Saturday, December 26, 2020
Editorial: #BenazirBhutto - Benazir the matchless
Benazir Bhutto, the two-term prime minister of Pakistan seen widely as poised for a third term in the high office, was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in Rawalpindi. Her tragic death became a catalyst for the downfall of an entrenched dictatorship in Pakistan. A Harvard and Oxford alumnus, she is remembered by those who had the occasion to meet her as eloquent, persuasive, charming and confident. She was a firm advocate of women’s rights and their representation in all fields of life. During her two stints in power - from 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996, she initiated liberal and progressive policies. Her impact on foreign policy, media and labour laws was huge.
She freed the media from the Zia era restrictions. Also, she successfully projected a soft image of the country during her numerous foreign visits. She also continued some of her father ZA Bhutto’s popular policies. Her detractors used fake news and other underhand tactics to discredit her governments. After the dismissal of both her governments, she had to face politically-motivated prosecution and victimization. However, she stood firm and tall.
To many, she was a symbol of women empowerment, their education and emancipation throughout her life and afterwards. Her dominant presence on the Pakistani political scene irked most conservatives and made her a target of extremists. However, she refused to condone extremism, militancy in the name of religion and voiced her opposition to the growing threat of militancy. This eventually led to her assassination on her return to Pakistan.
In the subsequent elections, her party formed the national government that completed its tenure. It was she who laid the groundwork for the restoration of democracy in the country both after the Zia and Musharraf eras.
Thirteen years after her death, given the crisis of leadership and the mess the national politics are in, a look at her legacy may be instructive.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/764230-editorial
China backing away from funding BRI due to Pakistan's rising debt
Beijing is backing away from Pakistan's USD 60 billion commitment to the global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Asia Times reported.
"The CPEC's future is not only clouded by China's apparent new, more conservative lending policy but also Pakistan's overborrowing, which is fast driving the country toward a debt crisis. Pakistan's debt to GDP ratio is now at a high 107% of GDP," FM Shakil said in his article.
Pakistan has slipped into a debt trap due to the government's failure to bring reforms and weak fiscal management.
Recent media reports, citing data compiled by Boston University researchers in the United States, noted that overall lending by the state-backed China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China declined from a peak of USD 75 billion in 2016 to just USD 4 billion last year. Provisional 2020 figures show that the amount shrunk to around USD 3 billion in 2020, reported Asia Times.
FM Shakil, writing for Asia Times attributed Beijing's trade war with the US and corruption by the Chinese companies involved in the CPEC as the main reason behind the drying up of funds in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC).
Several projects related to BRI are now stalled or are running behind schedule due to lack of financing. Of 122 announced CPEC projects, only 32 have been completed as of the third quarter of this fiscal year, reported Asia Times.
The writer mentioned that as per CPEC commitments by China, it had to build eight Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in four provinces of Pakistan.
Barring the Gwadar zone, the Allama Iqbal Industrial City in Punjab, and Rashakai Economic Zone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the other seven SEZs are either still in pre-feasibility or post-feasibility stages with no tangible development on the ground, reported Asia Times.
The writer of the article argued that China was reluctant to invite non-Chinese companies to invest in the SEZs but the situation has changed with the dried up financing.
Beijing has principally agreed to allow Pakistan to form a new joint venture mechanism with companies other than Chinese state-owned or private enterprises to stimulate CPEC project progress including on a multi-billion dollar railway upgrade, said a source placed in Pakistan's Planning Ministry to Asia Times on condition of anonymity.
This is the reason why Pakistan Railways (PR) globally advertised for tender openings to modernize its rail system.
In order to overcome Beijing's reluctance to fund CPEC, Pakistan introduced a bill in parliament to give the army a holdover and take near-total control of CPEC.
It is aimed to reassure Beijing that their investments will be more secure amid attacks on Chinese engineers and others facilitating the infrastructure projects, said FM Shakil.
Meanwhile, the Baluchis have intensified their attacks on CPEC projects and Chinese nationals working on them, raising the security costs and political risks of the projects.
Shakil opined that Islamabad's move to give the military more control over the scheme is a clear attempt to mollify China's rising security concerns.
Initiated in 2013, the BRI is Xi Jinping's grand plan to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime trade networks to create new routes for China.
https://in.news.yahoo.com/china-backing-away-funding-bri-051953347.html
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pays glowing tributes to former PM Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto on her 13th martyrdom anniversary
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari further said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto not only inspired women in a male-dominated society but she unified the whole nation and led it valiantly during the struggle for restoration of democracy and human rights. Her vision lives on in the form of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as she had challenged the dictatorial forces that, ‘You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea. You can kill a man, but not an idea,’ he added.
PPP Chairman said that from bringing in ballistic missile technology to strengthening national defence, from provision of land to landless women farmers to the establishment of First Women Bank, to establishing separate women police stations to introducing anti-polio vaccination, creating employment opportunities, striving for basic freedoms for the people, she spent every moment of her life for working for the nation and its poor citizens, youth, children, and women.
He said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto struggled for the rights of downtrodden masses, empowerment of women and the marginalized, braving solitary confinement, imprisonment, victimisation and character-assassinations, but never fell silent. “The forces of darkness finally killed her through a conspiracy but they couldn’t defeat her even, after her martyrdom,” he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pledged that the mission left behind by Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto will continue to be pursued vigorously with every sacrifice and asked the Party workers to get ready for a grand struggle for the restoration of true democracy, the supremacy of the Constitution and the Parliament together with full empowerment of the people of the country.
بےنظیر بھٹو کی تیرہویں برسی کیلئے گڑھی خدا بخش میں انتظامات مکمل
سابق وزیر اعظم بےنظیر بھٹو کی تیرہویں برسی منانے کے لئے گڑھی خدا بخش میں انتظامات مکمل کرلئے گئے ہیں۔ مزار میں پارٹی رہنما فاتحہ خوانی کر رہے ہیں اور پھولوں کی چادر چڑھا رہے ہیں۔
سابق وزیراعظم شہید محترمہ بے نظیر بھٹو کی 13 ویں برسی27 دسمبر کو منائی جائے گی، پیپلزپارٹی نےبرسی کی تیاریاں مکمل کرلی ہیں۔
برسی کےموقع پر گڑھی خدابخش میں جلسہ بھی منعقد کیاجائےگا۔
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو، آصف علی زرداری اور دیگر پارٹی رہنماجلسہ عام سے خطاب کریں گے۔
بے نظیر بھٹو کی برسی میں اپوزیشن کےدیگر رہنماؤں کی شرکت بھی متوقع ہے۔
مزار میں وزیراعلی مراد علی شاہ، وائس چیئرمین سینیٹ سلیم مانڈوی والا، شیری رحمان، پیپلز پارٹی ورکرز کے رہنما ڈاکٹر صفدر عباسی اور ناہید خان سمیت مختلف رہنماؤں نے حاضری دی اور پھول چڑھائے۔
https://jang.com.pk/news/863664