Loud Thinking

Archive for the ‘My Views’ Category

“To strengthen the muscles of your heart, the best exercise is lifting someone else’s spirit whenever you can.”

Pervaiz Musharraf Government’s PTCL Sale to Etisalat Telecom Falls Under the Odious Transaction

Pervaiz Musharraf’s government sold the Pakistani gold mine company PTCL, to Etisalat Telecom of UAE, with mind boggling condition of transferring 100% physical assets on just 26% share holding of PTCL, that too on pay as you earn basis.

Never ever in the history of the world any government has sold its precious assets on such a throw away terms, to a foreign company.

As such, this deal clearly falls under the ODIOUS transaction.

Moreover, Etisalat Telecom is also a defaulter of mind boggling huge amount of $800 million to the GOP since about last 8-10 years.

Therefore, in the Pakistan’s national interest this PTCL sale deed with Etisalat Telecom should be cancelled and all their foreign executives posted in Pakistan be allowed to leave only after clearance of all dues with accrued interest, by the company.

Why can’t Pakistan repudiate its odious debts (when America has already done it) and odious PTCL deal with Etisalat?

Odious debt : Definition In international law, odious debt, also known as illegitimate debt, is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state. In some respects, the concept is analogous to the invalidity of contracts signed under coercion.

Implementation history of odious debt.

The doctrine was formalised in a 1927 treatise by Alexander Nahum Sack, a Russian émigré legal theorist, based upon 19th-century precedents including Mexico’s repudiation of debts incurred by Emperor Maximilian’s regime, and the denial by the United States of Cuban liability for debts incurred by the Spanish colonial regime.

According to Alexander Nahum Sack: When a despotic regime contracts a debt, not for the needs or in the interests of the state, but rather to strengthen itself, to suppress a popular insurrection, etc, this debt is odious for the people of the entire state.

This debt does not bind the nation; it is a debt of the regime, a personal debt contracted by the ruler, and consequently it falls with the demise of the regime.

The reason why these odious debts cannot attach to the territory of the state is that they do not fulfil one of the conditions determining the lawfulness of State debts, namely that State debts must be incurred, and the proceeds used, for the needs and in the interests of the State.

Odious debts, contracted and utilised for purposes which, to the lenders’ knowledge, are contrary to the needs and the interests of the nation, are not binding on the nation – when it succeeds in overthrowing the government that contracted them – unless the debt is within the limits of real advantages that these debts might have afforded.

The lenders have committed a hostile act against the people, they cannot expect a nation which has freed itself of a despotic regime to assume these odious debts, which are the personal debts of the ruler.

Why can’t Pakistan repudiate its odious debts (when America has already done it) and odious PTCL deal with Etisalat?

Odious debt : Definition

In international law, odious debt, also known as illegitimate debt, is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state. In some respects, the concept is analogous to the invalidity of contracts signed under coercion.

Implementation history of odious debt.

The doctrine was formalized in a 1927 treatise by Alexander Nahum Sack,[1] a Russian émigré legal theorist, based upon 19th-century precedents including Mexico’s repudiation of debts incurred by Emperor Maximilian’s regime, and the denial by the United States of Cuban liability for debts incurred by the Spanish colonial regime.

According to Sack:

When a despotic regime contracts a debt, not for the needs or in the interests of the state, but rather to strengthen itself, to suppress a popular insurrection, etc, this debt is odious for the people of the entire state. This debt does not bind the nation; it is a debt of the regime, a personal debt contracted by the ruler, and consequently it falls with the demise of the regime. The reason why these odious debts cannot attach to the territory of the state is that they do not fulfil one of the conditions determining the lawfulness of State debts, namely that State debts must be incurred, and the proceeds used, for the needs and in the interests of the State. Odious debts, contracted and utilised for purposes which, to the lenders’ knowledge, are contrary to the needs and the interests of the nation, are not binding on the nation – when it succeeds in overthrowing the government that contracted them – unless the debt is within the limits of real advantages that these debts might have afforded. The lenders have committed a hostile act against the people, they cannot expect a nation which has freed itself of a despotic regime to assume these odious debts, which are the personal debts of the ruler.

Mr. Ishaq Dar since you are under oath to serve Pakistan, we trust your personal relations with the UAE rulers will not come in the way of your duty towards your motherland

Mr. Ishaq Dar, as you know, Musharraf government sold the Pakistani gold mine company PTCL, to Etisalat Telecom of UAE, with mind boggling condition of transferring 100% physical assets on just 26% share holding of PTCL, that too on pay as you earn basis.

Never ever in the history of the world any government has sold its precious assets on such a throw away terms, to a foreign company.

As such, this deal clearly falls under the ODIOUS transaction.

Moreover, Etisalat Telecom is also a defaulter of mind boggling huge amount of $800 million to the GOP since about last 8-10 years. Therefore, in the national interest this PTCL sale deed with Etisalat Telecom should be cancelled and all their foreign executives posted in Pakistan be detained and only released after clearance of all dues with accrued interest by the company.

Mr. Ishaq Dar since you are under oath to serve Pakistan, we trust your personal relations with the UAE rulers will not come in the way of your duty towards your motherland.

Mr. Ishaq Dar, as you know, Musharraf government sold the Pakistani gold mine company PTCL, to Etisalat Telecom of UAE, with mind boggling condition of transferring 100% physical assets on just 26% share holding of PTCL, that too on pay as you earn basis.

Never ever in the history of the world any government has sold its precious assets on such throw away terms, to a foreign company.

As such, this deal clearly falls under the ODIOUS transaction.

Moreover, Etisalat Telecom is also a defaulter of mind boggling huge amount of $800 million to the GOP since about last 8-10 years. Therefore, in the national interest this PTCL sale deed with Etisalat Telecom should be cancelled and all their foreign executives posted in Pakistan be detained and only released after clearance of all dues with accrued interest by the company.

Mr. Ishaq Dar since you are under oath to serve Pakistan, we trust your personal relations with the UAE rulers will not come in the way of your duty towards your motherland.

Two proposals for generating funds for the Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center.

I have two proposals. Firstly, as is the practise in the UK, any charity by an employee is equally matched and the same amount is donated by the employer for that specific organisation.
Please consider to cultivate the same culture in Pakistan. Secondly, souvenirs of SKMCH & RC should be available for the purchase of the general public throughout the country and abroad including Afghanistan.

“Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.”

— Napoleon Hill

Ambition is an earnest desire for achievement.

“In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919);
26th U.S. President

For Pakistan’s Intellectuals – A Food for Thought

Pakistan has reached a stage where business as usual will do no good any further. And in order to meet the challenges of the fifth columnists, regional and international politics of intrigue and hegemony, we must rebuild Pakistan inside out. Currently, Pakistan is a patient on drip therapy, which must first stand on its feet, only then the inside and outside challenges can be effectively met. In this regard, the following proposals are submitted, for the overhaul of the entire Pakistani governance system(s), for the consideration of the intellectuals, people at the helm of the affairs and general masses to develop a consensus for taking Pakistan out of the woods.

MAKE EVERY DIVISION A PROVINCE – PAKISTAN’s ONLY PANACEA

Since its inception in 1947, Pakistan is a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The division in society is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may see even more turbulent times.

The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, be it political, economic, educational, industrial, agricultural, religious, law and order or any other segment worth naming, is abysmal, to say the least. Hardly any day passes without reports of suicides committed by the poor due to the economic hardships. Children are not dying in dozens, but in scores due to the measles outbreak and, strangely enough, no soul has moved and not even a single person has been held accountable.

Maybe we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription to rise again and build the nation from the ashes because, for the overwhelming majority, a time is coming that they will be forced to think: no life no nation.

The current frame work under which the country is being run will not take Pakistan any forward, even if it is allowed to continue, for another 100 years. All small and big nations in our region and the world have overtaken us, in the basic fields of health, education, justice, law and order and food security.

All stakeholders must wake up, as the nation is moving towards destruction and business as usual can do nothing for Pakistan; our survival is directly linked with the existence of our nationhood. Nationhood means, “the state or quality of having a status as a separate and independent nation”.

Pakistan needs a turnaround, for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the change, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed by China, under Mao Zedong.

Hence, for all Pakistanis, failure is not an option, but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract for the common people of Pakistan, who always pays 100 percent bills and taxes and never defaults on their bank loans, but is deprived of every conceivable civic amenities.

Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.

Changes must be made in the constitution to block corrupt and power hungry mafias from contesting the elections. The current election system should also be radically changed, so that the whole country directly votes for a president/prime minister. However, before the voting, the candidates of all the political parties, for this post of the president/prime minister, must notify a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators, who will be automatically considered elected, according to the percentage of votes cast, in favour of the main candidate, for the top post of the country.

The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised, on which later on, no politics should be allowed. In other words, the representatives of the nation should decide now where they would like to see Pakistan, in each and every field of life after 50 years. This vision should be further divided into ten five years plans.

In order to decentralise and empower the maximum number of people, to enjoy the fruits of self-rule, we should convert every division of Pakistan into a province. This will also work as a panacea for the eradication of linguistic and any other type of frictions and doubts about the hegemony of the people. from certain large areas over the people of other smaller areas. In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan and kill instantly, any secessionist or separatist activities, currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

nayyar51@hotmail.com
Lahore – Pakistan