Posts Tagged ‘Budget’

£400 for animal-rescue in Britain

PET owners whose cats get stuck up trees will be forced to pay £400 an hour for help from firefighters under new budget-cutting measures.
Callers using the non-emergency line in the West Midlands will have to cover their own costs from Monday, as part of a scheme to slash spending.
Households battling floods will also be ordered to pay for any call-out, in a bid to save up to …

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Cabinet to mull reopening NATO supplies

ISLAMABAD: The cabinet will meet next week to discuss ending a nearly six-month blockade on NATO supplies into Afghanistan, officials said Friday.

Tuesday’s meeting will also debate how and whether to repair relations with the United States in time to attend a key NATO summit later this month.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani is understood to have confirmed the date for the meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet from London, where he is on an official visit to Britain, the second-largest contributor to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Pakistan shut its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies after US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26, provoking a major crisis in Pakistani-US relations still reeling from the raid that killed Osama bin Laden the previous May.

US officials expressed regret, but stopped short of apologising for the deaths that an American and NATO investigation said stemmed from mistakes made on both sides.

“A meeting of the defence committee of the cabinet has been convened on May 15. It will be followed by cabinet meeting on May 16,” said one senior government official.

Diplomats have been keen to resolve the impasse between Islamabad and Washington before the NATO summit on Afghanistan in Chicago on May 21-22, to which Islamabad has been invited.

“The meetings will discuss whether Pakistan should reopen the NATO supply route or not, and if Islamabad should attend the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago,” another official told AFP.

“These are very critical issues, which need a serious discussion,” he added.

Gilani will chair the talks, to be attended by Pakistan’s service chiefs, including head of the army General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI intelligence head, Zaheer ul Islam, as well as Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, the defence, interior and finance ministers.

“This is an important meeting and it will decide about the future of Pakistan-US relations,” the senior government official told AFP.

Officials declined to say publicly when the NATO supply route could reopen despite local press reports that Pakistan and the United States are on the verge of a breakthrough.

“We are discussing it on a technical level, it is under discussion but let me say again – no final decision has been taken yet,” foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan told AFP.

On Saturday, Pakistan hosts the highest-level talks with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Afghan military for a year, a further sign that momentum is building towards easing the deadlock.

US General John Allen, the ISAF commander in Afghanistan and Afghan army chief, General Sher Muhammad Karimi, will attend the talks at army headquarters in Rawalpindi, the military said.

“Talks will focus on enhancing efficiency of border coordination measures along the Pak-Afghan border and to improve multilateral mechanisms at operational and tactical levels,” the military said.

Parliament last month approved new guidelines on relations with the United States, including a call for an end to drone strikes.

Analysts believe Islamabad has no choice but to reopen the border when US back-payments for fighting militants in the northwest, as part of the Coalition Support Fund, are needed to help boost state coffers ahead of the next budget.

Some officials are concerned by reported moves by a US House of Representatives panel to deny $800 million in aid to train and equip the Pakistani army in counter-insurgency.

“Pressure is coming, not only from Britain (given Gilani’s visit to London) but from other key international players in Afghanistan for reopening the route,” political analyst Hasan Askari said.

“I think the government should tell the US that we are conditionally reopening the route but that we will continue talking about other critical issues, such as drone strikes and readjustments (back payments) of the Coalition Support Fund,” Askari told AFP.

Reducing the risks: Ambitious plans crafted to tackle floods

On Thursday, the head of the National Disaster Management Authority, Dr Zafar Qadir, outlined the authority’s long and short-term plans, many of which appear daunting given the record of the government’s response in past disasters.

Under the short-term plan, 29 districts have been identified as facing “a probability of flooding” in the coming monsoons. Dr Qadir listed them as Badin, Thatta, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allah Yar, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Umerkot, Tharparkar and Dadu from Sindh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, Layyah, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Bhakkar, Mianwali and Faisalabad from Punjab, Musa Khel, Loralai, Barkhan, Kalat and Lasbela in Balochistan and Nowshera, Charsadda, Swat, Mardan, Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

To curb the threat in those districts, the federal and provincial governments have been asked to reserve specific amounts in their budgets for disaster relief. According to Qadir, the provinces had been told to prepare for a worst case scenario and reminded that the implementation of disaster management falls under the provincial government’s mandate following the passage of the 18th amendment.

Outlining the authority’s long-term plans, Qadir said the NDMA has drafted a disaster risk reduction policy proposing climate change and disasters be viewed as inter-linked. The draft policy recommends scrutiny of all proposed mega-projects by experts to evaluate any potential impact on climate-related calamities.

The policy also proposes introducing disaster risk insurance for poverty-stricken areas vulnerable to natural disasters. Dr Qadir told reporters that the disaster risk reduction policy is all set to be sent to the cabinet.

He disclosed that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) has agreed to provide $1.5 million for installing telemetry systems to monitor all watercourses across the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2012.

Round table debate: Medical council and drugs authority to stay under Islamabad

KARACHI: Representatives of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) along with the civil and legal community passed a resolution to keep the two bodies federally regulated instead of transferring powers to provinces.

This was decided at an open-ended roundtable discussion on the status of the PMDC and DRA after the 18th Amendment. The event was organised by the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) at PMA House on Wednesday.

Doctors and speakers agreed that both PMDC and DRA should be federally regulated whereas the implementation could be handed over to the provinces.

The PMA Centre general secretary, Dr Mirza Ali Azhar, pointed out that although it may be early to take up the issue, the medical community is being proactive since the Sindh health minister has already asked the federal government to transfer the two bodies to the province under the 18th Amendment.

The consensus was that such a move would be suicidal for both the departments. The division of PMDC, which regulates medical education, would result in different curriculums for different provinces. Doctors said that would provide innumerable opportunities for corruption such as opening up new medical colleges to make money.

Similarly, provincial DRAs would create an issue of different medicines, different prices and different rules for issuance of licences in each province.

Former minister of law and human rights activist, Iqbal Haider, said that parliament did not consider the issues that would arise after the transfer of education and health to provinces. According to the constitution, the right to make laws lies with the bodies, said Haider while offering to file a case against this issue.

All in favour say aye

The Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) chairperson, Haroon Qasim, brought up the ordinance to keep the two bodies under federal regulation which was passed by President Asif Ali Zardari on February 16, 2012. He said that it needs to be made into a law for full effect.

Haider advised the doctors to get the promulgated ordinance passed before the budget session otherwise it would be delayed further. His suggestion was unanimously agreed upon and a resolution to this effect was passed after the debate.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2012.

US committee bill places conditions upon aid to Pakistan

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The House Armed Services Committee bill has demanded Pakistan openly support the US in the fight against terrorism. -File Photo

WASHINGTON: The US House Armed Services Committee has placed strict conditions on the financial and military assistance being given out to Pakistan.

The committee, in the defence budget bill, asked Pakistan to openly support America in the war against terror. It further asked Pakistan to stop the supply of explosive materials used in IED’s to Afghanistan.

The American authorities maintained that the explosives, that were being sent to Afghanistan via Pakistan, were responsible for the deaths and injuries to American troops and that this situation is totally unacceptable to the US.

The said defence budget bill, that already is supported by the representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties, would be presented in the next session.

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Via DAWN.com

US panel links Pak aid to Nato supply

LAHORE – A key US Congressional Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly passed the bill that imposes conditions on Pakistan for receiving American economic and military aid which will depend on the action Islamabad takes against terrorists and the menace of improvised explosive devices.
The Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) 2013, which determines the defence budget for the fiscal 2013, was approved …

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House panel backs $642 billion US defense bill

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The Republican-controlled House will vote on the spending blueprint next week, but is expected to get stiff resistance from the Democrat-controlled Senate. -File Photo

WASHINGTON: The House Armed Services Committee on Thursday overwhelmingly backed a $642 billion US defense bill that calls for construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, restores aircraft and ships slated for early retirement and ignores the Pentagon’s cost-saving request for another round of domestic base closings.    

Despite the clamor for fiscal discipline, the committee crafted a military spending blueprint that’s $8 billion more than the level President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to last summer in the deficit-cutting law. The panel vote early Thursday morning was 56-5.

Rep. Howard ”Buck” McKeon, the Republican chairman of the committee, said in a statement that the legislation meets his goal of ”keeping faith with American’s men and women in uniform; restoring fiscal sanity to a defense budget that is inconsistent with the threats America faces and rebuilding a force after a decade of war.”

The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote on the spending blueprint next week, but the legislation will be significantly changed in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where lawmakers are sticking to the lower spending level.

Over hours of sometimes testy debate, the committee backed construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, rejecting Pentagon arguments that the facility is unnecessary and Democratic complaints that the nearly $5 billion project amounts to wasteful spending in a time of tight budgets.

Republicans insisted that the site is necessary in the event that Iran or North Korea develops an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of attacking the East Coast.

Democrats countered that throwing billions of dollars at a missile defense system plagued by failures made no sense, especially when the threat from the two nations is highly uncertain and many in Washington are demanding fiscal discipline.

This ”would be spending up to $5 billion in the next three years on a missile defense system that doesn’t work,” said Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat who offered an amendment to eliminate the project from the Republican-backed bill.

The chief proponent of constructing the site, Rep. Michael Turner, a Republican, said, ”We need to proceed with missile defense whether this president wants to or not.”

On a largely party-line vote, the panel rejected Garamendi’s effort, 33-28. Since the mid-1980s, the Pentagon has spent nearly $150 billion on missile defense programs and envisions another $44 billion over the next five years. But it is not looking to construct a facility on the East Coast.

Gen. Charles Jacoby, the head of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, told Congress earlier this year, ”Today’s threats do not require an East Coast missile field, and we do not have plans to do so.”
The progress of Iranian and North Korean programs remains unclear. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of using its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Iran insists it is producing nuclear energy.

North Korea suffered a failed rocket launch last month when its Unha-3 rocket broke apart, raising questions about the immediate threat to the United States from a North Korean long-range missile.

Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, the head of the US missile defense program, told Congress recently that North Korea lacks the testing for a capable system and has made little progress in its spaceflight program.

Nevertheless, the committee envisions construction of the site by the end of 2015, with the Pentagon deciding on a possible location. The bill includes $100 million to study three potential sites.

The committee rejected the Pentagon’s call to mothball 18 Air Force Global Hawk drones, and it restored four Navy cruisers slated for early retirement in next year’s budget.

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Via DAWN.com

US bill attaches strings to Pakistan aid

WASHINGTON – A US Congressional Committee in its budgetary proposals for the year 2013 has prohibited economic and security assistance to Pakistan till it cooperates with the US in the fight against terrorism and takes action against groups like Haqqani network, Taliban, al Qaeda, LeT and JeM.
‘The legislation prohibits economic and security assistance unless the government of Pakistan is …

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PPP preparing election-oriented budget

 KARACHI – In the run-up to the general elections, due in 2013, the PPP-led Sindh government is drafting the next budget with a perspective to raise itself more stakes by allocating more funds to lawmakers for uplift schemes. With Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah in the chair, a meeting at the CM’s Secretariat on Wednesday advised and instructed the Finance, Planning & …

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US bill prohibits aid to Pak till it cooperates on terror war

A US Congressional committee in its budgetary proposals for the year 2013 has prohibited economic and security assistance to Pakistan till it co-operates with the US in the fight against terrorism and takes action against groups like Haqqani network, Taliban, al-Qaida, LeT and JeM.
“The legislation prohibits economic and security assistance unless the government of Pakistan is cooperating with …

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India raising offensive corps: Antony

NEW DELHI – India is raising an offensive corps and taking other steps to gear up its preparedness along China border to meet the challenges, Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said as he pitched for a substantial hike in defence budget to meet this changing threat perception, reported PTI on Tuesday.
Terming the growing military ties between Pakistan and China a ‘cause of worry’, he …

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Shujhaat cautions Nawaz against politics of destabilisation

Muslim League-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Tuesday said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif should avoid the politics of long march and destabilisation against the democratic process.

He advised the PML-N chief to end confusion and come out with a clear stance.

Speaking to a private news channel, Shujaat said that only masses can resolve the current crisis through the power of voting however general elections would be held in March, 2013.

He said that the fifth budget would also be presented by the current coalition government.

The PML-Q chief said that his party had shared its concerns with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership on creation of Hazara province, adding, his party would soon table a resolution for creation of the province.

Hussain refused to accept the prime minister as a convicted person and said PM Gilani cannot be declared a convicted person till a decision is made on his appeal.

Replying to a question, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that it makes no difference whether Nawaz Sharif accepts the prime minister or not.

He said Sharif brothers have committed contempt of court because they themselves are involved in defaming the judiciary by storming the Supreme Court.

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Via DAWN.com

Gilani to exhaust all means to have a fair trial

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani talks to media representatives on board from Islamabad to London on Tuesday. – Photo by APP

ON BOARD PM’S AIRCRAFT: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said he would not be coerced to move out of the office through unconstitutional means, and would exhaust all means to have a fair trial.

“I have no yearning to stick to the power, but I will take it to finality and exhaust all avenues,” Gilani told a team of journalists accompanying him to the United Kingdom on a five-day visit.

He said the constitution has explicitly spelt out ways to remove a prime minister and no one can force him out.

Prime Minister Gilani was asked about the stance taken by him on the issue of non-implementation of the Supreme Court’s order and the subsequent conviction for contempt.

Gilani said all his decisions were in line with the constitution.

He said he believed that under Article 248 (1), he enjoyed complete immunity and he only did what he thought was the right thing.

“I took all decisions to the best of my abilities and in line with the rules and procedures, and in good faith,” he said and added “I am proud that I fought for the constitution of Pakistan.”

He said his coalition government enjoyed a two-thirds majority and its partners stood by it through thick and thin.

“Why should I fear those who are against the constitution,” he said.

He said he has the right to appeal, once the detailed judgment is announced, than the matter of his disqualification or not would go to the Speaker National Assembly and finally to the Chief Election Commissioner.

“But we must also see what happened to the decision taken by the Election Commission against Waheeda Shah, who has disqualified, but the Sindh High Court stayed the decision,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister when asked, dismissed the campaign launched against him by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and said they were merely playing to the galleries.

“If they are genuinely interested that I move out of the way, they have to resign from the assemblies, and join Imran Khan and others, otherwise there is no other way.”

He said if the PML-N and others do join hands, only then they might be able to have some impact.

“But if they are not together, there is a real threat (for them) that me might be back in power,” he said.

Gilani said he was hurt by the language used by the PML-N leaders against him and said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) never reacted in the same way. He said even though PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif got a sentence for nine years and had to stay out of the country, yet this was never played up by the ruling party.

He also recalled that Sharif, when he was the prime minister, was also fined for Rs 1500 for a traffic violation on the motorway, but no one at that time termed him as a convict.

He urged the PML-N to do only what was practically achievable and said their desire of acting as an opposition, while being in government would not take them far. He said they were trying to kill two birds with a stone.

About the long march against the government, Gilani warned that if one of the federating units launches a movement against another, it was tantamount to be an act of treason.

Regarding the Siraiki province, he said any measures to stop the demand can create a movement against the Punjab government. He also mentioned the turnout figures of some recent protest marches and showed a visible surprise over the low turnout.

He said for the time being reconciliation was the only way forward as the politics of long and short marches succeeded only against dictators and not any democratic governments.

When asked about the options left for the opposition to oust him, Gilani said all they can do is to either resign or to wait for the next general elections that would be held once the government completes its term.

He said the whole issue was to somehow prevent the government from going ahead with the budget, which would be the fifth by the present democratic government and the first in country’s history.

Asked whether he saw any threat to his government from Rawalpindi, Gilani said there was now an atmosphere in the country that favoured democracy and would not support any misadventure, as the people, the media and the international community all stood for a democratic system.

About his letter to the Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for the appointment of a new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gilani said he wanted to go ahead as the government could announce the new general election and a caretaker setup has to be put in place, and a person to look after the entire process.

He said that Nisar has said he would get back to him after consultation with his party chief Nawaz Sharif, but in the end said that he did not recognise him a prime minister. He said now the matter was with the committee and it would decide about the new CEC.

The Prime Minister also mentioned that the Punjab government was also not willing to implement the decision to have two holidays in a week as it does not seem serious in energy conservation and wants to exploit the situation.

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Via DAWN.com

World stocks diverge

PARIS, May 7: World stocks diverged and the euro wavered on Monday as investors fretted over what direction the eurozone debt crisis would take after voters in Greece and France turned against German-led austerity.

The Paris stock exchange’s CAC 40 index had opened down 1.52 per cent, amid concerns that EU voters are hardening their opposition to deficit-cutting austerity programmes, but later rallied to show a 0.68 per cent gain in afternoon trading.

Shares in Italy and Spain, countries with huge sovereign debt exposures, also switched gears with Madrid’s IBEX 35 index up a sharp 1.90 per cent and Milan 1.63 per cent higher.

But in Germany, the eurozone powerhouse and paymaster, shares persisted in negative territory with Frankfurt’s DAX 30 down 0.14 per cent. London’s exchange was closed for a holiday.

Stocks in Athens plunged 7.78 per cent after Greece’s mainstream parties fell short of a governing majority, putting hard won agreements to save the country’s economy and membership of the eurozone back into question.

US stocks opened modestly lower with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.37 per cent, the S&P 500 losing 0.24 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq off 0.34 per cent.

In Asia, stocks slumped with Tokyo diving 2.78 per cent and Hong Kong down 2.61 per cent, hit by the European votes as well as weak jobs data from the United States at the end of last week.

The euro fell to $1.2954, the lowest level since late January, but then rallied to $1.3033 at 1230 GMT, but still below $1.3082 in New York late on Friday.

“The global financial markets aren’t thrilled by the idea that France and Greece have voted for governments less willing to work with the Germans on a consistent approach to addressing their fiscal deficits,” said Dick Green.

As trading opened, the interest rate on France’s benchmark 10-year bonds rose and the difference between interest rates on French and German debt, a critical measure of tension in the eurozone, widened slightly.

But the trend changed direction later with the French yield dipping to 2.79 per cent at around 1230 GMT below Friday’s closing rate of 2.809 per cent.

France later raised nearly eight billion euros in short-term debt, with rates falling on two maturities.

But the German government ruled out reworking the European Union’s fiscal pact despite calls for including growth measures by Hollande.

Sarkozy and Merkel had led a strident drive for budget cuts across Europe as the key for the region to emerge from the debt crisis.

Meanwhile ratings agency Standard and Poor’s, which had stripped France of its top triple-A rating in January, said Hollande’s victory would have no immediate impact on its rating or outlook.—AFP

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Socialist Hollande ousts Sarkozy in French vote

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A supporter of Socialist Party (PS) candidate for the 2012 French presidential election Francois Hollande waves a party flag on May 6, 2012 outside the party’s headquarters following the announcement of the estimated results of the second round of Presidential election. -AFP Photo

PARIS: Francois Hollande was elected France’s first Socialist president in nearly two decades on Sunday, dealing a humiliating defeat to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and shaking up European politics.

The result will have major implications for Europe as it struggles to emerge from a financial crisis and for France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy and a nuclear-armed permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Hollande won the vote with about 52 per cent, according to several estimates from polling firms based on ballot samples, becoming France’s first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995.

Joyful crowds gathered in Hollande’s adopted hometown of Tulle and in Paris to celebrate his victory.

“We are rid of a poison that was blighting our society. A normal president! It gives us a lot to dream about,” said Didier Stephan, a 70-year-old artist who was among throngs of supporters at Paris’s Place de la Bastille.

Even before polls closed and broadcasters released estimates, supporters were chanting “President Hollande!” and “We Won!” at the iconic square.

Sarkozy urged leaders of his right-wing UMP party to remain united after his defeat, but warned he would not lead it into June’s parliamentary elections, according to political sources present at a meeting at his headquarters.

Hollande led in opinion polls throughout the campaign and won the April 22 first round with 28.6 per cent to Sarkozy’s 27.2 per cent — making the right-winger the first-ever incumbent to lose in the first round.

Grey skies and rain showers greeted voters across much of France, but turnout was high, hitting 71.96 per cent at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) according to interior ministry figures. More than 46 million people were eligible to vote.

The election was marked by fears over European Union-imposed austerity and economic globalisation, and Hollande has said his first foreign meeting will be with German Chancellor Angela Merkel — the key driver of EU budget policy.

The 57-year-old Socialist has vowed to renegotiate the hard-fought fiscal austerity pact signed by EU leaders in March and to make it focus more on growth, but is facing resistance from Merkel.

The French vote coincides with an election in Greece, where voters were also expected to punish the incumbent parties for landing the country in its bleak economic state.

Anger over sputtering economies has brought down leaders from Ireland to Portugal since the debt crisis washed over the European continent.

Hollande has said he will move quickly to implement his traditionally Socialist tax-and-spend programme, which calls for boosting taxes on the rich, increasing state spending and hiring some 60,000 teachers.

Sarkozy fought a fierce campaign, saying a victory for Hollande would spark market panic and financial chaos and calling him a “liar” and “slanderer” in the final days of the race.

But Sarkozy failed to overcome deep-rooted anger at meagre economic growth and increasing joblessness, and disappointment after he failed to live up to the promises of his 2007 election.

Sarkozy, 57, was also deeply unpopular on a personal level, with many voters turned off by his flashy “bling bling” lifestyle — exemplified by his marriage to former supermodel Carla Bruni — and aggressive behaviour.

Hollande has vowed to be a “normal president” in contrast with Sarkozy, but some have raised concerns over his lack of experience.

Hollande, a long-time Socialist party leader and local lawmaker from the central Correze region, has never held a top government post.

The first round of the election last month was marked by a record score for Marine Le Pen of the far-right, anti-immigrant and anti-Europe National Front, when she took nearly 18 per cent of the vote.

Sarkozy turned increasingly to the right ahead of the run-off — vowing to restrict immigration and “defend French values” — but Le Pen refused to call on her supporters to back him and she cast a blank ballot.

Hollande won the backing of centrist Francois Bayrou, who took nine per cent in the first round, and Communist-backed Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Left Front, who took 11 per cent.

“This is a very big failure (for Sarkozy) against a candidate who has no experience in government,” said political analyst Stephane Rozes.

“It is not so much for the content of his policies that he has been punished, but for his way of being and acting,” Rozes said.

Hollande is expected to be sworn in by May 15 and after seeing Merkel will quickly set off for a series of international meetings, including a G8 summit in the US on May 18-19 and Nato gathering in Chicago on May 20-21.

The Socialists, Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP and France’s other political parties will now be focused on a parliamentary election to be held over two rounds on June 10 and June 17.

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PPP to adopt strategy after detailed SC verdict: Mukhtar

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar – APP (File Photo)

LAHORE: Federal Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said that the PPP will adopt a strategy after a detailed decision of the Supreme Court.

Talking to the media on Sunday, he said the PML-N had old relations with the judiciary, adding that everybody had relations but they should not be misused.

He said that nothing could be said until the detailed decision of Supreme Court.

“We will file an appeal after the Supreme Court announces its detailed decision,” he added.

He said the party stood by Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, adding that after the detailed verdict of the Supreme Court and on his return from abroad, the prime minister would decide his future plan according to his will.

“Elections will be held within six to eight months and would show the worth of every party. If we do not give right of way to Nato, we can face international restrictions,” he added.

He said Chaudhry Nisar should address the issue of the Election Commission. When asked about Pak-US defence deals, he said Pakistan had asked the US for joint and coordinated drone attacks but Washington refused.

He said the future of Babar Awan was like an ordinary lawyer, adding that he had taken some things for granted.

To a question, he said the defence budget would not be reduced and “we will try to balance it.”

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Via DAWN.com

Demand for South Punjab

LAHORE: While the demand for a separate South Punjab province has been making the rounds at discussions, editorials, and other forums for decades, it gained political traction in February 2011 after the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) parted ways with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) provincial government in the Punjab.

Between 2008 and 2011, when the PPP sat on treasury benches in the Punjab Assembly, it sided with the PML-N on knocking out resolutions pertaining to South Punjab province. PML-Q’s MPA Mohsin Leghari submitted tens of resolutions, in almost every session, but none were supported by the PPP.

After the fallout, PPP’s Co-Chairman, President Asif Ali Zardari, asked the party’s manifesto committee to prepare recommendations for a new province. The committee has held only one meeting since 2011, but never discussed the issue of South Punjab.

Gaining traction

Before being taken up by the leading parties, the PPP and the PML-N, the issue also lacked electoral support.

Leaders, like the Pakistan Seraiki Party’s President Barrister Taj Muhammad Langah, who have been most vocal about a Seraiki or South Punjab province, have never been elected to parliament or provincial assemblies.

The tide, however, turned around after the PML-N wrapped up the local government system in 2008, introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf under his regime.

As authority centered back in Lahore, the demand for South Punjab went from drawing rooms to the street.

Budget figures

At the 2010 budget speech in the Punjab Assembly, lawmakers from South Punjab protested on the floor of the house over the allocation of “Rs5 billion” for South Punjab.

Terming the amount “equivalent to Zakat,” the lawmakers lashed out at Rs21 billion spent on Raiwind road that leads to the Sharifs’ residence outside Lahore.

Chairman Planning Department of Punjab, however, refuted the claim.

Giving official figures to The Express Tribune, the chairman said the PML-N government increased the allocation of development budget to South Punjab from Rs22 billion in 2007-08, or 15% of total development allocation in the Punjab, to Rs70 billion in 2011-12, or 32% of total allocation.

The allocation, however, does not necessarily translate into disbursements which may be far lower.

Rhetoric versus action

The PML-N says the resolution in National Assembly is an attempt to deflect pressure on the government following conviction of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in a contempt case.

Analysts second that, saying the resolution is merely a political gimmick that attempts to cash in on public support on the issue in , what is widely perceived to be, an election year.

Caving out a new province will require a bill, not a resolution, they say, adding that a resolution has no legal weight and does not make South Punjab imperative. Since a new province would require amending the Constitution, the PPP, if it is serious about South Punjab, should have moved a bill.

What is the process? 

The process for amendment to the Constitution, which is essentially what a new province would entail, is laid out in Article 239 of the Constitution.

A bill has to be moved in either houses of parliament, National Assembly or Senate, and has to pass with a two-thirds majority in both. Any regular bill would then be sent to the president for endorsement but sub article 4 adds an extra provision for this case, which states: A bill to amend the Constitution which would have the effect of altering the limits of a province shall not be presented to the president for assent unless it has been passed by the provincial assembly of that province by the votes of not less than two-thirds of its total membership.

Few months ago, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement submitted a bill to remove the aforementioned clause. The bill, however, is pending in National Assembly secretariat and has not been entertained.

South Punjab, therefore, needs the assent of both – the PPP and the PML-N – if it has to become a reality under the current Constitution, and before the next election.

PML-N’s counter-proposals

The PML-N does not disagree on the creation of new provinces, but demands that they should be created on an “administrative basis” only.

The party, in its policy presented last year, has called for a commission, like the States Reorganisation Commission constituted in India in 1953, which should form new provinces after detailed study.

According to the PML-N’s manifesto committee, the party has plans for 13 new provinces in Pakistan; and while not much progress was seen on that front, the party was jolted into action on Friday.

Hours after PPP’s resolution was passed by the National Assembly, the PML-N submitted a counter resolution to the NA secretariat, calling for the creation of not one but four provinces – South Punjab, Bahawalpur, Fata and Hazara.

Sources in the party, however, say the PML-N’s stance on a prospective ‘Bahawalpur’ province is a political attempt to counter PPP’s demand of a ‘South Punjab’ province.

Bahawalpur versus South Punjab

While the debate on southern Punjab, until recently, focused on South Punjab versus Bahawalpur, PML-N’s resolution submitted on Friday now calls for creation of both.

The party is not the only one calling for a Bahawalpur province though.

Former information minister Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani, a leading figure in the movement for a separate Bahawalpur province, has demanded that the former princely state be given a provincial status.

It is the constitutional right of the people of Bahawalpur to have their own province, just like it is the right of the people of DI Khan and Multan to have their own province, Durrani said in a statement on Thursday.

Any effort to pitch the people of Bahawalpur against the people of DI Khan and Multan will fail, he added.

PML-Functional Punjab President Makhdoom Ahmad Mehmood has also demanded that Bahawalpur should be restored as a separate province, instead of inducting it into a Seraiki or South Punjab province.

Hazara province

Following through on its counter-proposal submitted to the NA secretariat on Friday, the PML-N submitted a resolution in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Secretariat, calling for forming the Hazara division a separate province. The resolution, filed on Friday, is signed by six lawmakers .

“Once it is carved into a new province, the revenue generated [through its resources] will be used on this region,” Muhammad Javed Abbasi told reporters. “It is very difficult to administer this division from Peshawar.”

The resolution states that the Hazara division is gifted with natural resources but unjust treatment by successive governments have led to feelings of depravation amongst the people.

“This provincial assembly asks the provincial government to recommend to the federal government to amend the Constitution of Pakistan to make Hazara a separate province,” the resolution reads.

Meanwhile, pro-Hazara province activists have called for a protest and sit-in in Islamabad on May 14, against the ignoring of their demands. Members of the Suba Hazara Tehrik criticised the PPP for ignoring the demand of Hazarawals at a meeting in Abbottabad on Friday, saying their demand is an administrative one in nature.

The road to Seraiki province

Pakistan Seraiki Party’s President Barrister Taj Muhammad Langah believes that creation of a Seraiki province is imperative, and a boundary commission should therefore be established immediately.

If the process is delayed, however, he has several short-term proposals to offer.

The Punjab Assembly could be divided informally into Punjab and Seraiki region, he said, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Members from the Seraiki regions in the Punjab Assembly should prepare budget proposals for their areas separately and allocation of funds to the Siraiki area should be based on population and the area’s contribution to the national economy, he said.

Similarly, the federation should have separate financial allocation in the budget, as well as in the NFC award, for a future Seraiki province, he added.

He proposed that until a separate province is created, the Punjab Assembly should, on temporary basis, be divided into two houses for legislation and development allocation purposes.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2012.