OmanObserver_30-06-13

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8 Ali al Matani ali.matani@hotmail.com New work culture PERHAPS the title is somewhat pessimistic or exciting; or even delusory; is it really within reach to change work culture in Oman from pursuing a permanent job to establishing self-initiatives and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)? This ambitious goal is the reality for which the Public Authority for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, Rafd Fund and Sanad Programme are striving in. Moreover, it is a reality full of challenges for the youth for their effectiveness and feasibility of self-entrepreneurship and self-initiative. The dificulty of this mission is attributed to the fact that many dreams of having easy-to-catch government jobs have been fulilled. After the youth has experienced the sweetness of getting salaries at the end of every month — with less or more efforts done at work — what are the incentives and motives that can push our youth to consider having self-entrepreneurship or self-owned projects? A miracle is in need; big and continues efforts by all institutions, establishments, government agencies and ofices and private and public sectors, corporates and companies to form and feed mentality that has entrepreneurship concept and culture rooted deep and to bring up the youth since very early to change the way they are looking at SMEs by using whatever means to achieve the core aim. There is no doubt that the efforts for enhancing self-initiatives are great, in terms of regulations, frameworks or incentives or through public authorities or government agencies that are formed and established for the purpose. More and more facilities are approved to encourage youth of Oman to change their attitude and turn to establish their own projects and entrepreneurships. But it seems that there is a missing link between all these efforts, on one hand and the targeted youth on the other hand. It is the situation we are living now; and it is the reality we have to change by spreading awareness through whatever means available; through media platforms, at school, mosque and home. We have to make a turning point in thinking itself. To do that, we have to prepare, thoughtfully, all inancial, managing, training and rehabilitation needs for the national cadres; to give them the chance and the ability to step forward in the read and attitude drawn by the state and the government for brighter future for future generations. The competent bodies alone can do that; unless all governmental and civil bodies and establishments, as well as private sector companies and corporates, join hands and share the responsibility, the dream can come true. To choose self-entrepreneurships and self-initiatives is a strategic option. That is what we have to thoroughly know and recognise. Moreover, we have to work hard to establish this fact, in order to develop this concept at all ields. The whole society — local communities, civil organisations and societies, government apparatus and ofices, private sector companies and establishments should contribute to the formation and crystallisation of concrete convictions of the importance of this strategic option for society and the country to step bravely into the promising future that is crowned by will and hard work of our youth. The changes and developments our society has been witnessing all the years recently attributed to a reality that should be changed. That will be done through long and complicated processes, as well as organised efforts to reshape the misconceptions that ill and occupy the minds of most of the Omani youth regarding to the self-entrepreneurship and selfinitiative. Of course, the situation is not completely gloomy and dark; as there are great efforts done, and there will be great efforts to be done for a promising future for our youth. We hope that our efforts yield soon; the miracle can be within reach. DIA'S restaurant in the Lebanese resort village of Aley is deserted. Most years, he caters to thousands of rich Gulf Arab tourists and to visiting expats, but this year no one has come. "Usually, there's so many people here that even inding a parking spot is hard. Now, there's so few people that we let them park right outside the entrance," complained the 27-year-old. His neighbour, a cake shop owner, said sales are down by 50 per cent compared with June last year. "In other years, we had clients coming in every 15 minutes. Now, it's a miracle if someone enters," he said, hiding his worry behind a smile. Lebanon is reeling from the spillover of war in neighbouring Syria, with deadly sectarian clashes, elections postponed, the absence of a government and the inlux of half a million refugees. The Mediterranean country's beaches, superb Roman and Phoenician sites and legendary nightlife are barren. Early this summer, the some countries sounded the death knell for this season's tourism when they told their citizens to avoid Lebanon for security reasons. ANALYSIS Well-heeled visitors from the Gulf normally account for 65 per cent of the country's tourists, but the number of Saudis, Kuwaitis and other Gulf tourists this June is 80 per cent lower than in June last year. An already bad situation grew even worse last weekend when news bulletins carried footage of a major 24-hour ireight in southern Lebanon's city of Sidon, pitting the Scramble for solution THE massive protests that paralysed Brazil appear to have peaked after sending the country's shaken political establishment a loud message that it needs to change its ways. It's now up to the politicians to deliver improvements to the country's deicient public services and more transparent and accountable government demanded by frustrated Brazilians, or the crescendo of angry protests could suddenly return. While smaller protests continue on a daily basis, the number of demonstrators last week was much lower than the one million people who took to the streets a week ago, due to a mix of protest fatigue and achievement of the protesters' initial aim of drawing attention to their grievances. Tens of thousands may still protest around Confederations Cup inal soccer match between Brazil and Spain in Rio de Janeiro, the locus of violence so far, but the end of the soccer tournament will deprive protesters of a highproile stage on which to air their grievances. "The streets are saying to the politicians: you have heard our voices, now let's see what you will do with this," said Marcos Nobre, a political philosophy professor at the University of Campinas and author of a new e-book on the popular revolt. "The protests have peaked but army against the opposition. Eighteen soldiers were killed. The port city of Sidon is home to a beautiful old district, ish restaurants, souks (traditional markets) and even a soap museum. "As soon as you even utter the word 'weapons' you've killed tourism," Paul Achkar, head of the Lebanese hotel association, said. "Three hundred tourism estab- they are not over. This is a truce as Brazilians wait to see how the political system responds," Nobre added. Politicians in Brasilia are rushing to clean up their act to appease the anger directed at them by the protesters. Congress is fast-tracking measures against corruption. One of its members, convicted of embezzling public funds, last Friday became the irst federal lawmaker to go to jail in 25 years. But analysts say deeper reforms will be needed to restore public credibility in a political class viewed as self-serving, overpaid and corrupt. The civil unrest, something rarely seen in recent decades in South America's economic powerhouse, was sparked by a small protest against higher public transportation fares in Sao Paulo. The ensuing police crackdown, which touched a nerve in a country with a history of violent political repression under a military dictatorship that ended in 1985, fanned demonstrations nationwide even after cities agreed to roll back the fare increases. The protests were fuelled by widespread frustration with Brazil's deplorable education, health and transportation services, rising crime and cost of living, as well as over-spending on stadiums that will host next year's World Cup soccer tournament. Six people died in the protests, including a young man who fell from an overpass in Belo Hori- zonte last Wednesday as riot police ired tear gas and rubber bullets into marchers to stop them from reaching a stadium where a Confederations Cup game was under way. The protesters used the Confederations Cup to tell the world that Brazil is not just a land of soccer and that their priorities are improved education, healthcare and public transportation rather than costly megaevents like the World Cup and the Olympic Games set for 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The protests took Brazilian politicians by surprise and showed how out of touch they were with an increasingly middle-class nation that is more informed and unwilling to tolerate a political system long plagued by patronage and corruption. The leaderless protests expressed a wide array of demands, but one common target, Nobre said, was "a corrupt political system that does not represent this new democratic political culture that has arisen mainly through social networks." The protests sent shockwaves through Brazil's Congress and prompted frenetic activity by lawmakers who have rushed to pass legislation that had been sitting around for years, notably a bill toughening sentences for corruption. "The political class fears the consequences of this popular revolt. Politicians are keenly aware that if we do not change the While smaller protests go on, the number of demonstrators last week was much lower than the one million people who took to the streets a week ago, writes Anthony Boadle way we do things we are going to be trampled on in next year's elections," Alvaro Dias, leader of the opposition PSDB party in the Senate, said. "Congress is making up for lost time by rushing through bills." President Dilma Rousseff has received scant praise for her response, even within her own party, and elections are coming. Brazil's irst female president is expected to run for a second term next year and her popularity had already begun to slip before the protests on concerns about rising inlation and slow growth in the world's seventh-largest economy. Rousseff surprised Brazil last Monday by announcing plans to convene a constituent assembly to adopt political reforms. Within less than 24 hours, she had withdrawn the idea in the face of strong criticism even from within her ruling coalition. Her Workers' Party government is now working with its allies to hold a quick plebiscite this year that will ask Brazilians what political reforms they want, a plan that is seen as overhasty damage control by opposition leaders such as Dias. Even members of her unwieldy 16-party coalition would rather Congress draw up the reforms irst and then seek the nation's approval in a yes-or-no referendum that could be added to the ballot in the general election slated for October 2014. Lebanon tourism pays the price for Syria's war The country’s beaches, superb Roman, Phoenician sites and legendary nightlife are barren as some countries warned their citizens to avoid Lebanon for security reasons, writes Rana Moussaoui A demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest in Rio de Janeiro downtown. — AFP A man walks past empty restaurants in downtown Beirut which was once crowded by tourists. — AFP SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013 lishments have closed down since the start of the year," he said. Although conident that the industry will recover, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said the igures for the start of the season were pitiable. "The occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut is barely 35 per cent this month, half of the usual at this time of year. Outside Beirut, it's catastrophic. We're talking about ive per cent compared to the usual 35 per cent," Abboud said. The atmosphere in Beirut, dubbed party capital of the Middle East, is not so morose, and Christian areas such as Byblos or Jounieh have also fared better than other areas. But Baalbek, home to one of the world's most beautiful and best preserved Roman sites, has been hit hard. It has been targeted by rockets ired by opposition ighters ighting government in Syria. The rocket attacks only but noted victim was the famed international music festival, traditionally held in the temple of Bacchus, and headline act American soprano Renee Fleming cancelling her trip to Lebanon. The music festival is now expected to be held at a different venue, but without Fleming.
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 2013 Snowden's options narrow in bid to evade arrest Moscow may have no suficient reason to keep Snowden any longer as its intelligence services have already questioned him, report Matt Spetalnick and Lidia Kelly NEARLY a month after Edward Snowden exposed top secret US surveillance programmes, the former spy agency contractor looks no closer to winning asylum to evade prosecution at home — and his options appear to be narrowing. Stuck in legal limbo in a Moscow airport transit area and facing uncertainty over whether any of the destinations he is said to be contemplating — Ecuador, Venezuela and Cuba — will let him in, Snowden seems to be at the mercy of geopolitical forces beyond his control. Unseen in public since arriving in Moscow last weekend, much remains unclear about Snowden's overtures to various countries and how they have responded behind the scenes. Russia may no longer have suficient reason to continue harbouring Snowden if, as is widely believed, its intelligence services have already questioned him about the classiied documents that he has admitted to taking from the National Security Agency. The leftist government of Ecuador, already sheltering WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at its London Embassy, is reviewing Snowden's asylum request, though oficials have sent mixed signals, suggesting the process could drag on for weeks. Venezuela's new President, Nicolas Maduro, has spoken favourably of granting refuge to Snowden but has taken no action, and he may think twice about risking a setback in tentative steps towards post-Chavez rapprochement with Washington. And even if Ecuador or Venezuela decide to take Snowden, there is no guarantee that communist Cuba, the likely transit point for any light from Moscow to those South American A ile picture of Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt (R) with her mother Yolanda Pulecio at Catam air base in Bogota. — AFP FIVE years after her rescue from Farc rebels, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt says she vividly remembers on July 2, 2008 — the day an army helicopter took her to freedom. But now, the onetime hostage, who says she has taken some time to rebuild her life, is preaching forgiveness as the way to achieve peace in Colombia after decades of conlict. Far from the lush jungles where she spent six years in captivity, much of it in chains, the Franco-Colombian woman recalls the feeling of being released from the clutches of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). "There is satisfaction to have been able to survive. It's quite a primal feeling, but that's the way it is," Betancourt said in an Internet video interview from London, where she is studying for a doctorate's degree in theology at Oxford University. During recent spring cleaning, she came across a box illed with her jungle belongings: A radio, a watch "that always shows the exact jungle time," her detainee uniform. "The feelings I got from taking out these mementos are completely different from those I felt when I put them away," the 51-year-old said. She still recalls the small details of her rescue by undercover soldiers who had duped the rebels into thinking they were handing 15 hostages — including Betancourt, three Americans and 11 Colombian troops and police — to a humanitarian mission. "I can still see the movement of the grass when the helicopter landed on the coca ield," she said. Betancourt was kidnapped in southern Colombia on February 23, 2002, along with her campaign manager Clara Rojas during her longshot bid for the Colombian presidency as a green party candidate. She said she emerged from her ordeal "more humane," though her return from captivity was initially tough because "you return to a world in which you no longer belong." Betancourt has given up Colombia's political countries, would let him pass through and further complicate its own thorny relations with the United States. Adding to Snowden's troubles, the Obama administration, embarrassed by his disclosures on US surveillance programmes and his ability to dodge extradition when he led Hong Kong last Sunday, is bringing heavy pressure to bear on any country that might consider accepting him, diplomats say. "Thus far, he has chosen his destinations carefully," said Carl Meacham, a foreign policy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "His time, even in those countries, however, may be running out." Another potential complication is the role of anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, whose alliance with Snowden further politicizes his case. British legal researcher Sarah Harrison, a top WikiLeaks lieutenant and Assange conidante, escorted Snowden on the light from Hong Kong to Moscow and is believed to have remained with him. Russia remains the chief focus of the diplomatic scramble, and while President Vladimir Putin has clearly delighted in the chance to tweak Washington, there are questions whether he wants a prolonged saga that threatens deeper damage to already-chilly US-Russia relations. The former NSA contractor's trek took him to Moscow because he had little choice of any other route that would keep him relatively safe from American pursuers, former Russian intelligence oficers and political and security analysts said. "He has almost nowhere to go. He does not have much of a choice," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs and a member of an inluential foreign policy Preaching forgiveness for peace Now, the onetime hostage, who says she has taken some time to rebuild her life, is preaching forgiveness as the way to achieve peace in Colombia after decades of conlict, writes Philippe Zygel arena, preferring to focus her energy on her human rights foundation. But she sparked controversy and outrage among Colombians following her release when she sought compensation from the government over her kidnapping, accusing the state of failing to protect her. "This affair hurt me a lot. I thought that it was very unfair. I felt that it was very spiteful," said Betancourt, who eventually gave up her legal bid. "It prolonged the time I needed to get myself back together." Betancourt now hopes the government's peace talks with the Farc, which began six months ago, will bring an end to the conlict that has left 600,000 people dead and more than 3.7 million displaced in 50 years. "Forgiveness is obviously a central element, but not forgiveness in the form of charity," she said. "We are all, in Colombia, responsible for this horrible war. We are all part of a generation that, with forgiveness, must assume this responsibility." The two sides struck a irst deal last month related to the thorny issue of land reform, but other sticking points — like allowing rebels who repent to avoid to jail — still have to be resolved. Despite the misery she endured in captivity, Betancourt voiced support for suspending jail sentences. "We can't continue with a justice of vengeance. Peace will require us to accept a certain degree of impunity, it's inevitable," she said. A Gallup Colombia poll, however, showed last Friday that 80 per cent of people were opposed to amnesty for the rebels in return for their participation in political life. Betancourt remembered that the Farc commander who held her prisoner was quite brutal. He was captured during her release and has been in jail for the past ive years. Would she forgive him? "Life gave him the possibility to understand what he made us go through since he's now a prisoner, like we were," she said. "If I had him in front of me, I would simply hug him." council. "Considering that he came out with a serious statement that is seen by the United States as treasonous, he needs to lay out an itinerary through countries where he can feel more or less certain that he will not be handed over." Despite Putin's insistence that Russian intelligence agencies had not been "working with" Snowden, a Russian security service source said they would certainly have interviewed him. US authorities are already operating on a "worst case" assumption that all of the classiied material in Snowden's possession has made its way to one or more adversary intelligence services, US national security sources said. While top US oficials have warned of serious damage to national security interests from Snowden's leaks, Lukyanov suggested that in intelligence terms he was probably not a very valuable prize. "He is not some kind of special agent," he said. Putin has built his return to the presidency on strident nationalism. If he hands Snowden back to the United States, he could face a backlash from Russians who see the American as a whistleblowing hero. "No matter what, we should not give him back. Let him go somewhere, or even stay in Russia — we are a big country and we have room for him as well as (French actor Gerard) Depardieu," said Viktor, a pensioner who was at Sheremetyevo airport on Friday for a vacation light to Ukraine. However, Snowden's protracted stay at the Moscow airport may have more to do with his problems reaching a deal with Ecuador than with any Russian desire to keep the American fugitive from moving on, the Russian security source said. A double game By Amulya Ganguli ANALYSIS UNDER a new and as yet untested leadership, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to formulate a fresh ideological framework for itself. In doing so, the party seems to have juxtaposed its standard pro-Hindu agenda with an attempt to reach out to minorities with a "vision document" for their empowerment. The endeavour may, however, lead to the party being caught in a situation where it will confuse and even alienate its core base of support — the majority — without being able to win over the minorities. Even if the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's mentor, reserves its judgement for the time being about this electoral gimmick in the belief that it may fetch some votes, hardcore outits like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal are unlikely to look kindly at the BJP's version of "appeasement". For years, the BJP, the RSS and other members of the saffron brotherhood have lambasted the Congress for its supposedly pro-minority policies for the sake of cultivating the vote bank. Their latest target of attack was the Rajinder Sachar committee set up by the Manmohan Singh government in 2005 to look into minorities' socio-economic conditions. But, now, the BJP has decided to follow a similar path. Its reason for trying to reach out to the minorities is obvious. With the general election due in less than a year, the BJP cannot afford to let the Congress walk away with nearly 40 per cent of the vote when the BJP secures barely ive or six per cent. The party is evidently trying to deny the Congress this huge advantage. However, the BJP's problem is that its own history is against this opportunistic manoeuvre. Even if the anti-minority diatribes of its guiding lights like Golwalkar and Savarkar are ignored for the moment, the party will ind it dif- icult to explain its relentless propaganda during in the 1990s. Apart from the targeting of places like the Babri Masjid, which was demolished by saffron storm-troopers on December 6, 1992, and the ones in Varanasi and Mathura, the brigade had some chilling anti-minority slogans. Both the communities among the minorities were accused of conspiring to reduce the majority to a minority in their only country in the world, as the Sangh Parivar proclaimed, via conversions, as Narendra Modi said. Against the backdrop of such hate-mongering, which initially paid considerable political dividends by raising the tally of the BJP's Lok Sabha seats from two in 1984 to 182 in 1998, it will be a herculean task for the party to woo minorities. Even if the BJP has moderated its attitude to some extent in view of the realisation that a community which makes up 14 per cent of the India's population cannot be ignored, the RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal remain as virulent as ever. It is perhaps as a sop to these groups that the BJP has revived the call for scrapping Article 370 of the constitution, which confers a special status on Kashmir, and for introducing a uniform civil code for all religions. It has to be remembered that these issues, along with the construction of the Ram temple, were put on the backburner by the BJP in 1996 when it realised during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government of 13 days that it could not attract any other party to support it. The shelving of this agenda helped Vajpayee to form an alliance of 24 parties in 1998 which began to fall apart after the Gujarat riots of 2002 and has now been reduced to a group of three members. Gujarat Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi before a core-committee meeting of the party in Mumbai. — AFP Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these pages are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Observer. 9
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