| 10 January 2004 | Saturday | 17 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
Iran-Egypt rapprochement
Well played, sir
The election Commission of Pakistan has done well to start the process of revising electoral rolls (voters' lists). The exercise, mandated to be carried out on an annual basis by Article 219 of the Constitution, has, for various reasons, not been done regularly in the past. Now with the Constitution fully restored and the issue of the Legal Framework Order out of the way, the revision of the voters' lists is necessitated also because the list used in the October 2002 general election was based on the one prepared a year earlier to conduct local elections.
It had many anomalies, foremost being the discrepancy in voters' eligible age. For the local bodies election a voter's qualifying age was 22 years, while the executive order under which the October election was held lowered the age limit to 18. The EC had given new eligible voters a few days' time to get themselves registered with it, but the deadline was not met by a majority of new voters who in turn could not exercise their right of franchise in the last general election.
The EC now says that it has updated the electoral rolls through a house-to-house survey, enlisting voters and covering a total of 1,900,000 households. The general public has thus been given a deadline of January 22, by which time voters have been asked to check the new lists in their respective areas and apply for rectification or enlistment where necessary.
The anomaly regarding the age limit set for eligible voters wishing to exercise their right of franchise in the local bodies and general election, however, remains.
This, the EC itself does not have the mandate to remove unless empowered to do so by an act of parliament. It makes no sense why the age limits should vary for elections held at different levels, and the sooner parliament takes up the issue the better.
Also, there exists another anomaly in the process of formulating electoral rolls. At the time of the last general election, the National Database and Registration Authority had announced with some pride that the electoral rolls had been prepared by it. The EC, however, had rejected the lists citing discrepancies, and used instead the voters' lists prepared a year earlier.
Now that the EC says that the latest electoral rolls are based on the findings of its house-to-house survey, one is left to wonder as to which system is more reliable - the manual collection of data by the EC or the computerized data prepared by Nadra. The objective of both the exercises is the same and it seems like a waste of national resources to duplicate the effort.
The EC, by its very mandate under the Election Commission Order of 2002, is an "independent and autonomous constitutional body charged with the function of conducting free, fair and impartial elections".
The constitutional requirement that it should update electoral rolls on an annual basis is a huge task for which it relies on its judicial officers, election commissioners and district registration officers throughout the country.
Its offices, however, do not seem to be that conspicuous and the general public is not aware as to the location of their nearest office where people can go and check the latest voters' lists. The EC would do well to publicize these locations though the national and local media. This should facilitate the public as well as the working of the EC, which can then truly claim to have more reliable and accurate electoral rolls.
Iran-Egypt rapprochement
One must welcome statements from Egyptian and Iranian leaders that the two countries intend to restore diplomatic relations. The breakthrough in relations after 25 years of alienation came when Presidents Hosni Mobarak and Mohammad Khatami met in Geneva last month. Since then Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Ali Ibtahi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher have confirmed that diplomatic ties are to be re-established soon.
The rupture in diplomatic relations came in 1979 after the monarchy was overthrown and a revolutionary government came to power in Tehran. The new Islamic regime developed serious reservations over the Camp David accord and Egypt's recognition of Israel. The situation worsened because of Egypt's support to Iraq in its war on Iran.
The assassination of Anwar Saadat made no difference to the situation, because Egypt continued to pursue the pro-American orientation of its foreign policy. Against this background, the moves towards reconciliation between two of the Middle East's key countries should be welcomed. As a gesture of goodwill, the Tehran municipality has decided to re-name the Khalid Eslamboli Avenue, named after Anwar Saadat's assassin.
While formal diplomatic ties may be established, it is unlikely that there will be any warmth in relations. Egypt remains firmly in the American camp, while Iran maintains a fiercely independent foreign policy. Also, Iran is one of Israel's most determined foes. An Egyptian rapprochement with Iran will also not go down well with the US, which considers Iran a rogue state and regards its support to Palestinian freedom movements, especially Hezbollah, on the same level as support to terrorism.
American relief work in Bam has had a somewhat softening effect on the people of Iran, but the US does not seem to be in a mood to call off its Iran-bashing. On Iran's nuclear programme also, Washington and Tel Aviv have adopted a highly negative attitude. Nevertheless, a rapprochement between Egypt and Iran should be welcomed. As Mr Ibtahi put it correctly, it will help the Palestinian cause and strengthen Islamic unity.
Well played, sir
Steve Waugh's epoch-making career came to an end with a match-saving knock against India at his home-ground in Sydney where he lived up to his title as the 'Ice Man'.
Playing in the challenging atmosphere of today's cricket, he blended tradition with change and set a pattern that will serve as a model for years to come. While it will be unfair to compare him with the peerless Don Bradman or some other greats who have worn the Australian colours, his achievements are quite astounding.
The Chappell brothers and Allan Border carved a niche for themselves in an age when conventional cricket had not yet undergone a sea change. With the emergence of several tough competitors in many countries and tons of money at stake, the pressure to win has increased manifold.
After an age when the battle for the Ashes was the dominant feature and later on when a couple of other countries like South Africa and the West Indies held the field, the competitive net has widened to assume virtually global dimensions and the role of captain has become much more demanding.
On top of that, the one-day game has revolutionized the pattern of the game, and the focus on the World Cup as a battle between countries rather than teams has only added to the pressure.
During his 18-year career, Steve Waugh faced all these challenges in a calm, unruffled and intelligent way that has won him the accolade of being the most influential cricketer of his generation, captaining Australia in 57 Tests and winning 41 of them. His personal log records 32 Test centuries and over 10,000 runs.
In bidding him farewell, one can only repeat that old cricketing phrase: Well played, sir.