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Wednesday,
May 29, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Israeli
army enters Jenin
Indo-Pak
tension: Japan may play aid card |
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MOSCOW DIARY
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Israeli army enters Jenin
Jenin, May 28 Shooting broke out as Israeli tanks backed up by helicopters rolled into Jenin, the officials said. It was not immediately known if there were victims. Hours before the incursion a Palestinian suicide bomber had killed two Israelis, including a toddler, in an attack on a shopping mall in a Tel Aviv suburb. The attack in Petah Tiqvah was claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah group which has refused to heed the Palestinian leadership’s appeals for an end to attacks on Israeli civilians. The Palestinian leadership denounced the blast, saying “it gives the Israeli army reasons to continue their aggression and occupation.” Meanwhile, Israel has released Reuters photographer Suhaib Salem from jail in the Gaza Strip after five days in detention without charge, a Reuters report from Gaza said. Salem (22) was arrested at the Abu Hokl checkpoint in Gaza last Wednesday as he drove in a Reuters armoured car to the southern town of Rafah in preparation for his departure to Japan to cover the World Cup soccer tournament.
Agencies |
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Indo-Pak tension: Japan may play aid card
Tokyo, May 28 Vice-Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura left for Pakistan and India to play a mediating role in resolving the tense military standoff. Japanese diplomatic sources said Tokyo could revive economic sanctions against Pakistan and India or threaten to stop providing aid if the two countries defied calls from the international community to prevent a war. It was not clear how much weight such threats would carry. “There is a possibility of Japan reviewing aid programmes for India and Pakistan if the military standoff gets out of control,’’ a Japanese diplomatic source said. “That may include the reinstating of economic sanctions,’’ he said. Japan’s top spokesman denounced Pakistan for firing a third missile in a series of tests today. “It is extremely undesirable,’’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a news conference. “We have been making requests for Pakistan to exercise restraint and are continuing such efforts.’’ Analysts say the missile tests were designed as a show of strength. These included a missile thought possibly capable of carrying nuclear warheads to Indian cities. Japan lifted sanctions on Pakistan and India last October after the two countries offered support for the US-led operations in Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks on the USA. Japan froze all new loans and grants except for humanitarian aid after India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in May 1998. Japan extended $ 504.95 million in aid to India and $ 491.54 million to Pakistan in 1998.
Reuters |
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Exercise restraint: Japan Tokyo |
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100 Maoists
killed in Nepal
Kathmandu, May 28 Five soldiers and 10 civilians were also killed, the sources said. Army officials said the fierce fighting took place overnight in Khara village in Rukum, 320 km south-west of Kathmandu, but could not confirm the number of casualties. The violence came as King Gyanendra last night extended by three months a state of emergency imposed to tackle the Maoist insurgency — after it expired at midnight on Saturday. The emergency was first introduced in November last year after the guerrillas broke a four-month ceasefire and pulled out of peace talks. It gives local authorities and security forces wide powers to detain and interrogate suspected Maoists and impose curfews, measures critics say are draconian and which have not stopped the rebels.
AFP |
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MOSCOW DIARY MINI-coup against Russian Communists and President Putin’s state of the nation address — are the two recent events which dominated the Russian media and the Russian public mind. A mini-coup against the Communist faction in the State Duma or the Lower House of Russian Parliament can be described as a very important political development. To understand this change and its significance, we have to bear in mind that like India, Russia has a multi-party system and as such Parliamentary committees and their chairmanships play a very vital role in the legislative process. Parliamentary committees and their chairmen have many facilities and privileges. They have special funds, staff to work on legislative proposals, cars for transport and access to some other advantages. Therefore, each political party or its faction in the State Duma tries to get the maximum number of committee chairmanships. The total number of such committees is 29 and normally their chairmanships are apportioned to each party according to the number of its members or seats in Duma. After the parliamentary elections in December, 1999, the Communist Party won the highest number of seats, though less than the 1996 elections, followed by the Unity Party backed by President Putin. Fartherland-All Russia Party, headed by the former Prime Minster, Yevgeny Primakov, and Moscow Mayor, Yury Luzhkov. But since this party had tried to compete with the Unity party — a Kremlin favourite — this party struck a deal with the Communist Party to side-track the Fatherland-All Russia Party and apportioned the greater part of the committee chairmanships between themselves. Thus the Communist Party got chairmanships of 10 committees plus the post of the Speaker also and the Unity Party seven chairmanships. Fatherland-All Russia and other smaller parties in the state Duma did not get their due share in the committee-chairmanships. These parties protested against this injustice, but did not boycott Duma. This deal between the Communist Party and the Unity Party worked well for about two years, but in the last one year, significant political changes have taken place. The two rival parties i.e. the Unity and Fatherland-All Russia have joined hands and formed a new United Russia Party with centrist orientation. Thus the Centrist, Right-Wing and Liberal Deputies have now a clear-cut majority in Duma. They demanded the redistribution of the committee-chairmanships. A resolution was proposed by the government Benches against the Communists on the ground that they utilise their chairmanship benefits to promote their own party interests and also obstruct the government-sponsored reform bills. The resolution was approved by a vote of 251 - 136 and the Communists were stripped off the chairmanships of most of the committees except two which they gave up in protest. Thus the mini political coup against the Communists was completed. Communists have now gone in open opposition. The critics of this move consider it undemocratic, whereas the supporters say the Communists have been defeated with the same weapon which they used against other political groups by entering into a deal with the Unity Party two years ago. This development has created a likelihood of rift in the Communist Party, because, Gennady Seleznyov, the Speaker of Duma and a Communist Party representative, has refused to resign his post. State of the Nation Address by President Putin was another event which drew a good deal of media and politician’s attention. In his address of about one hour to the joint session of both Houses of Parliament, he concentrated primarily on Russia’s internal problems. To be more precise, on the health of the economy, which, though has shown some signs of improvement in the past two years, is yet moving slowly. He criticised the government for not having an ambitious growth programme. The government has fixed its present target of 3 to 3,5 per cent annual growth. President Putin wanted a much higher growth rate. President Putin advocated the cause of small and medium-sized enterprises and said they should be given the maximum freedom from the state control and tax relief. He pointed out that these enterprises play a vital role in the economies of most of the developed and developing countries and are the backbone of the middle class of a country. He made a very strong attack on the rigid bureaucracy, leading to large scale corruption at all levels. In his address President Putin missed references to some important issues like health, education, culture, sport and especially the demographic situation in Russia, where the population has decreased by more than 5 million people in the past one decade. If this trend continues, it can have many adverse social and economic repercussions. In the field of foreign policy, he made brief references to improving Russia — US and Nato — Russia relations. Recently Russia and the USA agreed to sign a treaty to cut the two countries’ long-range nuclear weapons. On both these issues briefly mentioned earlier by
President Putin in his address and now becoming a reality, Russian public reaction is a mixed one. In certain circles, they are being welcomed, while in others, many doubts and fears are being expressed about US intentions and the likely position of Russia in NATO. |
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