Monday, September 10, 2018
#Pakistan - Sherry Reman takes a dig at PTI govt over FT clarification
PPP leader Senator Sherry Rehman took a dig at Imran Khan government on Monday after it issued a clarification regarding a Financial Times report on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Abdul Razak Dawood, the Prime Minister’s advisor on commerce, textiles, industries and investment, contradicted the report published in Financial Times on September 9th with the title “Pakistan rethinks its role in China’s Belt and Road plan”.
Dawood said that his statements were taken out of context, adding during the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the two had stressed on advancing the enterprise.
He reiterated that the country’s commitments to CPEC would remain the same and would be honored.
The report claimed that Pakistan was contemplating evaluating the CPEC agreement with China claiming that Beijing-owned corporations were being given unfair benefits.
Responding to government’s clarification, PPP leader Ms Rehman noted that it was not the first time the new PTI government had to explain its position on key issues.
She said that the latest controversy regarding CPEC had surfaced in the middle of Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to Paksitan.
“First there was a clarification on message from India. Then there was one on the US phone call, followed by spin so long it drowned the message. Now there’s a clarification on CPEC. Bang in the middle of China FM visit. FO personnel must be slapping foreheads in unison,” she tweeted.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/366597-sherry-reman-takes-a-dig-at-pti-govt-over-ft-clarification
#Pakistan - In Balochistan 1.5 children don’t go to school, says Social Welfare Deptt
By: Rafiullah Mandokhail
Addressing on the occasion Principal of the school Habib-ur-Rehman Mandokhail, DDO Education Payo Muhammad Mandokhail, Social Welfare Officer Abdul Rahim Mardanzai, General Manager National Commission for Human Development Abdul Razzaq Kakar and Coordinator Education Support Program Razziq Jan Kakar said that celebrating the Day is aimed at highlighting the importance of literacy. They said literacy was the key to success and without education no progress is possible.
“The country’s overall literacy rate is 58 percent, while in Balochistan one million children out of 2.5 million children are going to school,” adding the department has established several literacy centers in Zhob to promote education in the district. They said.
On the occasion students delivered speeches and presented national songs.
Meanwhile, Social Welfare department Sherani also held a walk to mark the International Literacy Day in a far-flung hilly area. Social Welfare Officer Malik Ehsan-ul-Haq Mandokhail led the walk held in Killi Khankei Zareef Sherani.
The participants of the walk including Sharif Sherani, Hayatullah, Gul Hassan Sherani and Abdul Karim Sherani were carrying banner inscribed with slogan. They shed light on the importance of literacy and vowed to join in a struggle for the promotion of education.
“Progress in any sector is impossible without education. Development, prosperity and achievement of rights are linked to education,” they emphasized.
Analysis: #Pakistan's Ahmadi Muslims - #AtifMian - What drove PTI govt to reverse Atif Mian's nomination
Despite his firm resolve till the last moment to retain Dr Atif Mian as a member of the Economic Advisory Council (EAC), internal dissent, coupled with “reports” of possible countrywide violent protests by religious organisations, forced Prime Minister Imran Khan to take back the decision.
Highly-placed sources told Dawn that the government had to swallow the bitter pill of taking a U-turn on the issue of Atif Mian’s nomination as EAC member within three days after receiving reports that some religious groups were planning to stage sit-ins in Islamabad on Friday (Sept 7) at a time when foreign dignitaries from China and Saudi Arabia were scheduled to arrive here.
Moreover, the sources said, some members of the federal cabinet, including the religious affairs minister, suggested to the prime minister to review his decision and warned him that the situation could become ugly for the government at a time when it was still in the process of settling down.
Prime Minister Khan was told that the government could face an embarrassing situation if the protests continued in the presence of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Saudi Minister for Information Dr Awwad Bin Saleh Al Awwad in Islamabad.
Non-availability of political support on the issue, mainly from the two major opposition parties, also played a key role in forcing the government to review the decision, the sources added.
On the other hand, the opposition parties claim that the government had appointed Dr Atif Mian as EAC member without consulting them and, later, withdrew his nomination in haste, again without taking them or the parliament into confidence. Within three days of its rhetoric about the rights of minorities, the PTI government bowe
d down to pressure from religious groups and asked Atif Mian, who belongs to the Ahmadi community, to step down from the prime minister-led EAC.It was on Friday that PTI Senator Faisal Javed and Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced that the government had asked the US-based academic to step down from the EAC, following criticism of his nomination from various circles, mainly from the religious groups and parties. The PTI leaders said that the government had made the decision to avoid any controversy.
However, the controversy deepened further when two more EAC members — Dr Asim Ijaz Khwaja from the Harvard Kennedy School and Dr Imran Rasul, a professor of economics at University College, London — also quit the EAC over the withdrawal of Dr Atif Mian’s name.
The sources said that the government had apparently succumbed to the pressure generated by calling attention notices submitted in both houses of parliament against Atif Mian’s nomination in the EAC and a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court challenging his appointment. The calling attention notice in the National Assembly was submitted by Maulana Asadur Rehman, the son of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and, in the Senate, it was moved by Maulana Ataur Rehman, the brother of the JUI-F chief. The parliamentarians belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and even liberals and secular nationalist parties from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces had also put their signatures on the notice in the Senate. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), however, did not support the move and its members flatly refused to sign the notice in the Senate.
A PML-N senator later claimed that he and some other members of his party had also refused to sign the notice, adding that those PML-N members who had signed the notice had done so in their individual capacity as the party had no such policy. The sources in the ruling party said that besides Prime Minister Imran Khan, a number of senior PTI leaders and some federal ministers felt “depressed” after the withdrawal of the nomination of Atif Mian, a professor of Economics and the only Pakistani to be considered among International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ‘top 25 brightest young economists’, and resignation of two other members from the EAC.
Even Jemima Goldsmith, the former wife of PM Imran Khan, criticised the government decision in a tweet: “The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam, appointed an Ahmadi as his foreign minister.” “Indefensible & very disappointing. New Pak government asks renowned & respected Prof of economics to stand down because of his Ahmadi faith.”
Talking to Dawn, a PTI leader termed the situation “unfortunate”, saying that the move had damaged the party’s image. He said the party had taken the decision keeping in view the last year’s incident when the previous PML-N government had to accept most of the demands of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan after its sit-in at Faizabad against proposed changes to the Khatam-i-Nabuwat declaration for election candidates. The PTI leader admitted that his party had not supported the then government at that time due to political compulsions and now the opposition had done so in a “tit-for-tat” move.
In a Twitter message, Senator Sherry Rehman of the PPP opposed the calling attention notice though another leader of the party, former deputy speaker of Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza, had earlier criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan over Dr Atif Mian’s appointment, calling him a hypocrite as he had appointed the great grandson of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of Ahmadi faith, as his adviser.
Sources in the PPP said that the party leadership had taken note of Shehla Raza’s tweet and reprimanded her.
Pakistan official's criticism of China's 'Silk Road' projects raises worries
A Pakistani official’s critical comments about projects funded by China to the tune of billions of dollars rattled investors and sparked worries on Monday of a souring in ties, a day after Beijing’s top government diplomat concluded a visit.
Abdul Razak Dawood, the Pakistani cabinet member for commerce, industry and investment, suggested that all projects in the $57-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor program could be eligible for suspension in a review to be conducted this week under the orders of new Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“I think we should put everything on hold for a year, so we can get our act together,” Dawood told the Financial Times in an interview. “Perhaps we can stretch CPEC out over another five years or so.”
He added that he thought China had been granted too-favorable terms in many projects by the former government of Nawaz Sharif.
“Chinese companies received tax breaks, many breaks and have an undue advantage in Pakistan; this is one of the things we’re looking at because it’s not fair that Pakistan companies should be disadvantaged,” Dawood said.
Pakistani markets fell in early trading on Monday, with the benchmark KSE 100 index down 477.38 just after midday at 40,374 points, before recovering to close at 40,684, still down 0.4 percent.
Dawood’s comments were “mind-boggling” and rare public criticism of China, said Mohammad Zubair, privatization minister in the previous government.
“This is probably the harshest statement about the Chinese in the last 50 years or so,” Zubair told Reuters. “Even if there are issues with the Chinese, those issues could be dealt with in private rather than being made public.”
Later on Monday, Dawood told domestic broadcaster Geo TV that his statements had been misconstrued and he would clarify them later.
The critical comments were published just after the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, visited Pakistan and the two sides reaffirmed the mutual benefits of the Beijing-funded projects.
While Khan, a former cricket star, has made no secret he plans to review all government projects and expenditure, the finance ministry last month said Pakistan was “fully committed to undertake and complete CPEC projects in their totality”.
Pakistan is struggling to avert a foreign currency crisis that could force it to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. Its foreign currency reserves have dwindled to $9.9 billion last month from around $16 billion in mid-2017.
The rupee has been devalued four times since late last year, falling by more than 20 percent.
In June, Beijing gave Pakistan $1 billion in loans to boost foreign reserves ahead of the July 25 election.
Will #China bail out a broke #Pakistan or is #IMF the last resort?
By AASTHA SINGH and MANISHA MONDAL
Yi is the first senior Chinese leader to visit the country since Imran Khan became Prime Minister. The symbolism was noted by none other than the perceptive Mushahid Hussian, journalist, thinker and politician:
This comes on the back of the Imran Khan government recently forming a nine-member committee to review the flagship China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The committee is slated to meet for the first time this week. Commerce, textiles, industry and investment minister Abdul Razak Dawood, a member of this committee, said it would “think through the CPEC — all of the benefits and the liabilities”.
The Imran Khan government, it seems, is trying to find fault with the previous Nawaz Sharif regime, and CPEC seems to be a perfect instrument to beat it with. Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the Pakistan foreign minister, however, tried to make up lost ground. Speaking to reporters, he said Beijing may be willing to renegotiate the 2006 trade deal with Pakistan, and clarified that the CPEC project has not inflicted a debt burden on Pakistan. “When these projects get completed and enter into operation, they will unleash huge economic benefits,” Financial Times quoted Qureshi as saying. Some analysts are now wondering if Pakistan would ask China to revisit the terms of the agreement of this mega infrastructure plan. Pakistan’s new Finance Minister Asad Umar and Dawood, however, said that they wouldn’t want to offend Beijing even as they were in the midst of reviewing CPEC agreements signed in the past five years Fact is, as Pakistan’s foreign reserves continue to fall — right now, it is just over $10 billion — it is right now in the middle of deciding upon another IMF bailout in the coming few weeks.
If it does, it will be its 13th in a span of three decades. Speculation is rife that Pakistan is looking for $9 billion from the IMF. Other analysts wonder if the extent of a possible IMF payout is linked to a bailout by the Chinese. Perhaps that was another reason for the Wang Yi visit. After all, Pakistan and China describe their relationship as an “all-weather friendship.” With CPEC tying Pakistan further into Beijing’s sphere of influence, the question is how far Beijing is likely to go to defray some of Pakistan’s loans. Some reports do quote some Pakistani government officials citing Beijing’s intent to indeed help Pakistan deal with its foreign exchange crisis, but there’s the news that China is asking Pakistan to reduce its large deficit. Pakistan certainly has a tough choice ahead.
https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/will-china-bail-out-a-broke-pak-or-is-imf-the-last-resort/115222/
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