Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said that an "unholy alliance" between a few among the military leadership and a class of politicians, bureaucracy, judiciary and affluent members of the civil society has blocked the development of democracy in the country.

"This deadly alliance has not allowed the people of Pakistan to establish and consolidate a democratic structure," Gilani said while speaking at National Defence University (NDU) on Thursday.

He said the country was facing serious challenges on the national as well as international fronts because of lack of respect for the constitution, parliament, democratic norms, rule of law, independence of the judiciary and free and responsible media.

Gilani said the nation had to pay a high price for frequent military interventions into politics. The price was enormous and it was also paid by all stakeholders of the state.

Stressing that military rule could not provide the relief expected by people, he said the masses, over time, had started regarding the army along with the politicians, the bureaucracy, the feudal elite and entrepreneurs as yet another ruling class. He added that it was highly encouraging to note that there was a realisation on the part of the new military leadership that the country needed to be 'de-garrisonised'.

The armed forces belonged to the people of the country and were admired and loved by them. But these feelings had turned into disapproval and aversion with the forces interfering in political affairs, he felt.

He said military rule was like a pyramid and the army and its collaborators at the top got increasingly isolated from the rest of the people who held them responsible for all the ills.

The Prime Minister said military rule also caused polarisation. "New divisions are added to the existing divisions: between the civil and military bureaucracy, between those who collaborate with military rulers and those who oppose them, and among the regions and minorities which do not feel genuinely represented. Consequently, the military gets the blame, not only for the wrongs it commits but also for those that it does not."

He expressed the hope that the process of de-militarisation of civil institutions would continue and be completed soon.

He said the nation was proud of its armed forces and "we would like to see them confined to garrisons, preparing themselves for guarding the geographical frontiers and combating external as well as internal threats under the civilian authority". The nation expected the military leadership to identify and follow the true role of the armed forces. The entire nation would stand behind such an army, he added.

Gilani maintained that despite serious constitutional controversies surrounding some key state institutions, the political process of dialogue and accommodation was continuing. "I sincerely hope that we will be able to overcome the controversies surrounding our key institutions as quickly as possible in order to bring our focus on real issues," he said. 

Washington, May 30
NASA's Phoenix Mars lander has flexed its robotic arm in a successful test of the key element in the probe's mission to investigate the Red Planet's soil for conditions conducive to life, NASA said.

"The arm is ready to go," Matt Robinson of the US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where the Phoenix mission is managed, said yesterday.

"Yesterday we sent commands ... down to the lander to unstow the arm, and today I am ecstatic to let you know that it was successful.

"The robotic arm is now unstowed, it's out of its launch restraints." The 2.35 metre titanium and aluminium extension, with a scoop on the end to dig into the Martian arctic permafrost-like soil, unlatched its arm-locks by command from the JPL, lifted its forearm and then freed its elbow restraint.

"We have achieved a major milestone for the mission," said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at the JPL.

The next step is to test the arm's four joints to be sure it is in working order before beginning to dig into the soil.

With its hard scoop on the end, the arm can dig half a metre into the Martian soil, where scientists hope to prove the existence of water in its liquid form and organic minerals, both of which need to be present for the existence of microbial life. — AFP

BRIEFLY

Star Trek TV show theme composer dead
LOS ANGELES: Alexander "Sandy" Courage, an Emmy-winner and Academy Award-nominated arranger, orchestrator and composer who created themes for classics like “My Fair Lady”, “Hello Dolly!” and the "Star Trek" TV show, has died. He was 88. Courage died on May 15 in Pacific Palisades, California, his stepdaughter Renata Pompelli, said on Thursday. He had been ill for three years. — AP

Tamil courses launched
DURBAN: The Tamil community here can now attend classes in their own language as the Indian Consul launched a project in this regard on Thursday. "The course in Tamil will be of one-year duration and classes in spoken and written Tamil will be held for two hours every Thursday evening," Consul general Harsh Varshan Shringla said. The classes have been sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. — PTI

Suicides go up in US army
NEW YORK: The US army witnessed the highest number of suicides in more than two decades last year when at least 115 soldiers killed themselves, partly because of the stress of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another 53 suicides were reported from national guards and reservists who were not deployed. There were 935 suicide attempts last year, according to the latest statistics released by the army. — PTI

Landslide claims 2 lives
ROME: Two persons were killed in a landslide, which swept through an Alpine valley due to heavy rains. Two more persons, a woman and her child, were still missing. One man died when the landslide hit a house in the Pellice Valley on Thursday, while another man was found dead in his car, the civil protection said. — AP

Malaysia stops visa on arrival for Indians
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has withdrawn visa-on-arrival facility to Indians and Bangladeshis who will now need a two-week social visit pass and a return ticket if they wish to visit the country. Home minister Syed Hamid Albar said the proposed new ruled were among measures taken to overcome the problem of illegal immigrants.