The current situation in Pakistan is far from stable. Along with the growing threat from the Taliban and a paralyzed economy that led to a strong increase in unemployment and poverty, people of Pakistan have a very weak government. It is true that the state of the country was not at its best when Asif Ali Zardari was elected as a president in 2008, and the global financial crisis that hit hard most of the countries around the world, did have a strong impact on their economic instability. However the Taliban threat has posed another question for Zardari, is he strong enough to handle this situation as a whole? He does not seem to have enough power to have control over Pakistan. When it came to dealing with the Taliban threat to take over the Swat province, the government of Pakistan made a decision to negotiate. Under the cease-fire agreement, the Taliban put down their arms, but were allowed to apply their extremist version of the Islamic law (closing girl's schools, banning music etc.) which is very dangerous. The people of Swat province were left to live in constant fear under the rule of the Taliban. It did not take too long for the government of Pakistan to realize that the terms of negotiation are not being met by the Taliban, which led it to break the agreement and start fighting.
Zardari does not seem to have an idea of what to do whether it is dealing with terrorist threats, or making reforms to try to stabilize the economic situation, unlike the ideology of his wife Benazir Bhutto, who was killed while campaigning for the presidency in December 2007. Even though, it is well known that both of them have had a record of corruption charges, especially when Benazir was serving as prime minister and her husband was working beside her, approving foreign investments. That's when it's been said, they made a lot of money on the deals that were approved. In fact, Zardari's nickname is "Mister 10 percent", which describes the fees they were getting out of those deals.
Even though both of them were accused in the shadowy past, Benazir had strong ideas, unlike Zardari. Benazir was fighting for democracy and strongly believed that the democracy is not the enemy of Islam. She had a goal, to bring prosperity to the Pakistani nation. The reforms should be made in order to raise the quality of education which will help in the development and modernization of technology, medicine, and all of which play an important role in the state of the economy. The military should no longer interfere in matter of government; otherwise their ideologies that have prevented the development of Pakistan all these years, will never stop dominating the politics of Pakistan. Benazir was passionate about her ideas and knew what needs to be done. When it comes to the political life of this couple, Zardari was always just a shadow of Benazir, not strong enough. But also he did not share all of her views.
While Zardari's position towards economic development is unclear, people of Pakistan, which has a population of over 165 million, continue to suffer. Some of the major problems are: high unemployment rates and poverty that is very high Pakistan. Statistics show that one third of the population lives below the poverty line and another twenty- one percent is just slightly above it. Pakistan is spending less that 2 percent of its GDP for education, which shows why they suffer from the poor quality of education that has led them to the decline in technology. Pakistan needs modernization, but since through out history, the military ruled the country and they still play an important role in politics, modernization has been ignored.
The military has influenced and continues to influence the politics of Pakistan, directly or indirectly. It has been seen in the past that the military was linked with Islamists and those Islamists were supported by the government, especially at the time when General Zia was in power. Islamists and 'Jihad' were praised. Even though the government says that no radical islamists are drafted into the military army, we can not ignore the fact that it was not that long ago (1976-1988 - years in office of General Zia) that drafting Islamists was more than acceptable. All of these facts can not be ignored when it comes to dealing with extremists today. The government of Pakistan should have more answers on how to fight them. This is a question that can not be answered anywhere but in Pakistan. It's an internal problem and it involves religion, culture, traditions, believes and when it comes to the tactics on how to proceed and what shall be done next, it should come from the government of Pakistan.
Islam though will continue to play a significant role when it comes to politics and it does not matter who is or will be in power. It is the degree of the radicalism that will differ, while, on the other hand, a secular government could change the lives of Pakistani people for a better future.
It seems that Pakistan has a chance for democracy to grow strong and we can see that that's what people want, looking back at the support they gave to Benazir and looking back at the election results in 2008. Pakistan has a strong potential for economic growth, but it will take time and maybe even entire generation or two to abolish certain principles that their grandfathers and great -great grandfathers passed on to them. Maybe they can see one day that a secular government is not only a way to true democracy but it is also a way to change their lives and the lives of their children for a better future.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
The fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of corrution.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine finally gained its independence. The dream of our ancestors had come true, at last we became free from the dictatorship of the Communist regime, on our way to develop our country's future. The Ukrainian language and culture are no longer suppressed, and our economy has a chance for the new start and a potential growth. However, agriculture could have become a major export, and our metallurgy could have been developed to the competitive level on the European market as well. So much for the dreams of our ancestors. Once the doors of communism opened and people came out after years of suppression, everyone resembled each other. People were lost and still followed the group opinion. While freedom, democracy and individualism were the foundation of politics in the West, most of the Soviet people needed to be told what to do. Individualism was not praised in any way.
While the majority of people followed the group opinion, there were some exceptions. Those business minds, who survived the suppression under the communist rule, who lost all their money at the time of the fall of USSR (just like most of the people) - but who did not lose the desire to get it all back. Those minds were hungry for money and they just gained an opportunity to turn crisis into profit, since they were no longer held back by the government. In fact the best way to launder the money- after the fall of the Soviet Union - was through most of the ex-Soviet governments.
Ukraine got its independence and while the majority of people were blinded to the future for their children by the freedom and the light of hope, they ceased to see that their country was continuing to sink under the new corrupt government.
Leonid Kravchuk was elected as the first president of Ukraine, but did not last in office for long (from 1991 to 1994). Kravchuk failed to avoid corruption in the privatization sector and failed to stabilize the situation at the time of the crisis. The level of inflation rose to the extreme, banks started to default, salaries were delayed. All of the above led him to resign.
He was succeeded by Leonid Kuchma, who held the position of prime-minister at that time. When Kuchma came to power, the first thing he did was re-establish relations with Russia; then he brought new reforms which stabilized our economy. Even though he "did something", everyone knew that he stole a lot of money from the budget of our country. Everyone knew, but kept silent. It seems like people were still living in an illusion, satisfied by the rights of 'freedom of speech', freedom of choice and independence from Russia.
One man was not silent though. His name was Georgiy Gongadze, and he was the founder of the newspaper 'Ukrainian Truth'. He knew that there was no freedom of speech in Ukraine. He knew that Kuchma was involved in several crimes, but his attempt to speak up and present evidence of Kuchma's crimes, was soon stopped. Georgiy Gongadze was found beheaded in the forest outside of Kiev.
Speaking of the generation that is in power right now, it seems to me that the chances for us to see a real change for the best are very small. Why? Because they still has not gotten over those suppressed desires for power and money, and it is very unlikely that their values to change. All they are thinking of right now is to be able to provide for themselves and their children, to avoid poverty- which is now very high in Ukraine - by trying to steal today as much as they can, because tomorrow they may not be "sitting on the throne" anymore. We can blame them and say that they stole our dream for a better future, but it seems as if the people have to come to the realization that they have allowed that too. There is a lot of corruption going on in Eastern Europe and it is not only due to a survival instinct, but also to the urge to get back what was stolen from them in Soviet times. In these circumstances it is hard to believe that we will see any change anytime soon. The new generation has a better potential, if they outgrow the ideas of their parents, that is: going with the flow just like everyone else, so they can find their own truth.
The economy and education - should be a priority for our government. Some reforms in our economy should be made in order to attract foreign investors, which will help us to restructure and develop our agriculture and metallurgy sectors. Education reforms would help us to start fighting corruption at its root. I think the new generation will bring change, but we too have to help them and the first step must be to fight corruption.
While the majority of people followed the group opinion, there were some exceptions. Those business minds, who survived the suppression under the communist rule, who lost all their money at the time of the fall of USSR (just like most of the people) - but who did not lose the desire to get it all back. Those minds were hungry for money and they just gained an opportunity to turn crisis into profit, since they were no longer held back by the government. In fact the best way to launder the money- after the fall of the Soviet Union - was through most of the ex-Soviet governments.
Ukraine got its independence and while the majority of people were blinded to the future for their children by the freedom and the light of hope, they ceased to see that their country was continuing to sink under the new corrupt government.
Leonid Kravchuk was elected as the first president of Ukraine, but did not last in office for long (from 1991 to 1994). Kravchuk failed to avoid corruption in the privatization sector and failed to stabilize the situation at the time of the crisis. The level of inflation rose to the extreme, banks started to default, salaries were delayed. All of the above led him to resign.
He was succeeded by Leonid Kuchma, who held the position of prime-minister at that time. When Kuchma came to power, the first thing he did was re-establish relations with Russia; then he brought new reforms which stabilized our economy. Even though he "did something", everyone knew that he stole a lot of money from the budget of our country. Everyone knew, but kept silent. It seems like people were still living in an illusion, satisfied by the rights of 'freedom of speech', freedom of choice and independence from Russia.
One man was not silent though. His name was Georgiy Gongadze, and he was the founder of the newspaper 'Ukrainian Truth'. He knew that there was no freedom of speech in Ukraine. He knew that Kuchma was involved in several crimes, but his attempt to speak up and present evidence of Kuchma's crimes, was soon stopped. Georgiy Gongadze was found beheaded in the forest outside of Kiev.
Speaking of the generation that is in power right now, it seems to me that the chances for us to see a real change for the best are very small. Why? Because they still has not gotten over those suppressed desires for power and money, and it is very unlikely that their values to change. All they are thinking of right now is to be able to provide for themselves and their children, to avoid poverty- which is now very high in Ukraine - by trying to steal today as much as they can, because tomorrow they may not be "sitting on the throne" anymore. We can blame them and say that they stole our dream for a better future, but it seems as if the people have to come to the realization that they have allowed that too. There is a lot of corruption going on in Eastern Europe and it is not only due to a survival instinct, but also to the urge to get back what was stolen from them in Soviet times. In these circumstances it is hard to believe that we will see any change anytime soon. The new generation has a better potential, if they outgrow the ideas of their parents, that is: going with the flow just like everyone else, so they can find their own truth.
The economy and education - should be a priority for our government. Some reforms in our economy should be made in order to attract foreign investors, which will help us to restructure and develop our agriculture and metallurgy sectors. Education reforms would help us to start fighting corruption at its root. I think the new generation will bring change, but we too have to help them and the first step must be to fight corruption.
Afghanistan and the human rights.
Three hundred women marched in protest of the new 'Rape' law, that was signed by Hamid Karzai, a law that does not allow for a woman to refuse a sexual act if her husband asks. Along with the 'Rape' law, the government have put women in a position of complete dependence on their husband's will, just like slaves, when it comes to seeking education and work. They are allowed to do that only with their husband's consent. However, this law applies to the Shiite minority only, which makes up about 20 percent in Afghanistan, and is clear discrimination that can not be ignored. These restrictions are based on Taliban ideology and they go against human rights. The Taliban are Sunni and believe in the revival of Sharia law, the law that is based on religion and is invariable. While the West has freedom of choice and democracy, the Islamic world (extremists in particular) continue to suppress women's rights and spread dictatorship based on Sharia province by province. We live in the twenty-first century where barbarian punishment is unacceptable and human rights should be respected. What those extremists are spreading is a strong hatred towards the West, brain-washing and manipulating their people.
It took enormous courage for those women to come out and protest. Those women had had enough and they stood up for the sake of justice and respect, not just for themselves but for the future of their daughters. But it is clear that what led them to such a dangerous act is injustice. People can not be fooled when it comes to justice. It's an instinct that is universal, just like the instinct of survival. The Islamic nations had a democracy, and when we speak of women's rights, going back to the nineteenth century we can see that under Islamic Law women had more legal rights than the West. It is also well known that Muhammad's wife Aisha took part in politics and was a major authority. Islam does not prohibit women from studying and working, but extremism does. We don't know what is going to happen to those women, and even though we should respect the culture and traditions of different nations, we should not tolerate an attack on the integrity and dignity of the human being.
Extremism is not the foundation that the Islamic world is built on. It's an unspeakable act that the president Hamid Karzai, who is working with the US on stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, has committed. I think that every government should respect its people. Times are changing and so should the laws. Parts of Sharia are incompatible with democracy and it is time for people, other than those three hundred women, to ask themselves where they want to see themselves and their children in the future.
It took enormous courage for those women to come out and protest. Those women had had enough and they stood up for the sake of justice and respect, not just for themselves but for the future of their daughters. But it is clear that what led them to such a dangerous act is injustice. People can not be fooled when it comes to justice. It's an instinct that is universal, just like the instinct of survival. The Islamic nations had a democracy, and when we speak of women's rights, going back to the nineteenth century we can see that under Islamic Law women had more legal rights than the West. It is also well known that Muhammad's wife Aisha took part in politics and was a major authority. Islam does not prohibit women from studying and working, but extremism does. We don't know what is going to happen to those women, and even though we should respect the culture and traditions of different nations, we should not tolerate an attack on the integrity and dignity of the human being.
Extremism is not the foundation that the Islamic world is built on. It's an unspeakable act that the president Hamid Karzai, who is working with the US on stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, has committed. I think that every government should respect its people. Times are changing and so should the laws. Parts of Sharia are incompatible with democracy and it is time for people, other than those three hundred women, to ask themselves where they want to see themselves and their children in the future.
The FEG and the Party of Regions.
The Foundation for Effective Governance was founded in 2007 by Rinat Akhmetov, one of the richest people in Europe. He also has been financing the Party of Regions and was a sponsor of Yanukovich's presidential campaign in 2004. The FEG has been working for a year and a half now on a plan to support our economic development. Its leaders have even invited several analysts from the West to help them create this plan, a plan that we haven't seen to this day. And of course, even here the FEG needed help, because they just don't have enough brains to create a plan on their own. And suddenly, the Western idea is not bad at all.. Let's not forget their pro-Russian course. Why don't they consult with Putin then, since it will be his decisions to them that will influence our country's future if Yanukovich wins the upcoming election this fall? Most of the people don't even know that this foundation exists to begin with. All there is to it is a strategy, a strategy of getting the vote of those confused pro-Western supporters.
The time has come when the Ukrainian people have had enough of Yushenko and his radical pro-Western ideology, which has led us nowhere. It turned out that what seems to be 'right' does not always turn out for the best. The Orange coalition has failed, leaving a strong feeling of disappointment among its supporters, a disappointment that is now turning into anger. Once again, we can clearly see that our government does not care about its people. All they do is a constantly fight among each other for power and money. Their ignorance and failure to act when most needed, their unspeakable act of refusing to unite and work in order to pass laws at the beginning of the crisis, was a slap in the face of our nation. The Orange Revolution has turned out to be a disappointment.
On the other hand, we have Yanukovich and the Party of Regions, who with Putin's support found an ideal time to try to destabilize our government even more. I am referring to the gas conflict that accured in the beginning of 2009. I want to point out, as well, that in order for us to grow economically, we need a leader. Yanukovich is not a leader. Yanukovich is a 'peshka' in Putin's hands. And what ideas did the 'Regions' bring? They want to fight corruption? I doubt that, since they are one of the most corrupt parties in the Parliament. They want to divide our country into regions, passing laws that are needed for each particular region in order to fight corruption. This is a dangerous proposition. It is dangerous because we are going to see even more corruption if the laws differ from one part of Ukraine to the other. I believe that in order to fight corruption, you have to start to clean up the entire country at once. It will take a long time, but it is not impossible. Maybe if our children do not have to deal with corruption from the first grade, and our education system gets rid of 'the diploma for money' system, we will have some chance to see the light in the future for our children.
The election is coming up in October and when the time comes for us to make a decision, we have to make sure that it is not driven only by frustration. It has to be a well thought out, rational decision. We should ask ourselves where we want to see our children in the future. What have we been fighting for? What are we fighting for now? Don't we deserve a decent government that will think about its people and our country's future? We are not weak, we are just too corrupt. And in order to fight corruption, once again, we need to have a leader, a leader that will think of a ten-year plan and will not make another mistake by creating temporary programs that won't bring any significant change. I think it would be a mistake to run blindly from one side to the other. We don't have many options and it is clear that we will have to choose between Tymoshenko and Yanukovich. I think what we need now is to take a neutral position, to work with Russia, but not to fall under Putin's dictatorship. That is only going to be possible with Tymoshenko in power. For now we just don't have any other option. While staying neutral and forgetting about NATO, we could still try to work with the EU on our economic development and possibly raise our competitiveness on the European market. Let's think twice and not forget our values.
The time has come when the Ukrainian people have had enough of Yushenko and his radical pro-Western ideology, which has led us nowhere. It turned out that what seems to be 'right' does not always turn out for the best. The Orange coalition has failed, leaving a strong feeling of disappointment among its supporters, a disappointment that is now turning into anger. Once again, we can clearly see that our government does not care about its people. All they do is a constantly fight among each other for power and money. Their ignorance and failure to act when most needed, their unspeakable act of refusing to unite and work in order to pass laws at the beginning of the crisis, was a slap in the face of our nation. The Orange Revolution has turned out to be a disappointment.
On the other hand, we have Yanukovich and the Party of Regions, who with Putin's support found an ideal time to try to destabilize our government even more. I am referring to the gas conflict that accured in the beginning of 2009. I want to point out, as well, that in order for us to grow economically, we need a leader. Yanukovich is not a leader. Yanukovich is a 'peshka' in Putin's hands. And what ideas did the 'Regions' bring? They want to fight corruption? I doubt that, since they are one of the most corrupt parties in the Parliament. They want to divide our country into regions, passing laws that are needed for each particular region in order to fight corruption. This is a dangerous proposition. It is dangerous because we are going to see even more corruption if the laws differ from one part of Ukraine to the other. I believe that in order to fight corruption, you have to start to clean up the entire country at once. It will take a long time, but it is not impossible. Maybe if our children do not have to deal with corruption from the first grade, and our education system gets rid of 'the diploma for money' system, we will have some chance to see the light in the future for our children.
The election is coming up in October and when the time comes for us to make a decision, we have to make sure that it is not driven only by frustration. It has to be a well thought out, rational decision. We should ask ourselves where we want to see our children in the future. What have we been fighting for? What are we fighting for now? Don't we deserve a decent government that will think about its people and our country's future? We are not weak, we are just too corrupt. And in order to fight corruption, once again, we need to have a leader, a leader that will think of a ten-year plan and will not make another mistake by creating temporary programs that won't bring any significant change. I think it would be a mistake to run blindly from one side to the other. We don't have many options and it is clear that we will have to choose between Tymoshenko and Yanukovich. I think what we need now is to take a neutral position, to work with Russia, but not to fall under Putin's dictatorship. That is only going to be possible with Tymoshenko in power. For now we just don't have any other option. While staying neutral and forgetting about NATO, we could still try to work with the EU on our economic development and possibly raise our competitiveness on the European market. Let's think twice and not forget our values.
A paradox in the work of our government.
It's been almost 18 years since Ukraine became independent. We have had three presidents ( Leonid Kravchuk 1991-1994, Leonid Kuchma 1994-2004 and Victor Yushenko 2004 to present) and the next election is coming up in October. Kravchuk as well as Yushenko has weakened our economic situation by their anti-Russian course. Both of them were pro-West and both of them did not show enough of strength to be able to stabilize the situation. Both of them have failed. Kuchma, on the other hand, chose to work with Russia and his reforms helped to raise our economy, but not for long. He was highly corrupt and was involved in several crimes.
What I have noticed is this paradox in the work of our government: they are not thinking ahead and I am going to discuss our current government. Most of the programs it has adopted did not work to benefit any of us, or our country's future, starting with the plan to give compensation to women giving birth. I can explain what I mean by that: We want to raise our demographic rate and make the population grow - that's great. But let's first think about the state of our economy at this time. Making a quick plan to temporarily raise our birth rate would not make a big difference on our demographic map. The only difference it would make is to shrink our budget even more.
Another plan was to pay back the money people lost in Soviet times, and this plan too will not make a difference to our country and not all of the people will even see this promised money to begin with. One thing I want to point out is that before laws are adopted for such programs we should think ten years ahead and make a ten-year plan. Both, the compensation plan for women giving birth and the plan to pay back the money people lost at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, won't change our situation and certainly won't bring a better future. There are definitely other more effective programs that could be created without just thinking of today and tomorrow but further in the future.
The same goes for NATO, yet another plan in the agenda of our president. We want to jump too fast by joining NATO. We make these radical moves against Russia and it just does not work for us. For this strategy to work we need a dictator and we don't have one. So, we should stop opposing Russia and forget about NATO for now, otherwise it will make the situation in Ukraine even worse. I think we need Russia, since the West has given up on us, but Russia also needs us. We can work together, but we need to stay neutral. Again, what other choices do we have? Because all that we see now in our Parliament are all these deputies who are thinking only about themselves, creating chaos in our country by their radical views and bringing even more problems? What kind of future will that bring us? We ask the West for help. But we should help ourselves first before trying to jump too quick God knows where.
What I have noticed is this paradox in the work of our government: they are not thinking ahead and I am going to discuss our current government. Most of the programs it has adopted did not work to benefit any of us, or our country's future, starting with the plan to give compensation to women giving birth. I can explain what I mean by that: We want to raise our demographic rate and make the population grow - that's great. But let's first think about the state of our economy at this time. Making a quick plan to temporarily raise our birth rate would not make a big difference on our demographic map. The only difference it would make is to shrink our budget even more.
Another plan was to pay back the money people lost in Soviet times, and this plan too will not make a difference to our country and not all of the people will even see this promised money to begin with. One thing I want to point out is that before laws are adopted for such programs we should think ten years ahead and make a ten-year plan. Both, the compensation plan for women giving birth and the plan to pay back the money people lost at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, won't change our situation and certainly won't bring a better future. There are definitely other more effective programs that could be created without just thinking of today and tomorrow but further in the future.
The same goes for NATO, yet another plan in the agenda of our president. We want to jump too fast by joining NATO. We make these radical moves against Russia and it just does not work for us. For this strategy to work we need a dictator and we don't have one. So, we should stop opposing Russia and forget about NATO for now, otherwise it will make the situation in Ukraine even worse. I think we need Russia, since the West has given up on us, but Russia also needs us. We can work together, but we need to stay neutral. Again, what other choices do we have? Because all that we see now in our Parliament are all these deputies who are thinking only about themselves, creating chaos in our country by their radical views and bringing even more problems? What kind of future will that bring us? We ask the West for help. But we should help ourselves first before trying to jump too quick God knows where.
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