gnreddy@cbnewsf.att.com (G.Narotham Reddy) (07/01/91)
==================================================== Country: PAKISTAN Title: Pakistan's Gamble with quick reform Source: NY Times: Sunday, June 30, 1991 Author: Barbara Crossette ==================================================== Islamabad, Pakistan - Prime Minister Nawaz Sherif, in office for less than eight months, is taking his reputation as the country's first head of government from the urban middle class on the most sweeping economic and social changes ever attempted in this nation. His ambitious modernization program - coupled paradoxically with the introduction of a bill making Islamic law paramount in a still shaky democracy - is risky, Pakistani diplomats say. Any significant strengthening of an elected civilian government threatens the country's two pre-eminent institutions, the military and the bureaucracy. Any change in society attracts the attention of Islamic conservatives, some of whom, are part of the PM's governing governing Islamic Democratic Alliance. Piecemeal Change Rejected: But Mr.Sharif, an industrialist from Lahore, the country's most progressive and influential city, decided that peice meal reforms could not work in a very poor country with one of the world's highest population growth rates and the most entrenched landowning aristocracy in Asia. To reduce regional tensions. Mr.Sherif forged the first agreement in Pak's history for equitable sharings of river waters among the four provinces and framed a new arrangement for the sharing and expenditure of Govt. income. This would, for example, let the North West Frontier Province keep more of the income from hydroelectric power, a demand of nationalists in the mountaneous region. Mr.Sherif's govt wants to bring nongovernmental organizations in to education and health care. He has put a dynamic and experienced politician in charge of family planning. "For 27 yearsm the Govt of Pakistan has had a population control programs on which we'have spent $1.4 billion" said Abida Hussain, who in May was appointed adviser to the Prime Minister on population. "All we've managed to achieve is a one percentage point increase. At 3.2 percent we have about the highest population growth rate in the world. Our 2,700 family planning centers are obviously hopelessly inadequate". Family Planning Clinics: Under Ms.Hussain, a former MP who will serve as population adviser with ministerial rank, a family planning clinic is scheduled to be setup in each of 4,000 neighbourhood health centers over the next 24 months, and in about 8,700 centers in five years. "Women of Pakistan don't need any more propaganda" she said. "They know that the old idea that the more children you have, the more money comes in no longer true. Women know they would be happier and more prosperous with fewer children. But women in Pakistan are not psychologically strong enough to go looking around. We have to bring the services to them". "We don't have to be aggressive and noisy about this". Ms.Hussain said when asked about potential opposition from Islamic religious leaders. In his first month in office, Mr.Shariff has also begun denationalizing banks, selling off Govt.-run industries and opening communications, transportation and energy to private sectors. The Agha Khan foundation has been awarded the first licence to run a private airline in direct domestic competition with Pakistan International. Bids have opened for the construction of interstate highways. The speed of the "3-D" program - denationalization, disinvestment and deregulation - has raised fears among supporters as well as critics of Mr.Sharif that too much is being attempted too quickly. Industrialist Uncertain: Najam Sethi, editor of the Friday Times, a political journal, says the apparent reluctance of Mr.Sharif's own constituency - the industrialists of Punjab Province - to invest heavily in new areas now opening up may reveal their uncertainity about the Government's longevity. Mr.Sethi also said the decision to ask no questions about where investment money came from meant that profits from narcotics and gun-running could fund their way into the mainstream, bringing with them unsavory characters and mothods of doing business. Pakistan is already burdened with colossal levels of corruption. Mr.Sharif's response is that the professionalizing of customs and taxation operations and the reduction in regulations will cut down on bureaucratic malfeasance. I.A.Rehman, head of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said in an interview that the Government's move appeared to be intended to pre-empt a fundamentalist campaign for a stronger law than the one about to be put into effect. But he questioned whether it was wise to assume that religious conservatives could be mollified by a law they were already criticizing, and whether there were not enough loopholes to allow the most rigid social interpretations. End of article ============================================================================= The above article has been edited to suit the needs of this news group.