|
Leading
News
EC-AL Dialogue
Taib Ahmed
The Election Commission (EC)
on Monday announced that the cases which will be pending
in courts ranging from lower court to Supreme Court will
not bar the politicians from participating in the
elections.
"Until and unless the cases are disposed of, any body can
take part in the election," said Election Commissioner
Muhammad Sohul Hussein during the second round of EC-Awami
League talks held at the EC secretariat yesterday.
In response to the AL demand for allowing politicians
accused in cases to take part in the polls until the trial
process is completed including the appeal process, Sohul,
a former judge, sitting next to the Chief Election
Commissioner said, "Appeal is a continuation of the trial
process and the politicians accused in cases under the
existing laws of land would not be barred from
participating in the polls until the cases are disposed of
finally."
However, Awami League presidium member Tofayel Ahmed, who
read out the AL’s proposals, said, "We are still not free
from the apprehension. We are requesting you not to enact
such a law that bar the politicians accused in cases which
will be pending even under the Emergency Power Rule (EPR)."
AL acting President Zillur Rahman kicked off the dialogue
voicing doubt over holding the election on time. "The way
the EC is undertaking heavy tasks, we are worried and
doubtful whether it will be able to hold the election in
line with its announced road map," Zillur told the
commission and hastened to add, "The election can never be
held under the state of emergency. So steps will have to
be taken to withdraw the emergency immediately for
creating an election-friendly environment. Moreover there
is no such environment in the country that the emergency
should be continued further."
Zillur demanded a possible election schedule specifying
the poll date to dispel the confusion and said, "The EC
will have to consider holding the national polls as its
first and foremost tasks giving up the plan of holding
local elections and carrying out delimitation of
constituencies." Zillur also emphasized the need for
holding government-sponsored dialogue.
Speaking after Zillur, the CEC, ATM Shamsul Huda, said,
"The Chief Adviser is possibly planning to hold talks with
parties soon after the completion of our dialogue."
About AL’s doubt over the election, the CEC said, "We do
not know why the people are expressing doubt. You see,
there is no existence of the Election Commission without
election. Do or die …we have to hold the election by
December this year as we are pledge-bound to the nation
and we do not want to be national traitors. We think the
only way to ascend power is through election. As far as we
are concerned we would not deviate from our announced road
map."
Referring to the withdrawal of the state of emergency,
Huda said, "During our talks with the Chief Adviser, we
asked them to create a congenial atmosphere for
implementing reforms in the party by lifting the ban on
indoor politics across the country." AL also gave some
proposals that the EC should not repeal the Representation
of People Order-1972 (RPO-1972), rather the new electoral
laws will have to be incorporated through amending it; the
war criminals and the religious political parties should
not be allowed to be registered with the EC.
Awami League also held the Election Commission responsible
for creating complexities as regards holding dialogue with
the BNP and urged it to solve the problems without any
further delay to pave the way for holding a contested
election.
"It is the EC which is responsible for the complexities
and the EC will have to take initiatives to solve the
problems as solution to the problem lies in your (Election
Commissioners) hands," Tofayel Ahmed said adding, "If the
EC does not take immediate steps to solve the problem, the
people of country might think that the EC has invited a
splinter faction of BNP in a bid to delay the election
process." He expressed his concerned saying, "We are
worried to some extent with some recent statements of the
CEC and election commissioner Sohul Hossein. The CEC said
Election Commission’s dialogues with the political parties
will not be adjudged as complete or credible if the BNP is
left out of the process and Sohul Hossein said that the
election process might be thwarted if the dialogue with
BNP is held."
Earlier, the EC held talks with Communist Party of
Bangladesh and later it discussed the proposed electoral
laws with the Jatiya Party.
AL to nominate bonafide candidates
Sahidul Islam Rana
In a bid to nominate clean,
qualified and bonafide candidates for the upcoming general
election, Awami League will give importance and emphasis
on the opinions and suggestions of grassroots-level
leaders and activists of the party.
Competent sources said, AL has already launched searching
for genuine, dedicated, experienced and bonafide
candidates across the country.
In the changed circumstances, the bonafide leaders - who
have been working for the party for a long with utmost
sincerity and honesty but they were not evaluated properly
due to some unexpected interferences of some influential
partymen under the shelter of the topmost High Command -
will be given importance, said a former AL minister
preferring anonymity. Talking to The Bangladesh Today, the
central AL leader said, "In the AL Constitution, it was
directed that the wards, unions and thana committees in
each Constituency would be able to select the bonafide and
charismatic party leader or leaders for the nomination for
the parliamentary election, but it was not followed
properly earlier.""The possible names of the MP candidates
selected by the roots-level committee will be placed
before the AL Parliamentary Board, consisting of mostly
the presidium members for final approval," he added.
There is a widespread allegation that a few people,
including some relations of the former premier also took
huge amount of money in the name of giving tickets for the
parliamentary election, scheduled to be held on January
22, last year.
The AL chief was allegedly surrounded by a vested quarter
who used to serve their narrow personal interest using the
name of Sudha Sadan rather than party interest.
A party insider said, "AL had to face such ‘worst’
situation due to some malpractices."
"If bonafide party leaders are nominated in a democratic
way and a free, fair and credible election is held, a good
number of new faces, mostly former students leaders, will
come up in the upcoming parliament, " he hoped.
Besides, the rank and file of AL are very adamant about
the selection of genuine party leaders for the next
election rather than the non-political men, former
bureaucrats and ex-government officials, said different
sources of the party.
Referring to the party’s work, AL presidium member Tofael
Ahmed said, "AL has started working at the district-level
to mobilize public support so that the AL can ensure its
victory in next election." The veteran AL leader said,
"The Father of Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
always evaluated the dedicated and honest party leaders. I
was elected Member of National Assembly (MNA) in my young
age." "AL always evaluates bonafide, honest and energetic
leadership," he added.
Country’s sovereignty at risk: Ibrahim
Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh Kallayn Party Chairman Major General Syed
Mohamad Ibrahim (Retd) on Monday said country’s
sovereignty is at risk due to frequent interference by the
foreign agencies in its foreign and home affairs and other
development programmes.
"Since independence, different political and military
governments continued to encourage foreign countries to
interfere in the internal affairs of the country. But from
right now we will have to be aware about the activities of
the foreign countries. We should not give them chance to
poke into our internal affairs including political,
economical and other development programme," Mohamad
Ibrahim said at a discussion on Amar Ekhushey held at the
National Press Club yesterday.
He blamed the country’s political parties’ leaders for
inviting foreign countries and involving them in our
internal affairs.
"We should stop such practice in a bid to strengthen our
democracy and sovereignty. We hope our political leaders
will consider the issue and won’t seek help or suggestion
for our domestic affairs from foreigners. Simultaneously,
we will have to make the foreigners understand that they
should not interfere in our matters. Otherwise, observance
of Victory Day, Independence Day and Amar Ekush, would not
bring any good for us," Bangladesh Kallayn Party Chairman
said.
Mohamad Ibrahim said following massive involvement in
corruption by the political leaders, people now don’t
trust them.
"If political leaders are involved in widespread
corruption, they lose their character, as a result people
don’t accept them. Good governance and a courageous and
honest leadership is needed to overcome the present
situation. We are marching towards with our mission and
vision to build up a happy and prosperous nation and to
get rid of poverty and economic recession," Ibrahim said.
He also declared a partial executive committee of the
party where SM Abul Kalam Azad is secretary general while
Syed Ashraf Hossain, Mohammad Elias, Tusar Kanti Barua,
Fazlul Haque, Yusuf Chowdhury and Shafiqul Hamid are Vice
-Chairmen.
Hasina verdict
SC security tight as hearing begins
BDNEWS24, Dhaka
Security measures at the
Supreme Court were beefed up on Monday as it began hearing
the government's leave to appeal against the High Court's
dismissal of an extortion case against Sheikh Hasina.
A six-member full bench of the Appellate Division headed
by the Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin started proceedings at
9.30 am.
A number of AL supporters were seen thronging the area
outside the main entrance to the court premises, but they
were not allowed inside. The court had earlier deferred
the hearing scheduled for Feb 19, till Monday.
The government filed the leave to appeal against the
cancellation of the case on Feb 18. Hasina's lawyers
immediately petitioned the court to postpone any hearing
on the leave to appeal. On Feb 6, the HC dismissed the
extortion case filed by Azam J Chowdhury against Hasina,
after ruling illegal its inclusion under EPR.
Additional attorney general Salahuddin Ahmed, acting for
the government, said in court Monday: "The government
approved inclusion of the case filed against Sheikh Hasina
under emergency powers rules, considering its merit as a
case of public importance." "The High Court's verdict
quashing the case contradicts the spirit of the
appellant's submission."
"The emergency powers rules were promulgated to curb
corruption and punish the corrupt."
"The graft cases detected and filed during the emergency
should be tried now, as trial of such cases will not be
possible once the emergency is lifted," he said.
Businessman Azam J Chowdhury filed the Tk 3 crore
extortion case against Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Selim with
Gulshan police on June 13, 2007. The case details said the
accused received a total of Tk 2.99 crore from the
litigant in 2001 in exchange for illegally awarding a
contract to build Siddhirganj Power Station.
Hasina was arrested on July 16, 2007. She was shown
arrested in the case later the same day after inclusion of
the case proceedings under EPR.
Beggars are restrained
Ainul Haque Royal
Despite the massive drive
launched by the law enforcing agencies against various
criminal activities, a section of dishonest policemen, in
association with the local extortionists, are collecting
tolls from the beggars in the capital.
The unlawful activities are being committed especially in
the city’s Mirpur, Pallabi, Shyamoli, Gabtoli Bus
Terminal, Farmgate, New Market, Science Laboratory
Crossing, Gulshan, Gulistan, Paltan and Motijheel areas
under the vary nose of police.
By illegally occupying the city footpaths, several
thousands of street beggars are begging for alms through
adopting different kinds of tactics like chanting zikir,
reciting the Holy Quran and uttering various types of
unusual sounds to attract the passers-by.
While begging at Farmgate, a street beggar, Noor Mohammed,
48, of Noakhali district said "When I was four years old,
I had met in a tragic train accident at Tejgaon Crossing.
The accident did not take my life but took away my right
leg. Since the incident, I have been begging for 40 years
on the street to earn my livelihood. Once I had to pay Tk
50 per day as toll to local extortionists but now-a-days
they demand Tk 1500 per week. If I fail to fulfill their
demand, they beat me up mercilessly and do not allow me to
sit on the footpath."
According to sources, the members of an organised gang are
collecting the impaired children from different parts of
the country and inject them with different drugs to make
them weak. They not only use drugs to have control over
the child but also cut their hands, legs and burn
different parts of their bodies so that the pedestrians
give them alms. Later, they set up them in front of
Schools, Offices or Corporate Bhaban and at the entrance
point of Under Pass or over bridge and busy transit
points.
There are at least 75,000 beggars in the capital and
several 'organised gangs' manage and oversee their
activities, beggars from different parts of the city told
this correspondent. This correspondent interviewed several
beggars who claimed themselves as members of the
associations. They said they have their central
organisation at Fakirapul.
The beggars said a man who runs a travel agency at
Fakirapul is the 'central leader' of these associations,
but they could not provide his address or any other
information about him. The associations operate throughout
the city by splitting Dhaka into different zones and each
zone is overseen by a leader. These leaders also appoint
'assistants' for the different neighbourhoods within that
zone.
According to several beggars, it is mandatory for them to
be a member of any association by paying a registration
fee of around Tk 300 to Tk 500. Those who beg on the
streets without paying the fee are ousted by other beggars
and the association leaders. Ali said the association
provides them with loan from its fund and they have to
repay it along with daily deposit to the association. The
beggar 'leaders' fix schedules for the beggars and deploy
them to beg in specific areas. "The ‘mahajans’ decide who
will beg when and where," said Ali.
The beggars said their leaders take away a portion of
their daily earnings in return for their services to
protect them. According to Sikhdar, several groups of toll
collectors from the associations visit all the beggars in
the evening every day and collect the daily deposits of
the beggars. "The on-duty police officers and local
hooligans also get a portion of the collected alms," he
said. "The handicapped beggars are provided with vehicles
and pullers while the visually impaired ones are given
white canes and helpers to assist them," said a beggar at
Farmgate.
Back Page
CRPA to be
ordained to ensure consumer rights
Staff Correspondent
Industries Affairs Special
Assistant to Chief Adviser Mahbub Jamil said the
Government would enact the Consumers Rights Protection Act
by the next month to ensure consumer rights. "The
enactment of Consumers Rights Protection Act is on
progress, it would be promulgated within 15 days through
an ordinance," said the Industries Affairs Special
Assistant. Mahbub Jamil disclosed this while speaking as
Chief Guest at a roundtable on ' High prices of Steel and
MS Rod : Steadiness of Development Works' organized by the
Media Foundation for Trade and Development at the National
Press Club with eminent journalist, Sadek Khan in the
Chair.
He also said, "As the fuel price including petrol has
increased to a great extent on the international market,
so the Government needs to increase the price of petrol
and diesel. The fuel price in India is higher than that of
Bangladesh. So, every day a huge amount of imported fuel
is being smuggled to the neighbouring country." Jamil said
the Government could not implement its Annual Development
Programmes (ADP) due to financial crisis. But it has to
give a big amount of subsidy in fuel sector. About the
price hike of essentials, he said, "the businessmen often
make extra profit through market manipulation. It seems to
me that they do not have any responsibility to the people
of the country and even if the Government give them
opportunity to import a particular item at zero tariff, it
was observed that they never reduce the price of that
specific commodity."
NBR Chairman Abdul Majid said keeping the next budget in
mind, the NBR has already asked all professionals to give
their proposals regarding revenue earning and it would
hold meetings with the entrepreneurs of different sectors
from March next. He suggested the businessmen to form a
working group to strengthen coordination among them. Majid
said, "There is lack of coordination between legislators
and the people working at the field levels, so the
policymakers should maintain a close relation with the
people to bridge the gap among them for successful
implementation of any law or legislation."
A member of the Re-Rolling Mills Association, Joynal
Abedin presented the keynote paper on " Price Hike of
Steel Bar : Role of Ship Breaking Industry", where he
urged the Government to establish a price monitoring
institution immediately. Blaming a section of ship
breaking industry businessmen for price spiral of
construction raw materials, he said, "The owners of the
steel mills and ship breaking industry are engaged in
market manipulation which is responsible for abnormal
price hike of MS rod."
He said about one crore people are engaged in this
industry directly and indirectly and the Government should
take steps immediately to save the huge potential sector.
Dismissing the allegations against the Ship-breaking
Industry Owners, President of Bangladesh Ship Breaking
Association, Mizanur Rahman said, "We are not responsible
for the price hike of MS rod and other construction
materials. Because, the price of abandoned ships has
increased on the international market. So, it is not
possible for us to sell the scraps at low price." He urged
the Government to reduce the duty imposed on importing
Iron oar to stabilize the price of MS rod at an affordable
rate.
Committee likely to be formed
harnesing price hike
Staff Correspondent
The Government has decided to form a high-powered
monitoring committee in a bid to keep the price of
essentials stable. "We have decided to form a high-powered
committee to give an institutional shape to the monitoring
system", Commerce Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman told
newsmen after a meeting with the edible oil importers and
whole-sellers at the Commerce Ministry on Monday. Headed
by the Commerce Adviser, the proposed committee members
include Commerce Secretary, BDR DG, Governor or a
representative from Bangladesh Bank, Chairman or a
representative from NBR and representatives from edible
oil importers' and whole-sellers' associations. "We would
formulate mechanism in advance to keep prices of
essentials at a tolerable level", Zillur said, adding the
representatives from importers and whole-sellers have been
included in the committee. He said the committee would
monitor the price of nine items which are rice, edible
oil, pulse, onion, sugar, potato, salt and powdered milk.
However, four items would be monitored till March 9, he
added. "We would sit and discuss the price issue on March
9 and fix the prices of essentials", Zillur said.
Mentioning the price of edible oil as very high in the
international market, the Commerce Adviser said the edible
oil importers and whole-sellers have given their
commitment to keep the price of edible oil stable. Abul
Hossain, General Secretary, The Association of Wholesale
Edible Oil, said the price of edible oil would be Tk. 103
per kg at mill-gate rate, Tk. 103.50 per kg at wholesale
rate and Tk. 106.50 per kg at retail rate. This rate would
be effective from today (Monday) till March 9, he said.
Countering the allegation, edible oil importers said, "We
have to pay prices at three stages including booking",
sources said. The importers at the meeting demanded to
reduce duty.
Among others, Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed, BDR DG
Shakil Ahmed, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB)
Chairman Ziaul Islam, concerned officials and
representatives from oil importers and wholesalers were
present at the meeting.
National Economy
Congenial atmosphere promotes growth
Staff Correspondent
There is no
option but to create a congenial atmosphere for smooth
growth of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in the
country as the sector is contributing a lot to the
national economy. This was the observation of speakers at
a seminar titled "Investment Opportunity in Bangladesh"
organized by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) at its office in the city on
Monday. They said the SMEs are a very prospective sector
in Bangladesh as the industry has been playing a
significant role in the country's socio-economic
development through creating huge employment opportunities
and making contribution to gross domestic product (GDP)
every year. The small and medium-scale industries provide
around 80 percent of the country's industrial jobs. At
least 25 percent of the total labour force of the country
are employed in the small, medium and large-scale
industry, they said.
Regarding the GDP contribution by the SMEs, they said the
sector contribute around 40 percent of gross manufacturing
output and 25 percent of the gross domestic product. More
than 75 percent of the total household income is derived
from the small and medium enterprises and the industry
helps the large-scale industries to grow through
supporting the supply chain. In the fiscal year 2006-07,
the SME sector grew to 9.40 percent from 7.20 percent in
the fiscal 2000-01, they said adding from the year 2002 to
2005, the average annual sales of the SME-manufactured
products increased by 6 percent. Besides, exports of
products by the SMEs increased by more than 180 percent on
average during the fiscal year 2005-06.
Calling for creation of propitious environment for the
SMEs, they said the sector is gradually growing amid
adversities. The government should provide all kinds of
incentives to the sector in a bid to help the industry
flourish rapidly as lots of incentives and facilities have
been offered to foreign direct investment (FDI) in
Bangladesh. Urging the government to formulate an
authentic and effective strategy to attract more FDI in
the country, they said the amount of present FDI in
Bangladesh is not as expected despite providing the
foreign investors with different incentives like 100
percent foreign ownership, investment protection, tax and
duty exemption, specified export incentives, repatriation
facilities and unhindered exit.
Secretary of ministry of industries Dr. Mohammad Nurul
Amin, executive chairman of Bangladesh Export Processing
Zone Authority (BEPZA) Brigadier General Ashraf Abdullah
Yussuf, FBCCI secretary general Syed Jamaluddin and
project director Mir Muniruzzaman spoke at the seminar
with former executive chairman of Board of Investment
Nazrul Islam, NDC presenting the keynote paper.
Chevron offers to
work together with Environment Department
UNB, Dhaka
International oil company Chevron has shown keen interest
to work together with the forest and environment
department and NGOs to ensure proper monitoring of its
planned seismic survey in environmentally sensible
Lawachhara forest in Moulvibazar.
Moulvibazar gas field within the reserved forest is was
developed and now operated by Chevron. It is producing
around 75 million cubic feet gas per day (mmcfd).
The company sought such support for proper monitoring of
its work so that environmental issues are addressed while
conducting the three-dimension (3D) survey. Considering
the country's fast growing gas demand, Chevron moved to
carry out the 3D survey, as it believes that such
high-tech survey would give better picture of the
reservoir and for effective well placement in future.
Crime Watch
Navy seizes illegal nets, jatka worth Tk 18 cr
Bangladesh Navy in an operation named "Operation Jatka",
started from February 10, 2008 has seized illegal nets
about two crore seventy six thousand metres and Jatka
(premature Hilsha) about two hundred and seventy Kgs which
altogether amount to about Tk eighteen crore, ISPR said.
This drive will continue till May 31, 2008 by the Navy.
Kirtankhola, Arial Khan, Tetulia, Bolesshor, Gazalia,
Bishkhali, Haringhata, Agunmukha, Pshur rivers and
adjacent areas under Barisal, Pirojpur, Jalakati, Barguna,
and Bagerhat districts are included will be covered during
the drive.
It is expected that this drive conducted by the Bangladesh
Navy will make a significant contribution to protect the
Silver Fish "Hilsha" from extinction.
Fake DB man busted
A Correspondent, Rajshahi
The metropolitan police of Rajshahi arrested a fake member
of detective branch police at the Court area in the
Rajshahi city on Sunday night.
The fake DB man was identified as Mamtaz Ali (42), son of
Tafel Sheikh of Sayergasa area in the city.
Sources said Mamtaz Ali has threatened a shopkeeper of
Haragram Bazar recently and identified himself as a member
of the detective branch police officer when the shopkeeper
asked him pay the due at about 8:30 pm. At that time,
locals caught him and later was arrested by Rajpara
police. Police produced the fake DB member before the
court while the court sent him to jail on Monday.
A case was filed with the concerned police station in this
connection, police sources said.
Earlier, the same person was arrested for being a fake RAB
man of the same area for cheating.
2 nabbed, firearms recovered
Staff Correspondent
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two criminals and
recovered one revolver with five rounds of bullets and
narcotic items from their possession at Mirpur in the
capital on Sunday night.
Acting on a tip-off, a patrol team of RAB-4 led by
lieutenant Nafis raided a house no-55/B at meddle
Pirerbagh at about 7:00 pm and arrested Pichhi Alamin
(18), a close accomplice of notorious terror Shahdat and a
female drug trader Rokeya. One revolver with five rounds
of bullets of AK 47 gun and 200 bottles of phensidyl were
recovered from their possession.
Besides, on the basis of secret information, another team
of RAB-4 led by assistant deputy director, Abul Hossain,
went to Gabtoli Interdistrict Bus Terminal at about 11:00
am and started a massive search inside a Dhaka-bound
passenger bus from Nogaon. After searching the bus they
recovered 280 bottles of phensidyl and 580 morphine
injections.
Hospital staff found dead in city
Staff Correspondent
A senior technician of Suhrawardy Hospital was
strangulated to death by a gang of miscreants at his
Agargaon residence in the capital on Monday morning.
The deceased was identified as Pallab Kumar Sen Gupta
(42), son of late Naresh Sen Gupta, of Mymensingh
district.
According to police, Pallab and his 13 years old disabled
son Partha had their meal at about 10:00 pm on Sunday
while his wife Anju Rani Dutta, senior nurse of the
hospital, was on duty.
On receipt of information, Anju rushed to her residence at
about 8:00 am and found the Pallab hanging on the ceiling
fan. She also found his hands tied with tape.
Police recovered the body and sent it to the Dhaka Medical
College Hospital for autopsy. Police also suspected that
miscreants hanged Pallab after strangulating to death.
A case was lodged with Tejgaon police station but police
could neither find out any clue behind the murder nor
arrest anyone till the filing of the report last night.
Hearing of 8-murder
cases on March 3
UNB, Chittagong
A court here Sunday completed recording depositions of 43
witnesses in the sensational case of eight murders
committed nearly eight years back in the port city.
The court set March 3 for the second part of hearing in
the case.
Former magistrate ANM Shafiqul Islam and the then
officer-in-charge (O/C) of Chandgaon thana SM Shafiul Alam
gave their depositions on the Sunday before the court of
Chittagong Metropolitan 2nd additional sessions judge
Ekramul Haque Chowdhury.
Of the total 63 witnesses in the case, the court recorded
deposition of 43 people. The court declared 31 of the
witnesses as hostile for inconsistencies in their
depositions.
According to the prosecution, Islami Chhatra Shibir cadres
shot to death eight people, including six Chhatra League
workers, at Bahaddarhat while on way to attend a rally at
Chittagong Government Commercial Institute by a microbus
on July 12 in 2000.
Police later submitted charge sheet against 22 Shibir
cadres accusing them of the killings. Of them, two are now
in jail custody, four enlarged on bail, 14 remained
absconding and two others have since died.
School girl arrested for snatching
A Correspondent, Rajshahi
The Rajshahi College students caught a school going girl
during the time of snatching a mobile phone in the common
room at Rajshahi College on Monday.
The girl was identified as Jesmin Ara, of Char Shaympur
area under Motiher thana in the city. She is a class IX
student of Upashahar Housing Estate School in the city.
According to the sources that the girl entered into the
female student's common room of the college at around 2:00
pm wearing a yashmak.
After sometimes, she tried to snatch a mobile phone from a
student's bag.
To see the scene, the students caught her and informed to
the college teachers.
Afterwards the teachers handed over her to the Boalia
police at around 2:45 pm. A case was filed with Boalia
Model Police Station against the girl, Boalia police
sources said.
Firearms, bombs recovered
UNB, Jessore
Police recovered two pipe-guns, 11 hand bombs and some
bomb making materials from the suburban area under Kotwali
thana Sunday night.
Acting on a secret information, police raided Sarathi Mill
area at about 11 pm and found the arms and explosives in
an abandoned condition.
Police said a terrorist group was carrying the bombs for
an operation. But sensing police presence, they fled away,
leaving behind the bombs and firearms.
Housewife commits suicide
UNB, Rajshahi
A young housewife allegedly committed suicide by taking
poison at Ratugram village in Durgapur upazila Sunday
night.
The deceased was identified as Runa (22) wife of Supta,
son of sub-registrar Abdur Rouf Sarkar.
Police said drug addict Supta used to torture Runa over
trifling matters since their marriage some years' back. On
the fateful night, he beat up Runa mercilessly as she
refused to give him money for buying wine.
Later, following the torture Runa took poison at about
8pm. She was rushed to the Rajshahi Medical College
Hospital where she died at about 10:30 pm.
Drive launched to recover grabbed lands
UNB, Narayanganj
BIWTA with the assistance of joint forces and coast guards
Sunday launched a drive in Kanchpur to recover areas of
Shitalakkhya river illegally occupied by sand traders in
excess of their leased area.
Magistrate Anwarul Islam and Lt. Commander Mahbub Shikder
of coast guard led the two and half-hours drive that began
at about 12:30 pm.
Two people arrested during the drive were later released
after interrogation.
A BIWTA official said sand traders have violated lease
agreement and captured more portion of the river. He also
said the river has become narrower and its direction has
changed due to the grabbing.
He told that cases would be filed in phases against the
illegal occupiers.
Editorial
Economic Recession
The
economic recession that Bangladesh is facing is not the result
of the 'Kondratief' cycle of periodic up and down turns of an
industrialized economy. Just a couple of years back when the
rich were getting much richer and the poor were invisible,
when the BNP-Jamaat government was giving tax-breaks to big
business, when people were inventing ingenious ways to spend
money which was not theirs and when the only conceivable
direction was up, nobody, least of all the economists, thought
of warning anyone that we were running up a blind alley.
Mesmerized by industrialization or what goes for
industrialization, by FDIs and by privatization everyone, most
of all our governments clearly confused an entire national
economy with a few hundred garment factories employing at best
5 million people directly and indirectly.
Money flowed out in torrents to anyone and everyone who could
pronounce the word "industry", fueling not much of industry
but massive corruption which in a few years grasped politics,
economy and the society. Nobody benefited except a handful of
people, least of all the common people of the Country. Neither
the successive government, nor the Central Bank, nor anyone
else felt it necessary all this time to rein in this colossal
wastage of the Nation's limited financial resources. The
bubble had to burst and it did burst with the imposition of
Emergency on 11 January 2007.
The Emergency Government's anti-corruption measures totally
discredited the gods of industry and their political
god-fathers and hanger's on. The Nation paid the price in
terms of massive economic dislocations - rising inflation,
unemployment, galloping rise in prices of essential food
commodities and ultimately shortages of food - all because the
"powers that be" had decided that industry must replace
agriculture as the prime mover of our economy.
It is only now, when much of our agriculture has been
devastated by neglect and natural disasters and when we are
facing shortages of good, that we have begun to realise that
the essence of our survival rests with the continued
prosperity and growth of our rural-agricultural economy.
Economic recession and inflation in Bangladesh are not
entirely the effects of a world-wide recession, inflation and
rising prices of commodities in international markets; it is
the effect of our long neglect of agriculture, of our wrong
emphasis on industrialization and trading and finally of a
lack of foresight and efficient planning on the part of our
successive governments.
The economy is not going to be stabilized and is not going to
bounce back with bumper harvests of one or two crops; we will
need continuous bumper harvests and continuous growth of our
agriculture for some years in order to get our economy to
stabilize and then grow. Nonetheless, one cannot entirely
ignore industries if one is to have a balanced economy but
that emphasis of industrialization has to be shifted away from
half-way processing industries like garments to those which
have a base in raw-materials produced in the Country such a
jute, tea, sugar, vegetable and fruits, poultry, fisheries,
meat & diary etc. It is this linking up of agriculture and
industries which will provide the balance to our economy and
possibilities of growth and prosperity for the majority of the
people of our Nation.
Price hike of medicine
The prices of various
medicines, including the life-saving ones, have increased
alarmingly apparently keeping in line with the skyrocketing of
the prices of essential commodities such as rice, atta, dal,
edible oil, sugar, powdered milk etc. The price spiral of
medicine has been caused not due to the shortage of medicine
or any other crisis. According to a TBT report, the
wholesalers in connivance with the pharmaceutical companies
are raising the prices of medicines to earn more profit.
Besides, there are widespread allegations that spurious and
date-expired medicines are also on sale in the market. In
short, a section of profit-mongers are trading on the life of
ailing people under the nose of the inactive drug
administration authorities.
It is an open secret that the state is unable or reluctant to
provide adequate medial facilities for its citizens. The
amount of money earmarked every year in the budget for medical
care of the people is quite inadequate. The government
hospitals are just unable to meet the demand for the growing
demand for medical treatment of the people. As a result most
people have to arrange for their medical treatment at their
own cost which continues to rise with the passing of time.
Against this backdrop, the government should immediately
launch a crackdown on the greedy and dishonest medicine
dealers to check the price hike of medicine and stop the sale
of spurious medicines. Besides, the government should make
increased allocation to the health sector and ensure better
medicare for the people.
Analysis
The Democratic Rollback
The Resurgence of the Predatory State
Before democracy can spread further, it must
take deeper root where it has already sprouted.
Larry Diamond
Since
1974, more than 90 countries have made transitions to
democracy, and by the turn of the century approximately 60
percent of the world's independent states were democratic. The
democratization of Mexico and Indonesia in the late 1990s and
the more recent "color revolutions" in Georgia and Ukraine
formed the crest of a tidal wave of democratic transitions.
Even in the Arab world, the trend is visible: in 2005,
democratic forces in Lebanon rose up to peacefully drive out
Syrian troops and Iraqis voted in multiparty parliamentary
elections for the first time in nearly half a century.
But celebrations of democracy's triumph are premature. In a
few short years, the democratic wave has been slowed by a
powerful authoritarian undertow, and the world has slipped
into a democratic recession. Democracy has recently been
overthrown or gradually stifled in a number of key states,
including Nigeria, Russia, Thailand, Venezuela, and, most
recently, Bangladesh and the Philippines. In December 2007,
electoral fraud in Kenya delivered another abrupt and violent
setback. At the same time, most newcomers to the democratic
club (and some long-standing members) have performed poorly.
Even in many of the countries seen as success stories, such as
Chile, Ghana, Poland, and South Africa, there are serious
problems of governance and deep pockets of disaffection. In
South Asia, where democracy once predominated, India is now
surrounded by politically unstable, undemocratic states. And
aspirations for democratic progress have been thwarted
everywhere in the Arab world (except Morocco), whether by
terrorism and political and religious violence (as in Iraq),
externally manipulated societal divisions (as in Lebanon), or
authoritarian regimes themselves (as in Egypt, Jordan, and
some of the Persian Gulf monarchies, such as Bahrain).
Before democracy can spread further, it must take deeper root
where it has already sprouted. It is a basic principle of any
military or geopolitical campaign that at some point an
advancing force must consolidate its gains before it conquers
more territory. Emerging democracies must demonstrate that
they can solve their governance problems and meet their
citizens' expectations for freedom, justice, a better life,
and a fairer society. If democracies do not more effectively
contain crime and corruption, generate economic growth,
relieve economic inequality, and secure freedom and the rule
of law, people will eventually lose faith and turn to
authoritarian alternatives. Struggling democracies must be
consolidated so that all levels of society become enduringly
committed to democracy as the best form of government and to
their country's constitutional norms and constraints. Western
policymakers can assist in this process by demanding more than
superficial electoral democracy. By holding governments
accountable and making foreign aid contingent on good
governance, donors can help reverse the democratic recession.
BEYOND THE FAÇADE
Western policymakers and analysts have failed to acknowledge
the scope of the democratic recession for several reasons.
First, global assessments by the Bush administration and by
respected independent organizations such as Freedom House tend
to cite the overall number of democracies and aggregate trends
while neglecting the size and strategic importance of the
countries involved. With some prominent exceptions (such as
Indonesia, Mexico, and Ukraine), the democratic gains of the
past decade have come primarily in smaller and weaker states.
In large, strategically important countries, such as Nigeria
and Russia, the expansion of executive power, the intimidation
of the opposition, and the rigging of the electoral process
have extinguished even the most basic form of electoral
democracy. In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez narrowly lost a
December 2 referendum that would have given him virtually
unlimited power, but he still does not allow the sort of free
and fair political process that could turn him out of office.
Despite two decades of political scientists warning of "the
fallacy of electoralism," the United States and many of its
democratic allies have remained far too comfortable with this
superficial form of democracy. Assessments often fail to apply
exacting standards when it comes to defining what constitutes
a democracy and what is necessary to sustain it. Western
leaders (particularly European ones) have too frequently
blessed fraudulent or unfair elections and have been too
reluctant to criticize more subtle degradations of democracy.
They tend to speak out only when democratic norms are violated
by unfriendly governments (as in Russia and Venezuela or in
Bolivia) and soft-pedal abuses when allies (such as Ethiopia,
Iraq, or Pakistan) are involved.
Elsewhere in the developing and post-communist worlds,
democracy has been a superficial phenomenon, blighted by
multiple forms of bad governance: abusive police and security
forces, domineering local oligarchies, incompetent and
indifferent state bureaucracies, corrupt and inaccessible
judiciaries, and venal ruling elites who are contemptuous of
the rule of law and accountable to no one but themselves. Many
people in these countries -- especially the poor -- are thus
citizens only in name and have few meaningful channels of
political participation. There are elections, but they are
contests between corrupt, clientelistic parties. There are
parliaments and local governments, but they do not represent
broad constituencies. There are constitutions, but not
constitutionalism.
As a result, disillusioned and disenfranchised voters have
embraced authoritarian strongmen (such as Vladimir Putin in
Russia) or demagogic populists (such as Chávez in Venezuela).
Many observers fear that Evo Morales in Bolivia and Rafael
Correa in Ecuador may be headed down the same road as Chávez.
In Thailand, voters (especially in the countryside) have
turned repeatedly to a softer autocrat by electing Thaksin
Shinawatra, whom the military overthrew in September 2006 only
to see his party reemerge triumphant in the December 2007
elections. All of these cases of democratic distress reflect a
common challenge: for democratic structures to endure -- and
to be worthy of endurance -- they must listen to their
citizens' voices, engage their participation, tolerate their
protests, protect their freedoms, and respond to their needs.
For a country to be a democracy, it must have more than
regular, multiparty elections under a civilian constitutional
order. Even significant opposition in presidential elections
and opposition party members in the legislature are not enough
to move beyond electoral authoritarianism. Elections are only
democratic if they are truly free and fair. This requires the
freedom to advocate, associate, contest, and campaign. It also
requires a fair and neutral electoral administration, a widely
credible system of dispute resolution, balanced access to mass
media, and independent vote monitoring. By a strict
application of these standards, a number of countries
typically counted as democracies today -- including Georgia,
Mozambique, the Philippines, and Senegal -- may have slipped
below the threshold. Alarmingly, a January 2008 Freedom House
survey found that for the first time since 1994, freedom
around the world had suffered a net decline in two successive
years. The ratio of the number of countries whose scores had
improved to the number whose scores had declined -- a key
indicator -- was the worst since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Where democracy survives, it often labors under serious
difficulties. In most regions, majorities support democracy as
the best form of government in principle, but substantial
minorities are willing to entertain an authoritarian option.
Furthermore, in much of the democratic world, citizens lack
any confidence that politicians, political parties, or
government officials are serving anyone other than themselves.
According to surveys by Latinobarómetro (a Santiago-based
corporation conducting public opinion surveys throughout Latin
America), only one-fifth of the Latin American population
trusts political parties, one-quarter trusts legislatures, and
merely one-third has faith in the judiciary. According to
similar surveys conducted by the Scotland-based New
Democracies Barometer, the figures are even worse in the new
democracies of eastern Europe.
Public confidence in many civilian constitutional regimes has
been declining. The Asian Barometer (which conducts public
opinion surveys throughout Asia) found that the percentage of
Filipinos who believe democracy is always the best form of
government dropped from 64 percent to 51 percent between 2001
and 2005. At the same time, satisfaction with democracy fell
from 54 percent to 39 percent, and the share of the Filipino
population willing to reject the option of an authoritarian
"strong leader" declined from 70 percent to 59 percent. The
Afrobarometer (which conducts similar surveys in African
countries) uncovered even sharper decreases in Nigerians'
public confidence in democracy between 2000 and 2005 and also
found that the proportion of the Nigerian public that felt the
government was working to control corruption dropped from 64
percent to 36 percent. This is no surprise: during this
period, President Olusegun Obasanjo saw many of his laudable
economic reforms overshadowed or undone by continuing massive
corruption, by his obsessive bid to remove a constitutional
term limit on his presidency, and by the gross rigging of the
2007 elections on behalf of his ruling party.
Electoral fraud and endemic corruption have once again ravaged
a promising democratic experiment. If Nigeria reverts to
military rule, descends into political chaos, or collapses, it
will deal a harsh blow to democratic hopes across Africa.
Indeed, the many African countries that remain blatantly
authoritarian will never liberalize if the continent's new and
partial democracies cannot make democracy work.
IT'S THE GOVERNMENT, STUPID
It is often assumed that economic growth -- or the free-market
economy, as Michael Mandelbaum recently argued in these pages
-- is the key to creating and consolidating democracy.
Certainly, the viability of democracy does hinge to some
significant degree on economic development and open markets.
But in most of the world's poor countries, the "economy first"
advocates have the causal chain backward. Without significant
improvements in governance, economic growth will not take off
or be sustainable. Without legal and political institutions to
control corruption, punish cheating, and ensure a level
economic and political playing field, pro-growth policies will
be ineffective and their economic benefits will be
overshadowed or erased.
Kenya is a tragic case in point. In the last five years, under
President Mwai Kibaki's leadership, it has made significant
economic progress for the first time in many years, achieving
a record five percent annual growth rate and establishing free
universal primary education. But much of this progress has
since unraveled amid the paroxysms of ethnic violence that
greeted allegations of fraud following the December 27, 2007,
presidential election. President Kibaki did not fail on the
economic policy front, nor did his country lack international
tourism and development aid (apart from a brief suspension of
World Bank assistance in 2006 due to reports of egregious
graft). Rather, he failed politically by condoning massive
corruption, ethnic favoritism, and electoral malpractice -- a
poisonous mix that has brought a promising new democracy to
the brink of chaos.
In the coming decade, the fate of democracy will be determined
not by the scope of its expansion to the remaining
dictatorships of the world but rather by the performance of
at-risk democracies such as Kenya. A list of such democracies
would encompass more than 50 states, including most countries
in Latin America and the Caribbean, four of the eight
democracies in Asia, all of the post-Soviet democracies that
do not belong to the European Union, and virtually all of the
democracies in Africa. The most urgent task of the next decade
is to shore up democracy in these countries.
At-risk democracies are almost universally plagued by poor
governance. Some appear so trapped in patterns of corrupt and
abusive rule that it is hard to see how they can survive as
democracies without significant reform. The problem in these
states is that bad governance is not an aberration or an
illness to be cured. It is, as the economists Douglass North,
John Wallis, and Barry Weingast have argued, a natural
condition. For thousands of years, the natural tendency of
elites everywhere has been to monopolize power rather than to
restrain it -- through the development of transparent laws,
strong institutions, and market competition. And once they
have succeeded in restricting political access, these elites
use their consolidated power to limit economic competition so
as to generate profits that benefit them rather than society
at large. The result is a predatory state.
In such states, the behavior of elites is cynical and
opportunistic. If there are competitive elections, they become
a bloody zero-sum struggle in which everything is at stake and
no one can afford to lose. Ordinary people are not truly
citizens but clients of powerful local bosses, who are
themselves the clients of still more powerful patrons. Stark
inequalities in power and status create vertical chains of
dependency, secured by patronage, coercion, and demagogic
electoral appeals to ethnic pride and prejudice. Public
policies and programs do not really matter, since rulers have
few intentions of delivering on them anyway. Officials feed on
the state, and the powerful prey on the weak. The purpose of
government is not to generate public goods, such as roads,
schools, clinics, and sewer systems. Instead, it is to produce
private goods for officials, their families, and their
cronies. In such a system, as Robert Putnam wrote in his
classic Making Democracy Work, "corruption is widely regarded
as the norm," political participation is mobilized from above,
civic engagement is meager, compromise is scarce, and "nearly
everyone feels powerless, exploited, and unhappy." Predatory
states cannot sustain democracy, for sustainable democracy
requires constitutionalism, compromise, and a respect for law.
Nor can they generate sustainable economic growth, for that
requires actors with financial capital to invest in productive
activity.
The most egregious predatory states produce predatory
societies. People do not get rich through productive activity
and honest risk taking; they get rich by manipulating power
and privilege, by stealing from the state, extracting from the
weak, and shirking the law. Political actors in predatory
societies use any means necessary and break any rules possible
in their quest for power and wealth. Politicians bribe
election officials, attack opposition campaigners, and
assassinate rival candidates. Presidents silence dissent with
threats, detentions, show trials, and murder. Government
ministers worry first about the money they can collect and
only second about whether government contracts serve the
public good. Military officers buy weapons on the basis of how
large a kickback they can pocket. In such societies, the line
between the police and the criminals is thin. The police do
not enforce the law, judges do not decide the law, customs
officials do not inspect goods, manufacturers do not produce,
bankers do not invest, and borrowers do not repay. Every
transaction is manipulated to someone's immediate advantage.
By contrast, sustainable democracy and development require
active "civic communities," in which citizens trust one
another and interact as political equals. In sustainable
democracies, institutions of good governance -- such as
impartial judicial systems and vigorous audit agencies --
induce, enforce, and reward civic behavior. The tendency
toward corrupt governance and the monopoly of power is checked
by the rule of law (both culturally and institutionally) and a
resourceful civil society. As Putnam argues, people in such
societies by and large obey the law, pay their taxes, behave
ethically, and serve the public good not simply because they
are public-spirited but because they believe others will, too
-- and because they know that there are penalties for failing
to do so.
ESCAPING THE PREDATORS
For democracy to triumph, the natural predatory tendencies of
rulers must be restrained by rigorous rules and impartial
institutions. Some fundamental innovations are necessary to
transform closed, predatory societies into open, democratic
ones. Proponents of democracy both within troubled countries
and in the international community must understand the problem
and pursue the necessary reforms if they hope to restore the
forward momentum of democracy in the world. Citizens must
build links across ethnic and regional divides to challenge
elitist hierarchies and rule by strongmen. This requires
dense, vigorous civil societies, with independent
organizations, mass media, and think tanks, as well as other
networks that can foster civic norms, pursue the public
interest, raise citizen consciousness, break the bonds of
clientelism, scrutinize government conduct, and lobby for
good-governance reforms.
States must also build effective institutions in order to
constrain the nearly unlimited discretion that predatory
rulers enjoy, subject those rulers' decisions and transactions
to public scrutiny, and hold them accountable before the law.
This requires both vertical and horizontal accountability. The
premier example of vertical accountability is a genuinely
democratic election. But ensuring democratic elections
requires a truly independent electoral administration capable
of conducting all the necessary tasks -- from registering
voters to counting votes -- with strict integrity and
neutrality. Other effective forms of vertical accountability
include public hearings, citizen audits, the regulation of
campaign finance, and a freedom-of-information act.
Horizontal accountability invests some agencies of the state
with the power and responsibility to monitor the conduct of
their counterparts. No institution is more important than a
counter-corruption commission, which should collect regular
declarations of assets from all significant elected and
appointed officials. To be effective, such commissions need
legal authority, professional staffs, vigorous leadership, and
the resources to check the veracity of financial declarations,
probe allegations of wrongdoing, impose civil penalties, and
bring criminal charges against violators. Their work must be
reinforced by ombudsmen; public audits of all major government
agencies and ministries; parliamentary oversight committees to
investigate evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse by executive
agencies; and competent independent judiciaries capable of
penalizing bribery and embezzlement. In at-risk democracies,
these institutions often exist but do not function well (or at
all) -- largely because they are not meant to. Typically, they
limp along, starved of resources and bereft of morale and
serious leadership, or become instruments of the ruling party
and investigate only its political opponents.
Counter-corruption agencies cannot make a difference unless
they are independent of the government actors they are
supposed to monitor, restrain, and punish.
Poorly performing democracies need better, stronger, and more
democratic institutions -- political parties, parliaments, and
local governments -- linking citizens to one another and to
the political process. In shallow democracies, these
institutions do not generate much citizen participation
(beyond occasional voting) because the political systems are
so elite-dominated, corrupt, and unresponsive. Reform requires
the internal democratization of political parties through the
improvement of their transparency and accessibility and the
strengthening of other representative bodies.
It is not only the regulatory and participatory institutions
of government that need strengthening. Effective democracy
also requires improving the technical skills, resources,
professional standards, and organizational efficiency of the
state. Such improvements allow the government to maintain
security, manage the economy, develop infrastructure, settle
disputes, and deliver services such as health care, education,
and clean water. Just as corruption erodes the basic functions
of government, a feeble state drives people toward informal
and corrupt networks to get things done.
Finally, reforms must generate a more open market economy in
which it is possible to accumulate wealth through honest
effort and initiative in the private sector -- with the state
playing a limited role. The wider the scope of state controls
over economic life, the greater the possibility of graft by
abusive and predatory elites. Reducing administrative barriers
to doing business and implementing corporate-responsibility
initiatives can address the supply side of the corruption
problem. Strong guarantees of property rights, including the
ability of owners of small farms and informal-sector workers
to obtain titles to their land and business property, can
provide the foundation for a broader institutional landscape
that limits government corruption.
The most urgent imperative is to restructure and empower the
institutions of accountability and bolster the rule of law.
Changing the way government works means changing the way
politics and society work, and that, in turn, requires
sustained attention to how public officials utilize their
offices. This is the fundamental challenge that all at-risk
democracies face.
AIDING THE DEMOCRATIC REVIVAL
The current situation may seem discouraging, but there is
hope. Even in very poor nations drowning in corruption and
clientelism, citizens have repeatedly used the democratic
process to try to replace predatory governments. Connected by
grass-roots movements, community radio stations, cell phones,
civic organizations, and the Internet, citizens are rising up
as never before to challenge corruption, defend the electoral
process, and demand better governance. The most important
challenge now for the United States and other international
actors is to stand with them.
The leverage needed to bring about radical change will never
exist unless the politicians and officials who sit atop the
structures of predation come to realize that they have no
choice but to reform. In the early 1990s, many African regimes
moved toward free elections when a combination of internal and
external pressure left them no choice: they were running out
of money and could not pay their soldiers and civil servants.
Now, with the momentum going against democracy, a resurgent
and oil-rich Russia flexing its muscles, and China emerging as
a major aid donor in the rest of Asia and Africa, it will be
more difficult to encourage reforms. Forcing change that leads
to better governance will require serious resolve and close
coordination among the established bilateral and multilateral
donors.
The key is the principle of conditionality (or selectivity),
which lies at the core of the Millennium Challenge Account --
one of the Bush administration's least heralded but most
important foreign policy innovations. Under the program,
states qualify for generous new aid payments by competing on
the basis of three broad criteria: whether they rule justly,
whether they invest in basic health care and education, and
whether they promote economic freedom. The instrument of aid
selectivity is showing promise as a tool that civil-society
actors in predatory states can use to campaign for governance
reforms and as an incentive for corrupt governments in need of
more aid to reform their ways.
The international donor community's habit of keeping afloat
predatory and other troubled states (in some cases covering up
to half of their recurrent government expenditures) must end.
The overriding purpose of foreign assistance must be genuine
development, not the assuaging of Western guilt or the care
and feeding of the massive network of career professionals,
nonprofit organizations, and private-sector companies that
constitute the global aid industry. It is time to start
listening to the growing chorus of activists and organizations
in developing countries that are imploring the West to please
stop "helping" them with indiscriminate aid that only serves
to entrench corrupt elites and practices. To be sure, it will
be an uphill struggle to get international donors, and
especially institutions such as the World Bank, to refocus
their aid strategies on good-governance goals. Still, the
reality of the link between development and decent governance
-- in particular the control of corruption -- is gradually
taking hold in foreign-aid circles, and the civil societies of
developing countries are emerging as some of the most
compelling and legitimate advocates of this concept.
Now, as democratic setbacks multiply, is the moment for a new
strategy. Without a clear understanding of the fundamental
problem -- bad governance -- and the necessary institutional
responses, more democratic breakdowns are likely. Without a
resolute and relentless international campaign to rein in
corruption and improve the quality of governance in at-risk
democracies, the current democratic recession could lead to a
global democratic depression. Such a development would be
enormously costly to human freedom and dangerous for U.S.
national security. Public opinion surveys continue to show
that majorities in every region of the world believe democracy
is the best form of government. The urgent imperative is to
demonstrate, through the effective functioning of democracies
worldwide, that it really is.
(LARRY DIAMOND is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution
and Co-Editor of the Journal of Democracy. This essay is
adapted from his new book, The Spirit of Democracy: The
Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World; Times
Books, 2008. Source: www.foreignaffairs.org)
Viewpoints
US Scrambles to
Remake Pakistan Policy
White
House officials say they still hope opposition leaders will
find a way to work with Musharraf.
Jayshree Bajoria
The
unstinting support Washington has lent to Pakistan's President
Pervez Musharraf throughout the past year of tumult has led to
something of a crisis for U.S. policy toward Pakistan. White
House officials say they still hope opposition leaders will
find a way to work with Musharraf. But CFR Senior Fellow
Daniel Markey, himself a former top Bush administration
policymaker on South Asia, says "Musharraf is obviously a
poison pill" (NYT) and that he may be "fading out." Markey
looks at the choices open to Washington, including
strengthening Pakistani institutions, in this Policy Options
Paper. Official results from February 18 elections confirming
the party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the
Pakistan People's Party (PPP), won the most seats, followed by
former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party Pakistan Muslim
League (PML-N), could have huge implications for Washington's
efforts along Pakistan's northern border with Afghanistan,
too. U.S. efforts to clamp down on terrorist bases in
Pakistani frontier areas hinged on military support from the
Pakistani army and security forces. But the winners of the
parliamentary elections say they will break from Musharraf's
position and seek talks with the militants (NYT) in the tribal
areas. In an interview with CFR.org, Frédéric Grare, a
visiting scholar at Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, says the defeat of the religious parties in the
elections brings "a new chance for the United States to seize
this opportunity," and finally understand the nature of the
Pakistani society.
The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with
Pakistan, as this new timeline explains, and continues to
score low in Pakistani public approval ratings. A poll from
the U.S.-based International Republican Institute showed only
9 percent of Pakistanis said their country should cooperate
with Washington in its war on terror. A report in the
Washington Post, citing U.S. officials, says U.S. forces have
been leading unilateral strikes within Pakistan's borders
without permission from Pakistani authorities. The report says
such strikes could become more frequent this year,
particularly if a power vacuum results from the elections. In
January, amid speculation regarding U.S. action in Pakistan's
tribal areas, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stressed
Pakistani sovereignty and added: "We would not do anything
without their approval."
The vote leaves major questions about where the volatile
country will veer next. An editorial in Pakistan-based
newspaper The News says "the possibility of an unwieldy
situation emerging in the aftermath of the February 18 polls
remains high." PPP cochairman Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's
widower, and Sharif's PML-N party agreed to form a coalition
government (BBC) and have ruled out the inclusion of parties
that had been allied with Musharraf. The parties have agreed
to reinstate the chief justice, sacked by Musharraf in
November, but remain divided on the issue of Musharraf's
political future (Dawn). The PPP and PML-N parties combined
make up more than half the seats in the parliament, but if
they are able to form a coalition with a two-thirds majority,
they could take a number of steps against Musharraf, including
impeachment.
Failures of the PPP and PML-N to come together in the past
make analysts skeptical (Dawn). The Los Angeles Times raises
the possibility Musharraf's party could still get in on a
coalition, reinvigorating his claim on remaining in power.The
unstinting support Washington has lent to Pakistan's President
Pervez Musharraf throughout the past year of tumult has led to
something of a crisis for U.S. policy toward Pakistan. White
House officials say they still hope opposition leaders will
find a way to work with Musharraf. But CFR Senior Fellow
Daniel Markey, himself a former top Bush administration
policymaker on South Asia, says "Musharraf is obviously a
poison pill" (NYT) and that he may be "fading out." Markey
looks at the choices open to Washington, including
strengthening Pakistani institutions, in this Policy Options
Paper. Official results from February 18 elections confirming
the party of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the
Pakistan People's Party (PPP), won the most seats, followed by
former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's party Pakistan Muslim
League (PML-N), could have huge implications for Washington's
efforts along Pakistan's northern border with Afghanistan,
too. U.S. efforts to clamp down on terrorist bases in
Pakistani frontier areas hinged on military support from the
Pakistani army and security forces. But the winners of the
parliamentary elections say they will break from Musharraf's
position and seek talks with the militants (NYT) in the tribal
areas. In an interview with CFR.org, Frédéric Grare, a
visiting scholar at Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, says the defeat of the religious parties in the
elections brings "a new chance for the United States to seize
this opportunity," and finally understand the nature of the
Pakistani society.
The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with
Pakistan, as this new timeline explains, and continues to
score low in Pakistani public approval ratings. A poll from
the U.S.-based International Republican Institute showed only
9 percent of Pakistanis said their country should cooperate
with Washington in its war on terror. A report in the
Washington Post, citing U.S. officials, says U.S. forces have
been leading unilateral strikes within Pakistan's borders
without permission from Pakistani authorities. The report says
such strikes could become more frequent this year,
particularly if a power vacuum results from the elections. In
January, amid speculation regarding U.S. action in Pakistan's
tribal areas, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates stressed
Pakistani sovereignty and added: "We would not do anything
without their approval."
The vote leaves major questions about where the volatile
country will veer next. An editorial in Pakistan-based
newspaper The News says "the possibility of an unwieldy
situation emerging in the aftermath of the February 18 polls
remains high." PPP cochairman Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's
widower, and Sharif's PML-N party agreed to form a coalition
government (BBC) and have ruled out the inclusion of parties
that had been allied with Musharraf. The parties have agreed
to reinstate the chief justice, sacked by Musharraf in
November, but remain divided on the issue of Musharraf's
political future (Dawn). The PPP and PML-N parties combined
make up more than half the seats in the parliament, but if
they are able to form a coalition with a two-thirds majority,
they could take a number of steps against Musharraf, including
impeachment.
Failures of the PPP and PML-N to come together in the past
make analysts skeptical (Dawn). The Los Angeles Times raises
the possibility Musharraf's party could still get in on a
coalition, reinvigorating his claim on remaining in power.
(Jayshree Bajoria is a Staff Writer for Council on Foreign
Relations. Source: www.cfr.org)
Controversy can Lead to Change
The cartoons were perceived
to be a brutal intellectual and emotional attack on the hearts
of already marginalized Danish Muslims.
Marie Korpe
Copenhagen
- About ten years ago, a Swedish photographer held an
exhibition entitled "Ecce Homo", a collection of provocative
photos portraying Jesus as a homosexual. The reaction from
some conservative church clerics was swift and strong: "This
is barbarian, not biblical" read one of the newspaper
headlines, and a heated discussion followed.
The photographer said the series was inspired by the deaths of
many of her homosexual friends by AIDS, and by church
publications that claimed the disease was God's punishment.
The collection of "offensive" art was not created to hurt
others, but rather to provoke dialogue and enlighten the
public about AIDS and homosexuality, the artist said.
Homosexuals in Sweden were eventually allowed to have civil
marriages and request their partnership be blessed in a
church, while AIDS patients can now speak openly about their
disease.
Similarly, the Danish cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH)were indeed a provocation, and in turn, the media
focused primarily on the responses from ultra-conservative
Muslims, many of them self-taught Muslim clerics. The debate
between those on both sides seeking to sensationalise the
issue was not constructive.
A more productive approach would have been to explore the
context under which this event occurred, especially in light
of recent events like the arrest of those allegedly plotting
to kill the Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard. And the next
step would have been to address the frustration of
marginalized Muslims who feel unable to voice their anger and
disappointment through the proper channels, such as the media
or government.
Before the 1980s, Danish society did not make distinctions
among immigrant groups. More recently, however, nationality
and religious belief have been increasingly used to identify
newcomers, perhaps as these individuals have begun to assert
their identity in their new homeland to a greater extent than
in the past. In the years leading up to the cartoon
controversy, major immigrant communities from Pakistan and the
Middle East were collectively referred to as "Muslims"; their
country of origin was of no interest, and they were thus
differentiated from other new Danes.
After 9/11 and following President Bush's efforts against Al
Qaeda, the Danish government became one of the most dedicated
allies supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soon
thereafter, Muslims felt besieged in major Danish newspapers
and by the ruling government, which introduced harsher
immigration laws. This was not directly a result of the global
crackdown on terrorism, but rather the culmination of many
years of discussion on immigration, which coincided with 9/11
and further marginalized the Muslim minority in Denmark. The
cartoon controversy could have been the impetus for state-wide
dialogue on these important issues but instead became a missed
opportunity.
The cartoons were perceived to be a brutal intellectual and
emotional attack on the hearts of already marginalized Danish
Muslims. Ultra-conservative Muslims around the world used this
incident to promote their own agendas.
The violent reactions that followed in some Muslim countries
may have been appeased had the Danish prime minister chosen
the path of dialogue, instead of refusing to meet with the
delegation of ambassadors from various Middle Eastern
countries. Perhaps engaging in discussion at that time could
have prevented the controversy from spreading, reduced the
violence that ensued, and resulted in a constructive
intercultural conversation.
A few years before the provocative cartoons were published, a
Danish company began selling summer sandals with a depiction
of the Virgin Mary. This led to strong protests in Denmark and
the shoes were soon taken off the market. This time society
censored itself to avoid offence and further protests.
It took several initiatives by domestic and international
groups to calm the post-cartoon atmosphere, allowing for some
positive gains. The publications of the cartoons ultimately
led to animated and vivid debates in Denmark, and a growing
interest in Islam among the Danish population. The eyes of the
Danish people were opened to the issues surrounding Muslims
and the immigrant population. Furthermore, mainstream Muslims
within the Danish community were convinced of their need to
enter politics, not only to speak for Muslims, but also to
educate others about Muslims in their new homeland.
When access is blocked to media or political channels through
which people can vent their frustrations, disenfranchised
individuals sometimes make their opinions known through
violent or destructive means. Rather than highlighting the
sensational incidents, media could focus instead on filling
this gap, providing a rational forum for discussion on
controversial events or art.
The right to freely express oneself does not always have to
mean making use of that right. Dialogue alone can lead to some
interesting and challenging discussions between censors and
their targets, inspiring deeper thought and possibly greater
understanding. However, occasionally we also need the
avant-garde - those who provoke us and force us to reflect and
think through their art, their writing and/or their music - to
spark constructive debate in healthy forums, at a time when
change and growth are desperately needed for intercultural
understanding.
(Marie Korpe is the executive director of 'Freedom of
Musical Expression'. Source: Common Ground News Service, 19
February 2008.Copyright permission is granted for
publication.)
Hounded by US, Castro Survives to Say Goodbye
He survived paramilitary
invasions; assassination attempts; trade embargoes; travel bans;
diplomatic isolation. He stood up to 10 American presidents, all
of whom to some degree were dedicated to doing him in.
David Wood
WASHINGTON
- What the CIA couldn't do with exploding seashells, poison
cigars and chemicals to make his beard fall off, Fidel Castro
has done alone. He removed himself from a world stage that he
seemed to dominate for nearly 50 years.
So compelling was this Jesuit-trained lawyer that he inspired
and drove revolutionary movements across Central America and
Africa.
He twisted American policymakers into such awkward knots that
the United States has maintained severe economic sanctions
against Cuba and, at the same time, a naval station on the
island's southeastern tip, housing the most notorious alleged
terrorists in captivity at Guantanamo Bay. "He survived
paramilitary invasions; assassination attempts; trade embargoes;
travel bans; diplomatic isolation. He stood up to 10 American
presidents, all of whom to some degree were dedicated to doing
him in," said Peter Kornbluh, a Cuba specialist with the
nonpartisan National Security Archive in Washington.
Castro has been at the center of some of the most notable US
adventures and misadventures of the past half-century: The 1961
Bay of Pigs invasion fiasco and the Cuban missile crisis, which
brought the world to the edge of nuclear war in 1962; proxy wars
in Central America and Africa; the 1983 US invasion of Grenada
against Cuban defenders; the Iran-Contra affair and the CIA's
long and unsuccessful obsession with using underworld gangsters
to assassinate him.
If there is an emblematic image of the Cold War, it might well
be the beard, military cap an |