A little less foggy

WITH the Supreme Court judgment dismissing the opposition’s petitions on the dual office issue on Friday, the way is clear for President Pervez Musharraf to contest the Oct 6 election to the nation’s highest office. Coming after weeks of a constitutional and legal battle, the six-to-three judgment dashes the opposition’s hope and disappoints those who find the very idea of a man in uniform contesting a presidential election repugnant. Nevertheless, the doomsday scenario is now behind us. President Musharraf must now abide by the pledge he made to the Supreme Court that “if elected” he would give up his army post before taking a fresh oath of office. The full judgment will be written later, but going by what the judges had said during the hearing, the 17th Amendment seems to have been a major consideration. The MMA leadership must blame itself for a bad bargain while voting for the 17th amendment, for it made the entire Legal Framework Order part of the Constitution in exchange for such minor concessions as those relating to the NSC, the judges’ age and action under 58-2(b) being made justiciable.

The SC judgment went against the opposition by a technicality under article 184-3. For that reason, the opposition has two options: one, it can restart the legal process but with a new constitutional basis; two, when the new assemblies meet the opposition parties can forge unity among themselves, create a united front and then force President Musharraf out of office by forging the necessary majority laid down in the Constitution. Indeed, what follows Friday’s judgment is going to be crucial in the context of the orderly holding of the presidential election. All along, the two sides have to keep one aim in view — the democratic process must be advanced. The post-judgment scenario is both a challenge and an opportunity for the government and its opponents. By their epic struggle this summer, the lawyers made a major contribution to the cause of the judiciary’s independence and rule of law. This struggle must be pursued relentlessly, but in a way that does not cause a setback to constitutionalism or give an opportunity to extra-constitutional forces to queer the pitch for democracy. In one go, let us accept, Pakistan cannot make up for the 60 years it has lost in terms of democratic evolution.

With the constitutional tangle behind us, the issue now revolves round the opposition’s political strategy, especially its decision to quit the assemblies en bloc on Oct 2 and recommend the dissolution of the NWFP assembly. The latter issue is full of constitutional pitfalls, because of the (NWFP) opposition’s resolve to pre-empt the dissolution by bringing a vote of confidence against the chief minister. This would give time to the federal government to work out its strategy for securing a majority for Gen Musharraf when the vote is taken. Side by side some parties have threatened to lay siege to the provincial assembly. This is hardly going to help the opposition’s cause, because the show of force by the law enforcement agencies in Islamabad and the crackdown on opposition leaders make it amply clear that the government has no scruples about resorting to any tactics to have its way.

HEC’s plagiarism policy

IT is to be hoped that the Higher Education Commission’s policy on plagiarism will have a chastening effect on those it is directed at — teachers, students and researchers who have few qualms about presenting somebody else’s work as their own. Varying degrees of penalty, commensurate with the scale of the plagiarism involved, have been prescribed. By having a different set of penalties for students and teachers, the HEC has appropriately linked the scholarly status of an individual to his/her level of awareness of plagiarism as intellectual theft. However, what is open to question is the level of punishment — ranging from major to minor — in the case of teachers and senior researchers. They should be setting a positive example to their students by being above any kind of intellectual dishonesty. Hence the penalty for teachers who plagiarise should have been uniformly tough so that their pupils do not get the message that some irregularities can be condoned. Admittedly, our teachers, for the most part, are products of a corrupt education system where employing dubious means to achieve success is not necessarily frowned upon. But this practice has to be checked especially when the Internet provides unlimited access to published papers and makes plagiarism such an effortless task.

Hopefully this policy will bring about more academic uprightness in higher education institutes. The need is also to address the problem in schools which, after all, lay the foundations of all future academic habits. In our lopsided educational system the tendency of policymakers is to focus on higher education while neglecting school learning. However, all the effort that goes into improving the higher education set-up will produce few dividends if similar attempts are not made to upgrade primary schools. It is in the latter that young minds are moulded to differentiate between right and wrong and to inculcate good study habits. If the teaching is poor at this stage, then things can go wrong later on, especially when students are completing degree programmes to enter the global job market where competition is stiff. For reasons practical and ethical, then, it is important that students are taught the right values from the very beginning and are given clear guidelines on doing independent research. That is the only way they will stay away from dishonest academic practices.

NWFP’s ‘contract’ doctors

DOCTORS in all teaching hospitals in the NWFP have been on strike for the last 13 days, following the termination of the services of 400 ‘contract’ doctors on Aug 30. These doctors who were hired in 1995 were working in hospitals and basic health units in far-flung areas. Their protesting colleagues have stopped attending to patients in the OPD and are now threatening to withdraw emergency cover as well. This will create acute problems for the public. The government on its part says that the contracts of the doctors have been terminated in line with its policy of making positions available for candidates cleared by the NWFP Public Service Commission.

The dismissed doctors insist that the new appointees could have been absorbed without having to resort to such large-scale retrenchment. They have a point when they say that nowhere else in the country are doctors hired on contract — Sindh, which at one time had contract doctors, regularised their services in 2005. It is strange why the NWFP government has not done the same as it had promised. In a country where the doctor-patient ratio is so dismal, the government could have done better by finding a via media. It could have regularised the services of the contract doctors while admitting the new appointees as well. The dismissed doctors have served for so long that they are now no longer eligible to appear in the Public Service Commission competitive examination in view of their age. They have gained in experience and therefore have more to offer in terms of knowledge and expertise. To make them the end losers is most unfair. In a country where unemployment is already rampant, particularly amongst the professional classes, the government will be well advised to review its decision and find a way out to reinstate the affected doctors and regularise their services.

A country up for sale...

POLITICIANS and journalists may engage in cold-hearted debate over the possible break-up of Belgium but many ordinary citizens are filled with dismay over the increasingly acrimonious sparring among angry Flemish and French-speaking political leaders over the fate of their small country.

So-called ‘new’ Belgians — immigrants and foreign workers who have acquired Belgian nationality as well as members of the vast Brussels-based European Union and Nato bureaucracies — are equally alarmed at reports of the imminent demise of their adopted homeland.

Predictions that Belgium’s two linguistic communities — the Dutch-speaking Flemings and the French-speaking Walloons — are headed for permanent separation, reminiscent of Czechoslovakia’s ‘velvet divorce’ are gaining momentum. However, some are even speculating that the two future independent halves of Belgium may be interested in joining France and the Netherlands. If Belgium were to disappear as a country it would be the first break-up of a western European state since the Second World War.

Recent developments certainly point to a grim future for this small country of 10.4 million people. There is little doubt that Flemings and Walloons are finding it increasingly difficult to live and work together. The ever-deepening rift has meant that more than three months after a general election, Belgian politicians are still struggling to create a new government. Even the country’s mild-mannered, 73-year-old king, Albert II, who traditionally tries to stay above the political fray, has taken the exceptional step of urging politicians to end the ‘crisis’ as soon as possible.

For most people living in Belgium, however, it’s difficult to see any signs of such crisis. While politicians engage in bad-tempered exchanges and separatist sentiment grows in Flanders, the 54-year old outgoing prime minister Guy Verhofstadt — once touted as a possible president of the European Commission — is still responsible for the day-to-day running of the central government.

The country is also governed largely by a patchwork of regional bureaucracies, so trains run on time, mail is delivered, garbage is collected and the police keep order. The former government is allowed to pay bills, implement previously decided policies, and make urgent decisions on peace and security. But with a new budget needed and parliament due to return from recess next month, pressure is mounting for a coalition-building deal.

Those hoping for Belgium’s survival argue that both Nato and the European Union, which have their headquarters in Brussels, will not allow the country’s division. Others insist that Belgium’s EU partners will also fight against the country’s break-up in order to prevent other European separatist movements, including the Basques and the Corsicans, from intensifying their own demands for independence.

For many, Belgium is already a model for decentralised government. Constitutional changes enacted in 1993 have transformed a highly centralised state to one with three levels of government: federal, regional and linguistic community. But such devolution has also meant that increasingly, people vote along ethnic lines, there are no national political figures in the country’s 11 parties and there are five parliaments organised on rigid regional and linguistic lines.

Significantly, Belgium’s problems spotlight the power and politics of money. Once-poor Flanders is now Belgium’s economic powerhouse and home to 60 per cent of the country’s population. In contrast, Wallonia, historically Belgium’s richer province, now has an ailing economy. Many Flemings say they are fed up with financially propping up the country’s south and insist they would be better off on their own. To make matters worse, unemployment among French speakers is 20 per cent, compared to eight per cent among Flemings.

The shift in economic power has also meant a switch in the political fortunes of the two regions. Belgium is no longer run by a French-speaking Walloon elite. Instead, the country’s top politicians and business leaders come from Flanders.

The historical bitterness has become worse since the June 10 national elections. Yves Leterme, a Flemish Christian Democrat, may have triumphed in Flanders with calls for more self-rule but his bid to form a government with the Liberals met resistance from French-speaking parties that objected to Flemish calls for more local control over taxes and social security.

Mr Leterme shocked many Walloons earlier this year when he declared in an interview that most French-speaking Belgians were either unwilling or too stupid to learn Dutch. He further alienated French-speakers on Belgium’s national day in July when he launched into a fine rendition of The Marseillaise — the national anthem of France — when asked by a Belgian TV crew to sing the Belgian national hymn. But even before this gaffe, Mr Leterme had dismissed the 177-year-old Belgian state as ‘an accident of history’ and said Belgians have nothing in common apart from the king, the football team and some beers. The task of forming a government has now been handed to Herman Van Rompuy, a Flemish Christian Democrat.

With little news leaking out from Mr Van Rompuy’s rescue mission, the Belgian media are spinning through scenarios for a possible break-up, asking who would take on the national debt and whether the ‘velvet divorce’ of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 would be a model.

London’s Economist said recently that since Belgium was no longer required to play the role of a neutral buffer state, it should recognise that its job was done. ‘A praline divorce is in order,’ it declared. Others like the Belgian Le Soir newspaper suggest the country could be turned into a city-state like Singapore, handed over to the EU, or made the capital of an independent Wallonia or Flanders.

While the current political impasse is certainly dramatic in its intensity, chaos and turmoil are part of the country’s past. Belgian territory has frequently been the scene of confrontations between foreign powers, from Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 to decisive battles of both world wars. The country is also no stranger to political impasse. In 1988, it took 148 days to agree on a government.

Despite the political bickering, however, many of the country’s citizens retain a sense of humour. Gerrit Six, a teacher and former journalist, stirred up controversy recently by trying to sell Belgium on eBay: Mr Six’s ad said: ‘For Sale: Belgium, a kingdom in three parts ... free premium: the king and his court (costs not included).’

‘I wanted to attract attention,’ Mr Six told reporters, adding: ‘You almost have to throw a rock through a window to get attention for Belgium.’

The disgruntled teacher offered free delivery of the country to the future buyer but pointed out that the country was coming secondhand and that potential buyers would have to take on over 300 billion dollars in national debt. But he also vaunted Belgium’s attractions to potential buyers from art nouveau architecture to the headquarters of Nato and the EU and some great beers. The ad was withdrawn — but only after an enterprising person had submitted a 14 million dollar bid for the country.

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent based in Brussels.

Break the fall in business

Bangladesh Press: Inqilab

BANGLADESH…which ranked third in 2006, finished seventh from bottom for 2007 on the corruption perceptions index, according to Transparency International. Bangladesh succeeded to hold steady at 2.0 scores, which means it showed resilience in the fight against corruption…Not good enough.

Observers said it would take time to go further up… At the same time, Bangladesh slipped 19 notches among global economies in…doing business, according to…the World Bank. The demotion in ‘overall doing business ranking’ indicates that the country saw a downslide in the…business environment. It is true that Bangladesh made efforts to pull out of the cycle of corruption. A sound economic system is an essential tool to drive the country forward. But it was not possible — until now — to purge the country of corruption. …

For the government, it is necessary to take reform measures to clean up society. But it is also necessary to pay more attention to the measures to widen the scope for economic and business activities…Clouds of corruption hang over the economy and the government’s anti-corruption drive dampened the spirits of businesses…

The indices can only alert us. They can only encourage us to move forward. But the government must move ahead with transparency and accountability in socio-economic and administrative reforms. For the greater interest of the country, the government has to break the fall in business. — (Sept 28)

Going against the junta

Bangladesh Press: Janakantha

BLOODLETTING is common in a country controlled by the military junta… In Myanmar, the latest episode — protests against the draconian military rule — started in the third week of September. Buddhist monks led the way. Tens of thousands of other people…followed suit. It…showed…how strong the tide of feelings for democracy was and still is.

Iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi…was apparently their inspiration… In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, US President George W. Bush slapped new sanctions on the country. The European Union called for tougher actions. The United Nations sent a special envoy to the region to help start talks between the generals and democracy activists.

But two neighbouring countries…China and India chose to keep quiet.

The role of China did not come as a surprise. India, being among the largest democracies, disappointed the world…

It is widely alleged that India tends to join hands…with the military government in Myanmar to control a separatist movement…It is part of the reason India is unwilling to go against the junta.

…A political solution is a must. We urge…China and India…to join forces with the western powers to put pressure on Myanmar. Let us stand by the people in Myanmar. Let them be successful in the fight against repression… — (Sept 28)

— Selected and translated by Arun Devnath