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| Thursday,
July 25, 2002, Chandigarh, India   
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Lanka MPs
exchange blows Musharraf
may try to rig poll: Benazir
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PML (N)
rejects Pervez invitation France
shifts Karachi consulate Hunger
to stalk world for 130 yrs: UNDP Farmers’
warning on cheap Indian wheat
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Lanka MPs exchange blows Colombo, July 24 As the parliament session commenced this morning for the passing of Value Added Tax (VAT) Bill, leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapakse made a special statement requesting that Commerce Minister Ravi Karunanayake, who is now on a visit to Pakistan, should publicly apologise to the President for alleging she brought bombs to the cabinet to kill the council of ministers. But this was strongly challenged by the ruling party back-benchers who reiterated that the minister did not make any such allegation. The parliament chamber was virtually turned into a battle field when the opposition MPs including the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) agitated for the removal of Minister Karunanayake from the Cabinet. They were holding anti-government placards and banners inside the parliament chamber and calling for the removal of the minister. After Finance Minister K.N. Choksy’s final speech on the VAT Bill, the Speaker called an Opposition MP to speak on the Bill. But none of the Opposition MPs were available as they had walked out of the chamber. The Speaker then put the Bill for consideration of the House and it was passed with the voting of the ruling party MPs. The situation worsened when the PA and JVP MPs surrounded the Speaker to challenge the validity of the Bill that was just passed. While this was going on, the PA representative of the Nawalapitiya constituency, Mahindananda Aluthgamage landed a punch on ruling UNF MP of the Ratnapura district Mahinda Ratnatillake. As a result the Speaker adjourned the sitting for quarter of an hour. The clash inside the House took place at a time when the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is away in Washington on a five-day visit. “I was hit by flying missiles and even by thumps as I was trying to get out of the chamber,” an official said. He said books were hurled from either side and backbenchers rained blows on each other till Leader of Opposition Mahinda Rajapakse and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya sprang up to separate pugilists. Earlier, the government had demanded that the Criminal Investigation Department probe the Rs.2.4 billion purchase of bullet-proof vehicles allegedly made by Kumaratunga in 2000 and 2001 to beef up her security. A cabinet sub-committee investigating the purchase alleged Tuesday that several of the fleet of 48 vehicles were bought second-hand and were not custom-made to withstand terrorist attacks as the president claimed. As such the vehicles could not have cost so much, the four-man committee said and demanded that detectives be sent to Hong Kong and Indonesia from where the cars were imported. The government has said Kumaratunga flouted cabinet and parliamentary regulations to buy the vehicles which include BMW and Benz cars. However, Kumaratunga turned her wrath on minister Karunanayake for his allegation last week that she had taken a video camera concealed in a special handbag to a closed-door cabinet meeting. She told Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that she could no longer work with the minister in the cabinet and called for his dismissal. But it was turned down. The UNP has threatened to impeach her over charges of corruption and the abuse of power. Both Kumaratunga and the government are locked in a test of will with the president constitutionally empowered to sack Parliament when it completes one year in office in December. The government can, however, impeach the president if it musters two-thirds of the votes in the legislature, which it does not command at the moment.
UNI, IANS |
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Musharraf may try to rig poll: Benazir London, July 24 In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Benazir Bhutto said: “At the moment, President Musharraf is moving on the path towards rigging. We and our allies are keeping the flag of democracy high through their sacrifices.” Responding to a question, she said, “We welcome the introduction of a joint electorate which is also included in our party manifesto. We also demand dual representation for women.” When asked how you would block those proposals which clash with the party manifesto, she replied: “Victory or defeat is in the hands of Allah. Ayub, Yahya, Ziaul Haq were defeated by the people and if President Musharraf goes against the wishes of the public then I hope he would meet the same fate.” “Gen Musharraf has said ‘Benazir will win elections that is why he is holding a referendum’. It was published in newspapers. When Benazir’s enemies say she will win then it is quite apparent that I will also win party election,” she said. Benazir said “I can take part in polls under the constitution but a new situation will surface when the constitution will be restored.” She said her party will decide about her return to Pakistan. Talking to reporters at a lunch hosted in her honour by Lord Nazir Ahmed at the House of Lords, Benazir said the real issue was holding fair, free elections in October as promised by President Musharraf and talking anything else was irrelevant. It was irrelevant to talk about Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz as it should be left to the people who they wanted to return to power. The real issue was to ensure fair and free polls as suggested by PPP in its proposals, she said. Benazir said: “the real issue was whether there should be democracy or dictatorship for peace, stability of the country and elimination of terrorism”. She said whatever happened in Pakistan will have a bearing upon the entire Muslim world. The PPP had demanded that “electoral process be open to all parties and candidates under the constitution. No candidate be debarred through laws, said a statement given to reporters after her talks.
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PML (N) rejects Pervez invitation Islamabad, July 24 The General had invited one of Sharif’s senior aides and party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq for a meeting. “We have decided to defer the meeting with the President,” The News quoted a party spokesman as saying.
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France shifts Karachi consulate
Lahore, July 24 A French embassy spokesman said the decision was taken in view of the security situation in Karachi. He said the shifting would not effect the functioning of the consulate, as the staff would continue its work. “We are looking for an appropriate building. For the time being, we will be operating from the British consulate in Karachi.” About reports that France closed down its Karachi consulate and recalled its staff, suspending issuance of visas for an indefinite period, he said: “This is not true. Neither has the consulate closed nor we have suspended services. “It’s just relocation of work and our services... We would continue to issue visas and provide other services from the new place.” The News daily had said the decision to shift base was taken after visiting French experts drew attention to the fact that the consulate’s location was “unsafe”. The consulate is located at a bungalow in an area that is open to regular vehicular traffic. The French experts were in Karachi following a suicide bomb attack in May in which 11 French defence experts were killed near Hotel Sheraton. They had warned the authorities that the consulate building could easily be targeted due to its proximity to a thoroughfare. They suggested the French consulate be shifted to another location that is not easily accessible to vehicular traffic.
IANS |
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Hunger to stalk world for 130 yrs: UNDP Manila, July 24 In its annual Human Development Report 2002, the U N Development Programme (UNDP) said more than 40 countries with 28 per cent of the world’s population are not on track to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. While 57 countries are on track, the report said progress in reducing the number of people living in hunger as measured by malnourishment, especially among children, is barely keeping up with the world’s booming population. “During the 1990s the number of malnourished people declined by just 6 million people a year,’’ the report said. “At this rate, it would take more than 130 years to rid the world of hunger.’’ In 50 countries with almost 40 per cent of the world’s people, more than one-fifth of children under the age of five are underweight, the UNDP said. “The problem is worst among the world’s poorest countries,’’ it said. “In sub-Saharan Africa only South Africa has less than 10 per cent incidence of child malnourishment. In six sub-Saharan countries that figure is more than 40 per cent.’’ International institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are dominated by a few rich countries and are out of touch with the world’s poor. The divide between rich and poor has sparked a powerful “anti-globalisation” backlash that is “one of the most important movements of our time.” The report acknowledged that rich countries will always influence global decisions but said poorer countries should participate more, especially on issues that directly affect their people. “Whether it is the trade barriers and subsidies that keep the poor country farmers out of rich country markets, or the slow response to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the leading global powers and institutions stand accused of being unfair and out of touch,” the report said. The sometimes violent anti-globalisation movement reflects the “split between the powerful and the powerless” and questions about “whether the world is going in the right direction,” it said. Protesters in both developed and developing countries were concerned “that poor people and countries are losing out in the way global affairs are managed,” the report added. Nearly half the voting power in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund rests in the hands of seven countries — the USA, Japan, France, Britain, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Russia. |
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Farmers’ warning on cheap Indian wheat Singapore, July 24 The relatively low price of Indian wheat pushes the price of local corn to 6.50 Philippine pesos per kg, substantially reducing the income from the expected 8 pesos per kg at the least, reported the newspaper, quoting Mr Roderico R Bioco, chairman of the Mindanao Grain Processing Co Inc and of Philippine Maize Federation Inc.
UNI |
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PPP Chairperson and former Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto has said that President Pervez Musharraf,
contrary to all promises he made including holding of free and fair
elections, is trying to institutionalise dictatorship which could deepen
the crisis on the subcontinent and also in Pakistan, reports The Nation.
