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WEEKLY
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| KLL ‘being criticised by vested interests’ |
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
Rasheed Khalid
Islamabad
Human resource development expert Dr. Noor Fatima has said that the conditions in Kerry-Lugar Law (KLL) are either pro-democracy or relate to Pakistan’s declared policy against proliferation and terrorism, but some vested interests are criticising it in the name of national interest.
She was speaking on ‘Kerry Lugar Law: Observations’ organised by the Islamabad Cultural Forum (ICF) at the Media Centre of South Asian Free Media Association (Safma) here on Wednesday.
Professor Ashfaq Saleem Mirza conducted the proceedings.
The speaker said that under the law, the US will not be materially interfere in Pakistan’s political or judicial processes. She said that the money will be used for projects that benefit people of Pakistan.
She said that this non-security grant is also intended for democratic governance, independent judicial system, political pluralism, rule of law, respect for human rights, promotion of independent media, transparency and accountability of government, anti-corruption efforts and countering drug trade.
Dr. Noor said that aid is not the panacea, but we cannot do without it. She said that conditions do not apply on Pakistan, but on the US administration. She said that the assistance would also help in achieving economic freedom, sustainable growth, durable use of natural resources, investment in energy and water, employment generation and workers and women’s rights. She said that if performance of Pakistan is certified by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the country will qualify for another package of $7.5 until 2018.
Harris Khalique of the Awami Party Pakistan said that what sovereignty we are talking about when Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan had offered to disband army in 1950, if the US was ready to defend Pakistan. He also referred to the use of Badaber base near Peshawar by the US for espionage against the former USSR without knowledge of the Pakistan government. He said how could we blame the present government when more stringent conditions were accepted by respective governments in the past. He said that the today’s parliament is more vibrant than the one during Zia regime. He, however, admitted that some words in the law were un-diplomatic.
Nargis Zehra of the Quaid-i-Azam University said that the US was facing terrorist threat and wanted to eliminate Al-Qaeda hideouts in Afghanistan and elsewhere. She said that all aid bills after 2001 had conditions similar to ones mentioned in the KLL. She said that since 2001, we could not pay salaries without the US aid.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
