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| December 05, 2007 | Wednesday | Ziqa'ad 24, 1428 |
Greater rights for disabled
As the dust settles in Swat
OTHER VOICES - European Press
The alleged lack of impartiality of the caretaker administration as the minimum common denominator on which Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif agree should add to President Musharraf’s worries, or show him the light ahead, depending on whether he sees it as a threat or as an opportunity to make amends. Any election held under the circumstances will not be acceptable to the entire opposition, save perhaps Maulana Fazlur Rahman. What credibility an election which only the erstwhile ruling party and its officially designated leader of the opposition regard as free and fair will have is anybody’s guess. The maulana is not even keeping up appearances, little as Haji Saifullah Khan did while representing a friendly opposition in Gen Ziaul Haq’s Majlis-i-Shoora of the 1980s, the assembly in which Junejo emerged as the prime minister. The general got away with it then because he had kept his military uniform on — a dubious advantage that Mr Musharraf has had to deny himself.
BY agreeing in their meeting in Islamabad to put together a ‘charter of demands’, Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif have questioned the credibility of the current caretaker setup and the election commission. It is heartening that the two former prime ministers are still willing that their parties contest the Jan 8 election, provided it is free and fair. Their coming together should serve as a wake-up call for the president. The pitch has been more than queered by the election commission’s rejection of nomination papers filed by the Sharif brothers, and neither is willing to contest the decision because of a total distrust of the authorities concerned. Ms Bhutto’s criticism of the barring of the Sharifs from the polls means that her party will settle for little less than complete transparency of the process, should it take part in the election. The ball, as she said, was now in the regime’s court.
The Bhutto-Sharif meeting was also an indication that a certain amount of badly needed maturity has come to stabilise their rocky relations since the formation of the APDM for chasing what Ms Bhutto calls a ‘common goal’, and despite the many differences that remain between them. A shared distrust of the caretaker rulers has led Ms Bhutto to step down from her earlier stance that she would not be part of any negotiations involving the religious parties. For his part, Mr Sharif too refrained from rubbing in the APDM’s known position on boycotting the election, pending an assessment of the two sides’ positions on the issue by a mutually approved eight-member committee. It is clear that for the election to have any transparency the government will have to re-think the composition of the current caretaker setup and the rules governing the election commission. This is the least expected to be demanded by the combined opposition in its ‘charter of demands’. President Musharraf’s response to the demands will decide how important it is for him to have any credibility attached to the next parliament.
IT is a pity that the gap between promise and performance in Pakistan makes it difficult to believe political leaders when they talk about improving the lives of the disadvantaged. In this context, while there is no doubt that the instructions issued to the union councils by Karachi’s naib nazim, Nasreen Jalil, to carry out a survey of people with disabilities make sense, it is uncertain whether this exercise will be undertaken. If such a survey is conducted — on a countrywide basis — it would show that the government is keen to obtain more comprehensive data regarding those with physical and mental disabilities in order to reinforce existing polices and legislation on the subject or introduce new ones. Unfortunately, the political will to do so is lacking as evident by the delay in signing and ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. There has also been little effort by the government to pursue the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities, 2002, or to implement existing legislation including the employment quota for the handicapped.
In its failure to take the lead in creating awareness about the rights of the handicapped, the government has sent out negative signals to many society members for whom mentally and physically impaired relatives are a burden and a source of embarrassment. It is this mindset that needs to be changed if the disabled population is to become a part of the mainstream and make useful contributions to society. For reformed attitudes to evolve, more governmental action is needed to make it easy for handicapped people to get about, work and enjoy themselves. Providing ramps in buildings, special seats in buses, and volunteers to aid them in their work besides including sign language on entertainment and news channels on TV are some ways of boosting their confidence and ensuring that the disabled participate fully in public life. This, in turn, will change the outlook of those who see the handicapped as ‘different’, even inferior to themselves. It will also encourage the handicapped to demand their rights to a lifestyle that is not obstructed by deficient facilities or negative attitudes.
WITH the media dependent largely on military claims and official handouts, verifying the reality on the ground is easier said than done. Parts of Swat have been reduced to a war zone in recent days with strict curfews in place even in areas that escaped shelling and intense fighting. In circumstances as tense and trying as these, details remain sketchy and roving reporters are understandably conspicuous by their absence. But now, almost three weeks into the all-out army assault on militants who had come to control the valley as well as an adjoining district, a clearer picture is beginning to emerge. As the dust settles and curfews are relaxed, one thing is beyond doubt: Fazlullah’s militants have come off worst and the state is beginning to re-establish its writ, at least in the towns. Many strategically vital hilltop locations have also been cleared of militants. The ground offensive backed by aerial bombardment has worked and delivered the desired result in the short term. This is a welcome development and remembrance is due to the soldiers who laid down their lives to make it possible.
Much will now depend on how the local administration and the armed forces plan to maintain the peace. While dozens of militants have reportedly been killed and captured, most have opted for a tactical retreat in the face of overwhelming odds. The whereabouts of their misguided leader, Fazlullah, are still unknown. In many instances the militants were not overrun but chose to vacate their positions without firing anything more than a symbolic round or two. One school of thought believes they could be crossing into Dir for onward movement towards the tribal areas and temporary refuge amongst well-wishers. There they could regroup and as such the threat of future militancy persists. It remains to be seen whether the security forces will give chase or instead focus on fortifying their gains and positions. In any case, Swat and the adjoining settled districts must not be abandoned when normality returns. Commitment to the long haul is vital, to ensure that Fazlullah’s brand of madness is never allowed to dominate the valley ever again. Tackling the tribal areas is another story altogether.
Tighter deadlines
Ukrainian politics are in a limbo and moving at a snail’s pace. No one appears to be in a rush to take the government’s reins. Every imaginable faction is fighting to promote its interests and secure government posts. This battle involves pulling every political stunt and manoeuvre to secure one’s own interests.
This is called political pornography because it involves pandering to television cameras and indulging in selfish motives, instead of offering voters a meaningful political process.
Raisa Bohatyryova of the Party of Regions declared the next parliamentary session on Nov 29 instead of Nov 27. Yuriy Yekhanurov of Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defence wants to cancel seven points of the Democratic Forces Coalition agreement, and rewrite 25 other points. The faction loyal to Viktor Baloha opted to boycott a Nov 27 party council meeting to resolve differences over the coalition agreement.Given that political porno is inevitable in Ukrainian politics, it’s time to tighten the deadlines these politicians have to form a government following elections. The Ukrainian Constitution currently stipulates a month for the first parliamentary session to convene, a month for a coalition agreement to be signed, and another month for a prime minister to be elected.
Lawmakers should trim these deadlines significantly, and get to business. — (Nov 29)
An error of judgment
Alfred Sant must have regretted his decision not to take part in last Friday’s edition of Xarabank, although he will never say so…. the two-hour plus programme turned out to be a good promotional campaign for the government. Had Dr Sant been there, one hour would have been his.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi… could therefore explain, in great detail, what the government has achieved, what it is doing now and what it plans for the future.
The journalists who were invited to field questions, tried their best to put the Prime Minister in a corner, but he managed to emerge from it without much difficulty every time.
Except for the question about divorce — on which Dr Gonzi did not commit himself, but turned the subject around to say what the government is doing to help cohabiting couples, and to protect individuals who find themselves abandoned by their partners.
He was always ready with his answers…. For example, the way he tackled the question on the cost of living — proving that the prices of products during Dr Sant’s 22-month premiership had risen more than they had done in the past nine years — showed that Labour’s campaign could backfire, particularly if the PN continues to insist on figures such as those provided by Dr Gonzi last Friday.— (Dec 4)