations are casting ballots in various unions of the country to choose their representatives. While we take pride in the election processes at the grassroots, we can't help feel sad about the violence that has marred these elections in certain pockets.

So far 19 people have been killed and scores injured at various places since the second phase of polling started on May 31. On an average, everyday fifty persons are wounded in poll related clashes. Violence mainly takes place after the polls are held or when the vote counting is on.

Usually local government polls are given to a degree of violence because of clash of interests between localized groups. But clearly the level of violence is already a matter of concern and must be addressed with due seriousness.

In most of the places, generally Awami League backed candidates who are defeated in the polls allegedly resort to violence. Curiously, one person has died following a clash between two losing AL backed candidates.

The perturbing part is, the nature and intensity of violence is getting bigger. From stray incidents these are fairly spread out now. The incidents are put down to lack of vigil and control of the local law enforcing agencies.

It is time, the Elections Commission, local administration and law enforcing agencies; devise effective methods to prevent violence occurring by timely intervention. The most important part however would have to be played by the political parties to discourage violence by the candidates they support.

We must try and guard against violence in the forthcoming phase of local polls which ends on July 5.