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SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2015
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1 Oman makes history, book
1 Oman’s development leap in
World Twenty20 spot
45th year of Renaissance
bit.ly/omanbook2020spot
bit.ly/omandevelopment
2 Renaissance heralds Oman
as top tourism destination bit.ly/omantourismgrowth
3 Do not leave children in
locked cars: Royal Oman Police
Founder: Essa bin Mohammed Al Zedjali Chairman / Editor-in-Chief: Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali Deputy Editor-in-Chief: Anees bin Essa Al Zedjali Chief Executive Officer: Ahmed Essa Al Zedjali EDITORIAL Telephone: 24726666 Fax: 24813153 E-mail: editor@timesofoman.com ADVERTISING Telephone: 24726666 Fax: 24812624 E-mail: advertising@timesofoman.com CIRCULATION Telephone: 24726666 Fax: 24818270 E-mail: circulation@timesofoman.com
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2 Oman fuel prices should be
linked to global prices, say experts
4 Painting of Zanzibari Royal
worth OMR 600,000 found in London kitchen
bit.ly/omanfuelprices
bit.ly/zanzibarpainting
3 Oil crash could be worst in
more than 45 years
5 Two missing at sea: Rescue
Printed and published by: Muscat Media Group Post Box: 770 Postal Code: 112
operations on in Oman
bit.ly/worstoilcrash
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4 Converting pain into
motivation bit.ly/frompaintomotivation
5 Extra patrols after expat’s
TIMESOFOMAN.COM/OPINION
death at Oman tourist hotspot bit.ly/extrapatrols
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TIMESOFOMAN.COM/VIDEOS Dust storm led to poor visibility in different parts of Muscat on Sunday evening
Hillary does not like political reporters to have power to adjudicate partisan conflicts. They choose whether to treat a lumpen rehash as journalistic caviar, or whether to focus attention on a candidate’s appearance instead of policy
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INSTAGRAM.COM/TIMESOFOMAN Vladimir’s Putin’s behaviour, both in the Iran talks and in the Greek crisis, clearly shows he is not a dictator. He’s doing his best to signal to West that he’s a responsible player who is only aggressive when it comes to areas he considers his home territory bit.ly/dealswithputin
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Waiting to hear back about a job in #Oman but it’s the wait that is leaving me with butterflies.
Zardari seems to have run out of Houdini acts
NOAH SMITH
e could ride the most fearsome of storms, we thought — and he did. Pakistanis lapped up the aura of invincibility he courted, perhaps more out of fascination than admiration as the media heaped awe on Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, declaring him the uncrowned political oracle, the uber-survivor. Analysts unabashedly lavished praise on his mythical abilities, his flair for conjuring rabbits out of thin air, his panache for stitching opposites together. To be fair, he indeed survived a veritable buffet of crises. From Memogate to the judicial rubbishing of the NRO to the disqualification of his prime minister, a public sector eyeballing bankruptcy, the crash of governance in Sindh, Zardari attracted scandals like Don Juan did nymphets. Yet he completed his presidential term of five years, silencing all the naysayers. Is he really the granddaddy of intrigue, the Moriarty of politics? My perverted conventional wisdom concedes that he deserves many pats on the back for navigating his ship through a more than tumultuous presidential term. Question is, how and at what cost to Pakistan? Is mere survival a praiseworthy end, the fallout notwithstanding? Much more than any latent talents, his real benefactors have been the conspiring circumstances. A striking confluence of events strait-jacketing the very forces that have long hewn the course for Pakistan. Numerous factors helped Zardari survive the judicial/media onslaught despite unprecedented mismanagement. Foremost was General Kayani’s aversion to disrupting the democratic process though not necessarily out of any love for democracy. Pervez Musharraf’s disastrous fling as president, the Kargil fiasco and Osama’s discovery in its own backyard were like jabs smack in the face, leaving the establishment with a bloody nose. This effectively forced it to take a back seat, convalesce in the shadows and rebuild. The judiciary, bent on claiming space in the national discourse, through its rebukes of martial law dampened the establishment’s messianic fervour further. In addition, the military was stretched thin with its occupation on both the eastern and western fronts. Zardari had, therefore, little to worry about and could focus all his wile on neutering the rest. The West happily threw its weight behind the elected civilian government. Lastly, Zardari demonstrated great flair in keeping his greedy coalition partners satiated and was thus able to summon political support at
will. I wonder though if feeding slobbering partners is a talent at all. Wide-eyed appreciation of Zardari’s Houdini acts blinds us to the monumental unravelling of governance during his term. What about the toll his survival instincts took on Pakistan? The question has to be eyeballed squarely to make a rational, dispassionate assessment of Zardari. The truth is Karachi drowned in blood on his watch despite the fact that the key stakeholders (MQM, PPP and ANP) were all part of the ruling coalition. Yet Karachi continued to sink in the bog of incompetency, greed and indifference of frightening proportions. The economy cracked open as the government lived off borrowed money. Public sector enterprises like PIA, Pakistan Steel and Pakistan Railways caved in under the weight of corruption and mismanagement. Compounding national misery was the unprecedented power crisis that shut down hundreds of industrial units, rendering thousands jobless. The crowning embarrassment was the disqualification of Prime Minister Gilani who went down fighting gallantly, protecting his president in the Swiss money scandal. The 2013 elections saw the first democratic transition of government in Pakistan. Zardari’s PPP lost massively across the country, barely mustering enough seats to assume the reins in Sindh. For the unfortunate citizens of Sindh, the nightmare continued under the doddering leadership of Qaim Ali Shah. The leaderships of Punjab and Sindh were a strange contrast: where Shahbaz Sharif looked firm and in control, Shah looked like a threadbare puppet. Extortion, target killing, land mafia, and terrorism took over Karachi, plunging the city of lights into a deathly darkness. The PPP had to pay a heavy price for the governance collapse with a complete wipeout in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections. The party of the people, felled by its own, was a pale shadow of its former glory. The PPP survived Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s hanging. It survived Benazir’s assassination. It survived Ziaul Haq’s brutal martial law. The PPP did not survive Zardari. The party that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had founded is imploding, bleeding loyalists, withering at the altar of Zardari’s whimsy and cronyism. It has lost its ideological moorings. The fall of the PPP makes for an epic story of a starry-eyed beginning, of blossoming into a juggernaut and of a heartbreaking demise wrought by its own. Zardari has deprived Pakistan of the political Left, so necessary to balance the raging Right. And this is unpardonable. He survives for sure but is irrelevant to Pakistan. The myth of Zardari stands busted. — Express Tribune
READERS’ FORUM Authorities deserve praise for awareness drive This refers to the online report, Do not leave children in locked cars: Royal Oman Police (July 22). I offer my sincere condolences to the family of the deceased children. Sadly we often hear of youngsters playing in cars. This happens all over the world. Accidents happen as children are so inquisitive. I am glad that the authorities are doing such a good job in educating the public. Before the campaign to ‘clunk click every trip’, we in the UK never thought to wear seat belts. Now we do and many lives have been saved. Swimming was compulsory in schools when I was a child. This saved many lives. May all keep safe. — Lorraine Paton, Muscat
The availability of an electricvehicle alternative will reduce demand for petrol, since a few first movers will switch to electric cars. That will cause a slight reduction in the price of gasoline. It is possible that then the number of petrol stations will fall a lot bit.ly/electricorpetrolcars
Oman truly deserve to be in the Twenty20 World Cup tourney Scan this QR code to send letters to the Readers’ Forum, containing not more than 200 words with full name, address and telephone number, may be sent by mail (Times of Oman, P.O. Box 770, P.C. 112, Ruwi).
This refers to the online story, Oman make history, book World Twenty20 spot (July 23). My heartiest congratulations to the Omani cricket team for qualifying for the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in India 2016. They truly deserve the place. — Ishtiaque Ahmad, Sohar
Need to build cricket grounds of global standards to perform well
This refers to the online story, Oman make history, book World Twenty20 spot (July 23). This is very good news indeed. Oman should now think of building on this and thus focus on building facilities that would help the team to perform well in the tournament in India in 2016. For this purpose international level cricket grounds should be built in all the major cities of the Sultanate — including Salalah, Muscat and Sohar. — Nadeem Feroz, Muscat
CLIPPINGS FROM OUR ARCHIVES
OMANI WORKERS BY GENRE In the private sector (may 2015)
JULY 2000
Female
Modern education in Muscat city began in 1940, when the Saidia School was opened, heralding a new era in education different from the then Katatib and mosque education programmes. Several years later, the Saidia School was opened in Muttrah and Salalah. Over the last 30 years, the school education witnessed a big leap, in quality and quantity. Several schools have been established since then throughout the Sultanate.
NEW INDIA ASSURANCE
1793: The French garrison at Mainz, Germany, falls to the Prussians.
Protect the welfare of your workforce through New India’s WORKMEN COMPENSATION POLICY.
1803: Irish patriots throughout the country rebel against Union with Great Britain. 1868: The 14th Amendment is ratified, granting citizenship to African Americans. 1894: Japanese troops take over the Korean imperial palace
Male
Monthly salary (OMR)
School education system leaps to progress
TODAY IN HISTORY
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