Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said on Wednesday that a basic democratic “skeleton” exists in the country and its principles are being carried out through political parties, elections and voting.
Addressing a function in Islamabad on the occasion of International Day of Democracy, Omar said that Pakistan witnessed the first peaceful transfer of power from one civilian government to another in 2013. He said the current 13-year period was the “longest continuous period”. History of the country in which the democratic process worked.
“So the fundamentals of a democratic structure are being fulfilled and there are political parties, elections are held, representatives come after voting and sit in legislatures and pass bills, courts make independent decisions, media openly criticize.” And the government does well which tries to work for the nation,” the planning minister said.
He said that if one does an impartial analysis of the question whether democracy has been strengthened in the country, they will agree that it has improved and there is scope to move forward.
“Remember this is a country whose first 65 years had not had a peaceful transfer of power from one civilian government to another.”
Meanwhile, in other countries, he said, democracy was being challenged and extremism and intolerance were on the rise and “unimaginable scenes” were being witnessed in established democracies. US Capitol attack by disgruntled supporters of former US President Donald Trump in January.
“Therefore, Pakistan, which has been a continuous process of only 13 years, has a lot of room for improvement,” he said. The Planning Minister highlighted what he considers to be the “main pillar” of democracy and outlined where he felt reform was needed.
Regarding politicians, he said that they would be considered democratic representatives only when they were “truly accountable to the people”. He said elected representatives will have to answer in courts if they have violated any law and stressed the need for an effective accountability system.
More to follow.