Sri Lanka police chief makes exit after union clashes

Sri Lanka’s police chief submitted his retirement papers on Wednesday and investigators arrested two police officers for firing on workers during a union protest that turned violent and sparked President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s first big labour problem.

Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya was due to retire on June 18, but gave formal notice and requested immediate leave until then, the president’s office said. The Defence Ministry told media Balasuriya’s early exit was a “historic display of public accountability” but analysts dismissed it as a ploy to deflect worker anger over a new pension scheme that prompted Monday’s violence. “Balasuriya was anyway going to retire and this government has used him as a scapegoat to come out from the debacle that happened and to clean its hands,” said Kusal Perera, an analyst with the Centre for Social Democracy in Colombo. The clashes broke out at a free trade zone near Sri Lanka’s only international airport on Monday, with protesters throwing rocks and police firing teargas and later, live ammunition. At least 200 people including 15 police officers were hurt. The violence prompted 26 trade unions to band together and vow continuous strikes until the police responsible were punished, and the government scrapped a private pension proposal opposed by employees and employers alike.

Two police inspectors were taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department on Wednesday and accused of firing at protesters, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said. Strikes could cripple Sri Lanka’s $50 billion economy at a time when the government is doing its best to boost sagging foreign direct investment despite enjoying a third full year of peace, and generate record growth of 8.5 percent in 2011.

Sri Lanka’s unions have traditionally wielded big influence in the Indian Ocean nation’s political scene, but Rajapaksa has largely sidelined them after asking union leaders to hold off on demands until the government won a quarter-century civil war. Victory against separatist ethnic Tamil rebels came in May 2009, and unions are increasingly demanding Rajapaksa deliver promised wage and benefit increases. However, the government is under pressure to trim its big public sector wage bill under the terms of a $2.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan.

The proposed private pension scheme would make workers wait longer to access their savings and add yet another cost to employers, who already pay big benefits in a nation with one of the highest numbers of annual paid days off in the world. “I need not tell you that this pension scheme is trying to rob the hard-earned money of private sector workers” said a woman who works for the state-run Bank of Ceylon, who joined a protest by hundreds of union members in Colombo on Wednesday.

Eurozone May inflation slows, ECB rate rise still seen

Eurozone inflation slowed in May largely thanks to lower oil prices, but the dip is likely to be temporary and will not stop the European Central Bank from raising interest rates in July.

European Union statistics office Eurostat estimated that inflation in the 17 countries using the euro was 2.7 percent year-on-year this month, down from 2.8 percent in April.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected inflation to stay at 2.8 percent year-on-year. The ECB wants to limit price growth to just below 2.0 percent over the medium term.

“I think they are still on target to increase interest rates by a further quarter point this summer, probably in July. Then I think we’ll get one more this year bringing the refi rate to 1.75 percent,” said Martin van Vliet, economist at ING.

The ECB raised interest rates in April by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent to try to stem inflationary pressures in the eurozone following a sharp rise in commodity prices.

There is no breakdown or monthly data with the Eurostat inflation estimate, but economists said that once more details were published in mid-June, they were likely to show that energy prices fell sharply as a result of a drop in oil prices.

Food prices were likely to be on the rise again but core inflation, which excludes the volatile costs of energy and unprocessed food, was likely to have eased.

“Seasonal patterns will contribute to keep core inflation subdued over the next few months, but the underlying trend in core inflation is upwards, reflecting the gradual pass-through of higher commodity prices along the price formation chain,” said Eoin O’Callaghan, economist at BNP Paribas.

“The ongoing moderation in economic activity will probably ease some of these pressures but will not change the overall picture. We expect core inflation to hit 1.7 percent year-on-year in December, from an estimated 1.5 percent this month and up from 1.1 percent in December 2010,” he said.

“Headline inflation, overall, is expected to peak above 3 percent in the fourth quarter.”

Eurostat said the unemployment rate in the eurozone was unchanged at 9.9 percent of the workforce in April for the third month, despite small declines in the number of jobless in Germany, France and Italy.

It said 15.529 million people were without jobs in the eurozone in April, 115,000 fewer than in the previous month and 457,000 fewer than a year earlier.

“With eurozone growth currently showing signs of losing some momentum, the suspicion remains that eurozone unemployment will trend down only gradually over the coming months,” said Howar Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.

“The jobs situation continues to vary markedly across the region, with improving labour markets in Germany, and other core northern eurozone economies contrasting with still very high unemployment in the struggling periphery economies,” he said.

European stocks jump on Greece rescue hopes

Europe’s main stock markets rose strongly on Tuesday on hopes of a second international bailout for Greece, but investors remained cautious over an easing in the eurozone debt crisis.

Sentiment was also boosted by bumper gains across Asia, where Japan published impressive factory output data. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top shares added 0.97 percent to 5,996.59 points, following a bank holiday the previous day.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gained 1.99 percent at 7,302.58 and in Paris the CAC 40 won 1.48 percent to 4,007.73 points. “So another little bounce ... as investors price in the full expectation of another bailout for Greece next month,” said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.

“There’s little chance that they will be able to repay their bond holders come mid-July, where a default was inevitable, and so now they know further aid is in the pipeline. “The concern is that the money will just be frittered away and over the extended week end Greece’s opposition party rejected the Prime Minister’s austerity package.

“This is the major problem and if Germany keeps throwing good money after bad, there’s little incentive for the Greeks to eradicate the debt burden.” Eurozone junior finance ministers will meet Wednesday in Vienna to go over Greece’s debt problems, including the possibility of fresh aid, a European source told AFP on Tuesday.

Greek officials are currently locked in negotiations with representatives from the three organisations which last year bailed out the country with a 110-billion-euro ($157-billion) loan. Athens needs a scheduled instalment of the loan, worth 12 billion euros, to pay its bills in July. But the IMF has threatened to withhold its share of the funding without a broader agreement that will make Greece’s debt — over 350 billion euros — sustainable. “Sentiment over Greece has been swinging between optimistic and negative like a see-saw for much of the last few months,” said City Index strategist Joshua Raymond.

He added: “A second bailout buys Greece time, but the market must be convinced that this will be the final time such a requirement is needed and until then, sentiment over sovereign debt within the eurozone is likely to remain fragile.” Asian stocks surged earlier on Tuesday, with Tokyo boosted by data showing factory output lifting last month, raising hopes for Japan’s recovery from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. But the yen tumbled against the dollar and euro after Moody’s warned that it may cut Japan’s debt rating. Tokyo jumped 1.99 percent to finish at 9,693.73 points, its best percentage jump since March 30. Hong Kong soared 2.17 percent, Sydney added 0.87 percent and Shanghai leapt 1.37 percent.

Womenfolk and our society

Paradoxically, our otherwise divided society has a strange commonality in itself — belief in subjection and inferiority of womenfolk. Almost everywhere male chauvinistic attitudes have ossified this universal image about women that men may treat women as they deem fit. This attitude has a deeper hue in rural and tribal areas where women are supposed to live in complete subordination to men; the situation in the urban areas is generally considered better though not always.

The historical roots of this may be traced back to the Indo Pakistan civilisation where women were considered to be born into subjection, like other old civilisations of the world. Although Islam gives a respectable position to women and has outlined an ethical code in this regard, yet discrimination against women remains prevalent and persistent. For instance, Islam gives the right to inherit property to women but they are generally denied this right. The pre-existing cultural behaviour and stereotypical thinking towards women remain dominant despite Islamic precepts. Due to this, maltreating women is considered normal and is generally dismissed as a personal or private affair. Thus in Pakistan, crimes against the person of women are not considered as serious as is in the case of men.

Crime against women is prevalent in contemporary Pakistani society. Countless women suffer from battery, rape, burning, acid attacks and mutilation. The estimated percentages of women who experience spousal abuse alone range from 70 to upwards of 90 percent. If there is anything more disturbing than the prevalence of these crimes, it is the impunity with which they are committed. Rape is one of these crimes which carry huge socio-economic cost for the victims.

Although there is a need to address the issues related to the criminal justice system to create effective deterrence in society, this aspect of the issue is not altogether ignored by the policy-makers and helmsmen. However, the miserable life of victims in society has remained obscure due to one or the other reasons rooted in our particular cultural and societal ethos.

The big dilemma facing state and society is that the perpetrators of such crimes generally find escape through the grey areas of our criminal and judicial system but their victims continue to face ongoing agony let loose by societal apathy in the aftermath. This public apathy results in making them complete social outcasts and in some instances precipitate declaring them complete societal pariahs. Unfortunately, victims of parents and siblings are at the forefront in manufacturing this state of misery for them. This worst kind of social exclusion is thrust upon them for no fault of their own. The irony is that on the one hand they are subjected to heinous crimes like rape in the form of physical assault on them and on the other hand they have to undergo an immense amount of mental and psychological stress when they become unwelcome and criminals in the eyes of society. This double jeopardy pushes women victims to commit suicide in some cases because suddenly they become unacceptable for their own families.

This happens again because of our skewed cultural and social mindset, which is constructed by our explanation of family pride and honour associated with women and the thinking that a rape victim is a stigma for the family and is a symbol of disgrace. This is because no one will be ready to marry her and she will be considered as a drain on the family. Her exclusion at home has both social and economic reasons: since society does not accept her, therefore her own family has to support her which has an economic cost. Here it is a catch-22 situation in which society and family are both responsible for creating social exclusion of rape victims but the tragedy is that it is not taken as a serious problem to be addressed.

The problem merits concerted efforts from our media, policy-makers, religious clerics, helmsmen in criminal administration, women’s rights activists and international donors. In order to address this social and economic crisis for rape victims, changing the mindset of the public is very important. It is difficult and resistant to change and can be achieved only in a gradual manner and should be an ongoing effort waged jointly by the media and women’s rights activists. Both the print and electronic media should design and telecast such programmes and plays which bring out the importance of dealing with such victims in a normal way. They can build around themes of Islamic teachings by highlighting the status of women determined by Islam and suggesting that Islam does not discriminate against rape victims. Religious clerics may be asked to provide their help in this regard.

Education being the catalyst of developing minds should be used as a tool to create a positive mindset about women in society. The curriculum designers should envisage this point in designing the curriculum for various levels in schools and colleges. Teachers’ training institutions should also be sensitised to include gender sensitive practices in their training modules and lectures. This will be a gradual but everlasting approach because collective social behaviour is intricately linked to the socio-psychological makeup that students obtain during the formative phases of their education.

Economic independence by women can provide a partial solution to the extent that if a rape victim becomes economically independent, her family will not consider her an economic burden though the social problem will still persist. Then it is also important to highlight the plight of rape victims in society in order to create deterrence. The politicians, police, policy-makers, judiciary, women activists and international community should jointly pool their efforts to bring out such policies and programmes that specifically aim at highlighting the plight faced by the victims and also bring forth practical programmes to reach out to such victims for possibly settling them in society. The jurisdiction of Dar-ul-Amans should be extended in this regard to assist such victims in every possible way. In case such victims are abandoned by their families and society, these institutions should be prepared to house them and arrange for their further rehabilitation.

One of the practical steps towards creating institutional support for such victims is to create a supervisory organisation with some quasi-judicial powers. The National Commission on the Status of Women already exists, although without necessary teeth to deal with the situation. This commission may be given sufficient legal and financial power by empowering it with judicial powers to try the offenders. It should also be assisted by the police force and forensic assistance. Besides this role, the commission should continue to play the role of a watchdog over the provincial governments and continuously keep tabs on the efforts made in this regard.

Time is of the essence in this matter and it is important that state and society as a whole should gear up its efforts to address this serious matter in a practical manner. Though the journey is long and arduous, it will eventually be covered provided the first step is taken.

Washington board nixes colon cancer ‘butt’ billboards

A health board in Washington state has reversed itself and voted against endorsing a colon cancer awareness campaign that uses billboards saying, “What’s up your butt?” The Tri-City Herald reports that Wednesday’s vote by the Benton Franklin Health District in Kennewick, Wash., was in response to complaints the ads are in poor taste. The butt billboards were earlier displayed in Yakima to raise colorectal cancer awareness and encourage people to get screened for the disease.

NEC approves new growth strategy

The National Economic Council (NEC) on Saturday approved a new strategy for growth prepared by Planning Commission of Pakistan. The new strategy will focus on both the governments and markets.
The approved strategy is based on sustained reform that builds efficient and knowledgeable governance structures, and markets in desirable, attractive and well-connected locations. It recognises the severe resource constraint that the country faces and therefore focuses on ‘productivity’ improving the efficiency with which assets are used. Global indicators such as competitiveness and cost of doing business also highlight factors such as management, innovation, quality of regulation and governance and research and development as the more immediate constraints to growth.
The thrust of this strategy, therefore, is to focus on the ‘software’ of economic growth (issues of economic governance, institutions, incentives, human resources, etc.) so as to provide an environment in which the ‘hardware’ of growth (physical infrastructure) could be expanded and made more productive at every level.
The growth strategy diagnostics point to two important constraints to economic growth i.e. inadequate market development, (lack of competition, tax, tariff and policy distortions, entry barriers, government involvement, poor regulation, etc.), and lack of efficient public sector management to (a) provide core governance goods such as security of life, property, transaction and contract, (b) facilitate markets and investment with informed policy and competent regulation, and (c) promote deepening of physical, human and social infrastructure.
The growth strategy is informed by the latest in economic thinking and seeks to strengthen both government and markets. It is not a ‘government versus markets’ approach but a ‘government and markets’ approach.
According to the strategy the economic growth is ensured through the accumulation of labour and capital and through the efficient allocation of these assets—known as Total Factor Productivity (TFP).
The contribution of productivity in the growth of Pakistan’s GDP has been less than impressive. Labour productivity in Pakistan is growing at a comparatively lower rate than neighbouring countries.
Our analysis and consultations have shown poor governance and dysfunctional markets to be among the most important reasons why growth in Pakistan has not achieved a sustained acceleration.
Currently the government is an active player in every sector, as a direct market participant and competitor, obstructing private sector entry. Research by the Competition Commission of Pakistan has also established that government intervention is impeding the development of competitive markets. Better government should be established following a two-pronged approach a) reorienting the role of government—which focuses on an exit from markets and deeper deregulation, and b) improving public sector management—which includes reforming civil service, improving resource mobilisation, elimination of untargeted subsidies (particularly to loss-making public sector enterprises), efficient public investment through results-based management.
While announcing export promotion in some sectors, policy has relied heavily on import substitution in others. Consumers have paid the price for these policies through taxation for export subsidies and through high prices and sacrifice of quality goods where import substitution policies prevail. Meanwhile, innovation and entrepreneurship have suffered as the incentives are skewed in favour of lobbyists (rent seekers) rather than reliance on competitive markets.
The growth strategy presents a clear road map for developing vibrant markets. Public enterprise reform and privatisation where necessary, will make space for increased entrepreneurship. Several markets require the government to move from producing and directly participating in markets to just regulation. For example, the current regulatory framework represses domestic commerce (retailing, warehousing, and transport) and construction and city development.
Direct participation of government in agriculture, storage, transport, construction, to name a few, is stifling investment. Openness and city development combined with focused public sector management would go a long way towards developing innovative markets.
Commercial activity requires well-connected cities and communities. Connectivity is critical stratagem of the growth framework. While our PSDP has built physical infrastructure, given significant fiscal constraints, private investors should be encouraged to participate in development projects.
Pakistan will have to keep pace with trends in international connectivity. This will require strong efforts. Government should also pass electronic signatures act, which should provide legal cover to the use of digital IDs. The use of ICT services, if encouraged across the board in the public and private sectors can greatly reduce the costs related to transport and logistics.

Taliban, the US, Pakistan and the future

Last week started with yet another disgrace inflicted upon Pakistan’s security forces in particular and the entire nation in general by the militants our armed forces are fighting or not fighting in the northwest of the country. With every coming day a new slur came about from the terrorists — all against the people and/or forces of Pakistan.

The day PNS Mehran’s siege was broken by the SSG commandos, a drone strike in Mir Ali near Miranshah in North Waziristan killed seven militants while Rashakai Bridge in Nowshera was blasted with a remote-controlled bomb the same day. On the same eventful day, Mangal Bagh’s Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) group clashed with Zakhakhel volunteers in Zakhakhel area near Landikotal, ending up with three dead. Five more were killed on this day in Parachinar during a gun battle between two tribes. LI militants had been fighting the tribesmen from Zakhakhel for quite some time for deserting it. The fierce tribal battle goes on without any security force daring to even go to that area.

A day later, at least eight people were killed and more than 40 were injured in a pre-dawn suicide attack on a CID police station at University Road, Peshawar. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, claiming it was their fourth reprisal for the death of Osama bin Laden. The next day, a suicide bomber blew up a car laden with explosives at a checkpoint close to the Hangu Police Station and Hangu DPO Office, killing 32 people and wounding 60 others, as the Taliban vowed no reprieve in their quest to avenge the US killing of Osama bin Laden. We are still on Thursday and the Taliban fired a mortar bomb at a military checkpoint in North Waziristan Agency with no casualties. The attack happened near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, which remains a hothouse of support for al Qaeda and allied Taliban terrorists.

If you are thinking that all this was happening without Pakistan’s security forces taking any action, you are obviously wrong. Pakistani fighter jets, on Friday, pounded terrorist hideouts in “...the country’s northwest”, as a newspaper reports, killing 23 suspected terrorists. Where this happened was not in South and North Waziristan. It was in Parachinar, the same place where the LI has been busy killing Zakhakhel volunteers. But strange is the fact that the only noticeable and condemnation-worthy incident for some politicians was the drone strike in Miranshah.

Just three weeks after the US’s unilateral operation in Abbottabad that killed Osama without taking Pakistan into confidence, a deadly attack on Pakistan’s naval base in Karachi shook the security machinery just as it shook Pakistanis’ confidence in their armed forces. National response remained as confused as ever. Major sections of the media and some political parties once again tried their best to confuse the masses by blaming it on the ‘foreign hand’. That the targeted P-3C Orion aircraft were India-specific (a claim that remains refutable) was used as ‘evidence’ to establish it as a job done by India. It all was happening despite Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP’s) claiming responsibility.

And just when all of this was happening during the last week, UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark Sedwill, informed the media that the Taliban leadership was engaged in talks with various stakeholders with the full backing of the US with the sole aim of finding a solution to the Afghan problem from within. The proposal for ‘solution from within’ was accepted by Pakistan when its Foreign Secretary briefed the media. He reiterated that Pakistan would support a solution owned and led by the Afghans. He also said that Pakistan was interested in stability and peace in Afghanistan and that it supported a sovereign, independent and unified Afghanistan. Now that is something new, and interesting. Seems a sharp change in Pakistan’s Afghan policy is in the offing.Another interesting development was the Taliban’s statement whereby they vowed not to attack Pakistan’s nukes. The statement came after the strong concerns raised by India and the US alike, after the disgraceful failure of Pakistan’s security forces to defend its own military assets in Karachi last Sunday. The concerns took serious height when many news reports pointed to the radicalisation of the armed forces of Pakistan, fears of the existence of extremists and militants within the ranks of the security forces, and a strong suspicion of the naval base attack as an inside job or at least supported by some insiders. It was rather interesting that the Taliban, who have been and supposedly are fighting our security forces, came to the rescue of Pakistan’s military establishment and readily pledged publicly that they were not eyeing Pakistan’s nukes. Meaning, thereby, that the world should stop worrying about Pakistan’s nuclear assets and keep playing the game.

In continuation of what Mark Sedwill said last Thursday, the process leading to ‘meaningful’ talks between the Taliban and the US went on and in fact got new impetus when reports came in of a meeting between US officials and some Taliban leaders held in Germany a week ago to facilitate the process. At a dinner thrown by the US Embassy on Thursday, when I asked a senior US diplomat how he would sum the process up, all he had to say was that the US was not seeking a Taliban-led government in Afghanistan post-2014. I explained that there were people in Pakistan who had been against any negotiations between the Taliban or al Qaeda and the state of Pakistan.

This opposition dates back to 2003 when we had started voicing concerns loudly about the duality of the then dictator, supported by the US. We were still against the negotiations in 2004 when they broke down after Nek Mohammad’s killing. We did not support it even in 2006 and 2007 when half a dozen new agreements were broken by the Taliban and other militant factions in the tribal belt. We did not support even the present government when it sought an agreement with them in Swat in 2008. Time has amply proved how right was our opposition to any settlement with the terrorists. The US taking the same course now is not going to end up in a winning situation for either party.

It is neither a win nor a viable exit strategy for NATO. All it will produce is, let me warn all the stakeholders, a repeat of the 1990s — fierce radicalisation and civil war in Afghanistan that would overflow the Durand Line to the detriment of Pakistan. A Pakistan in turmoil means a South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East and — not kidding — an America in turmoil. The small jihadi groups incubated to tackle India have grown into formidable global militant organisations. Their agendas converge so perfectly while Pakistan and the US can still not work out their points of convergence. A pity that Pakistan’s politicians are fast taking on the establishment’s ride. Bad politics, bad strategy, bad future.