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Old Saturday, September 09, 2017
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Default September 9th, 2017

Time to reset foreign ties


NECESSARY and desirable, a reset of foreign policy is possible — if the government approaches the issue sensibly, cooperatively and with a genuine intent to effect change. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif has spoken candidly and persuasively about the key flaws in Pakistan’s foreign policy and the need for change. In truth, since the end of the Afghan war of the 1980s, the country’s foreign policy has been characterised by ad hoc decision-making and an excessive militarisation of national and security interests. Relations with neighbouring countries other than China have ranged from relatively cool to outright hostile, while the inconsistency in ties with the US is yet again on full display. Foreign policy experts would be hard-pressed to find an overarching constructive theme in Pakistan’s ties with the outside world; a logical trade and regional connectivity agenda has languished as security fears have dominated.

If a new foreign policy vision is to be developed, the principles underpinning the country’s approach to the outside world need to be fleshed out cooperatively across national institutions. In theory, the government’s approach of having the Foreign Office initiate proposals that will be debated by the National Security Committee and approved by parliament is sound. It contains the possibility of frank civil-military dialogue and a joint institutional response to the country’s challenges on the external front. But much will depend on how meaningful the engagement is on both sides. Experience suggests that sweeping public criticism of the military establishment’s worldview triggers reactionary condemnation of the civilians’ perceived lack of seriousness in matters of national security. The Constitution requires and democracy demands that civilians lead policy debates, a reality that must be acknowledged by the military establishment. In return, the civilians should demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of national security and foreign policy considerations and accept that military input on policy matters can be helpful.

There is also a very real constraint: time. Having wasted four years by refusing to appoint a full-time foreign minister and failing to strengthen the civilian institutions that could develop a new approach on the external front, the PML-N government must now move swiftly. Army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa’s message on Defence Day recently in which he rightly asserted that the state must have a monopoly over violence — an implicit rejection of all non-state militant groups — can be combined with Foreign Minister Asif’s admission of past failures by the state to form a new platform for Pakistan’s engagement with the outside world. The platform must be an unequivocal rejection of any form of militancy and a firm commitment to regional cooperation and trade. Certainly, Pakistan’s desire for peaceful relations with, for example, India will not be immediately reciprocated or easily achieved. Nevertheless, a foreign policy reset is a necessity for Pakistan.

Ending load-shedding


ONE has lost count of the number of times government officials have set a date for the end of load-shedding in the country; in fact, people can be forgiven their scepticism when they hear, once again, the minister of state for water and power assert that the government will announce an end to load-shedding in November. It is not clear whether he means that the announcement will be made then, or that load-shedding itself will disappear in November. Either way, it is likely that the minister has jumped the gun. Power generation has increased in the past year, and he is right to point out that the threshold of 20,000MW has been crossed for the first time. But ending load-shedding is not about what peak power generation can hit. It is about straightening out the financials of power pricing, improving recoveries and strengthening transmission and distribution. Various government officials, from the last prime minister to the new one, as well as Punjab’s chief minister, have gleefully been cutting ribbons to inaugurate new power projects all year, but we are still waiting to see how far the governance of the power system has been improved. That is the lynchpin, and until that happens, no amount of incremental megawatts will help.

The minister should now be asked where our future plans for reform of the power sector stand. The last we heard the government was in the mood to bulldoze the power regulator, Nepra, and parcel out some of its crucial powers to the provincial governments and keep some for itself. More than raw megawatts, what matters here is the shape of the power sector that the government has in mind for the future. In the late 1990s, a set of reforms was being advanced that was transparent and that was supposed to be the framework for meeting future power needs. But this time we have no idea about what kind of a road map the government is following, and how much thinking has gone into preparing it. It seems to be a short-term push; adding a large amount of megawatts is the only thinking in town at the moment, and anything that stands in the way will be brushed aside. The minister owes the country an explanation about where things are headed in the power sector beyond the additional new generation capacity.

Removal of encroachments


IF anything rivals the chaos of traffic across the country, it is the endless line of encroachments and blockades on the same roads on which the vehicles ply. From large cities such as Karachi to smaller towns, often even rural settlements, everyone, it would appear, wants to appropriate some part of the street for themselves. Anti-encroachment drives have produced mixed results, and in many instances, the illegalities return as soon as the authorities’ attention is diverted. Now the traffic police in Lahore have launched a programme that tries to reimagine the way in which encroachments and illegal parking lots on the city’s roads can be dealt with. Launched on July 31, the One Week, One Road initiative involves eight of the department’s better qualified wardens who have been chosen to form two squads to visit various areas in the city to select one road where encroachments are to be cleared, engage with traders and shopkeepers to brainstorm ideas on how deficiencies can be rectified, and prepare assessments of the roads in the context of the availability (or absence) of traffic signals, street lights, U-turns, etc. On Thursday, Lahore Chief Traffic Officer Rai Ijaz told the media that earlier the Mughalpura Link Road and Allama Iqbal Road — both extremely high-density thoroughfares — had been cleared of encroachments and illegal parking lots. Now, he said, Queen’s Road and Bund Road — where obstructions to the free flow of traffic are often of legendary proportions — are being focused on, and warning notices have been sent to 148 shopkeepers.

One must hope that the Lahore initiative is successful; if the authorities are able to find a sustainable solution to one of the country’s most pressing problems, more power to them. Engaging with the encroachers, rather than simply razing their means of livelihood, and addressing issues such as the shortage of legal parking lots, may be the key to this solution. Other city administrations must look on with interest, for if it works, the programme can be replicated in their jurisdictions.

Source: Editorials
Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2017
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