| 20 November 2004 | Saturday | 07 Shawwal 1425 |
Widening trade gap
Threatened again
Like Yasser Arafat, Mr Kofi Annan is being accused of corruption by American officials and media. They used this vague but highly effective allegation first against the Palestinian hero when they could not find anything else with which to demonize him.
Now the UN secretary-general is being pilloried on the same ground, though his real fault seems to be the plain speaking he has of late been doing about the Iraqi war. In September, Mr Annan dropped a bomb shell when he told the BBC that the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq was illegal.
Unfortunately, Mr Annan was not so forthright about Anglo-American policy before the war. At one stage, it had become quite clear that America would attack Iraq without a second Security Council resolution.
Yet, the secretary-general was muted in his criticism of the US policy, and for all practical purposes appeared by his silence to acquiesce in the invasion. Lately, his remarks have acquired a sharp bite. There are plenty of reasons for his despair and frustration.
Iraq is in a mess and the Americans have not exactly been greeted as heroes who have liberated Iraq. In fact, America is hopelessly bogged down. So far, nearly 1,200 Americans have been killed, every major Iraqi city has risen in revolt, and the insurgency has spread even to Mosul, which is predominantly Kurdish.
The US-installed Iraqi government is considered by the Iraqis as a quisling set-up, and elections scheduled for January seem unlikely to take place. In a nutshell, America has no credible exit strategy, and the people of Iraq seem destined to live in the anarchy that has been their fate since their "liberation" in April last year.
Following his BBC interview in September, Mr Annan said last month that the Iraq war had not made the world any safer. Then he criticized the occupation regime for not involving the UN in the post-war situation, especially in the holding of the January elections.
He has also been a vocal opponent of the way the US-led international force has been dealing with insurgents and warned that an all-out attack on Fallujah could undermine the election schedule. All this has irritated Washington. The result is a well-orchestrated campaign against the UN chief.
Mr Annan has been in office now for nearly eight years, and never before has he been accused of presiding over a corrupt UN bureaucracy. Now a congressional investigation committee has found him responsible for ignoring alleged corruption in the oil-for-food programme more than a year after the fall of the Baathist regime
. Mr Annan naturally feels that he has been "misjudged" by certain sections of the media. Whether there was corruption in the oil-for-food programme is something that should be investigated in its own right.
But the issue's surfacing at this time is certainly intriguing. Mr Annan's term is not due to end before 2006, but the Bush administration perhaps wants to force his hand earlier, and continue on its unilateralist course.
But instead of scandalizing Mr Annan and the UN bureaucracy, American officials and media would do well to listen to what he has been saying. The US may find that it may yet need the United Nations to help it to get out of the horribly confusing situation in Iraq.
Peaceful elections are an impossibility under the present US-backed dispensation. The only way they can be held is to seek the help of the international community, and this will not be available by demeaning the UN or its secretary-general. Polls held under American bayonets will lack all credibility.
Widening trade gap
Trade data released for October shows that the deficit has increased by 248 per cent in comparison with the corresponding month in the previous year. It has also widened by 121 per cent compared with the previous month of the current fiscal year.
The deficit is being attributed to the rise in imports, particularly the import value of petroleum products and the increased purchase of textile machinery. While the increase in payments for petroleum products is mainly due to high oil prices, the quantitative rise in the import of machinery is a positive development.
It is expected that new machinery will help boost textile exports in the long term. The cause for concern, however, is the pressure on the rupee due to the rise in dollar purchases, which are used to finance imports.
The rupee fell by 5.5 per cent against the dollar in October as demand for the greenback mounted. While the State Bank did intervene to stabilize the rupee, this was only a temporary measure. One would expect dollar inflows to increase in the long term to support the rupee, and this can only happen if exports rise.
Pakistan needs to diversify its exports to grab its due share in the world market if it is to remain a major player in textile and apparel. Our textile exports are biased towards low technology activities and that scores relatively low on export sophistication.
The country also has a fairly regulated environment that hinders exports, particularly in new and non-traditional areas. At this stage, it is apparent that neither the government nor exporters are prepared for the change in the trading regime that will come into effect on January 1, 2005.
Trading will transform from a seller's market to a buyer's market as restrictions will be done away with and competition will be largely on the basis of price and quality. Given this scenario, it is imperative that Pakistan gets its act together in order to compete in the new environment and boost its exports.
Threatened again
It is absolutely scandalous that the Edhi people should have again been targeted for harassment, and the Sindh home minister is right in ordering the immediate arrest of those involved.
Edhi Foundation employees at two of Karachi's largest government hospitals were on Thursday attacked by unidentified men. An ambulance booth at one hospital was set on fire, and the supervisor of the ambulance service at the other hospital was kidnapped by armed men who tortured him before releasing him.
Threats were reportedly made by the armed men to the Edhi staff to stop running the ambulance service, which might force the foundation to review the services it provides at the two hospitals.
It seems clear that some powerful vested interests do not want Karachi's residents to benefit from what is an affordable and reliable ambulance service. It is most unfortunate that, while government agencies and political parties, whether in government or in the opposition, are unwilling to undertake social work of any kind, the few services that are provided by non-political organizations should be obstructed from working.
Government and privately-owned medical institutions have failed to introduce reliable ambulance services for the general public and usually offer them only to patients who are already seeking treatment with them and that too in non-emergency situations.
This isn't the first time that the Edhi Foundation and its staff have been hounded in this manner. In one instance, the problems were created for it by a government organization itself when the foundation's universally used emergency number was about to be changed by the state telecommunications regulator for no apparent reason.
The Sindh government would be failing in its duty if it did not step in and take measures to stop such harassment once and for all. The least it can do is provide the Edhi staff the protection and security they need to operate their service without fear.