American generals and policymakers exulting in the killing on Friday of Hakimullah Mehsud will not have long to enjoy their remote-control triumph: even before the Pakistani Taliban’s chief was buried yesterday, news reports said, his senior deputies were working out who would replace him.
Mehsud was beyond doubt a “high value” target, as the Americans say: in his four years heading the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) his daring and leadership produced many bloody attacks, including assaults on Nato road convoys traversing Pakistan en route to Afghanistan. There was a $5 million (Dh18.4m) price on his head.
His death has been reported more than once before, but this time there is little doubt – and even less doubt that the North Waziristan drone strike that did the job will infuriate many in Pakistan’s leadership. Just the day before the drone struck, Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said that dialogue with TTP “has started”. Earlier last week Mr Sharif was in Washington, where he once again called on the US president, Barack Obama, to end the drone campaign.
Mr Sharif and other prominent politicians were elected on a platform that included negotiating with TTP, as an alternative to endless insurgency and counterinsurgency. That approach appeals to many Pakistanis, of course, but a deal with TTP is a slippery fish. Our columnist Shaukat Qadir asserts that since TTP “seeks to claim political space through the use of violence … there should be absolutely no space for negotiations unless the government is in a position to dictate terms”.
Repeatedly, TTP has agreed to talks when in trouble militarily, as a way of getting the government to reduce pressure; when TTP has rebuilt, it strikes again, talks fall apart, and TTP’s demands swell. This kind of “negotiation” may convince the Pakistani public that their leaders want peace, but it is in fact a dead end.
If the TTP is that cynical about peace, what can Pakistan’s government gain from playing their game? This policy does indeed reward violence with political legitimacy, exactly the opposite of what is needed.
There will soon be a new TTP leader to whom Mr Sharif can send envoys. And as long as the US keeps filling Waziristan’s skies with drones, it will have few friends on the ground. Mehsud is gone, but the problems he personified are not so easily killed.
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
