A dialogue on "Pakistan's Political Complex and the Charter of Democracy"

"Charter of Democracy is a step towards sanctity of vote, strengthening of political institutions and restoration of democracy." This was the considered opinion of the majority of participants of a dialogue on "Pakistan's Political Complex and the Charter of Democracy" organized by ActionAid Pakistan on May 26, 2006.

ActionAid Pakistan under its governance portfolio organized this dialogue to review the state of democracy in Pakistan and to examine the Charter of Democracy recently signed by the leaders of two major political parties and ex-premiers of Pakistan Ms. Benazir Bhutto and Mr. Nawaz Sharif.

Given a long history of undemocratic and autocratic regimes in Pakistan the Charter of Democracy is being considered a roadmap to democracy because it consists of the future work plan of these two political parties to; undo several of the measures taken by military governments.

At the dialogue leaders from almost all political parties and leaders of the opposition in assemblies, members of parliament and representatives of civil society discussed the charter at length and endorsed it. Besides the role of both of the political parties i.e. Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) in past was appraised and neither of the parties were able to shrug off the responsibility of their past misdeeds.

There was a general agreement among the participants that the charter of democracy is potentially a healthy development because democracy and participatory governance are popular political notions in todays world but many of the participants expressed that while it is easy for these political parties to pronounce their commitment to the principles of democracy, the real challenge lies in making them operational. So, how does one create institutions and processes that reflect the spirit of democracy and participatory governance?

The panel of speakers consisted of Parvez Malik MNA-PLM(N); Farzana Raja, Information Secretary PPP-Punjab and MPA; Khwaja Saad Rafiq, MNA-PML(N); Ahsan Wain, Central Secretary ANP; Ghinva Bhutto,Chairperson-PPP Shaheed Bhutto; Farooq Tariq, General secretary-Labor Party; Asma Jehangir, Human Rights Activist; Farooq Amjad, member PPP; Uzma Bukhari Shabbir , MPA-PPP; Farooq Amjad Mir,MPA-PML(Q) and Dr. Rubina Saigol, Country Director Action Aid Pakistan.

 While giving her opening remarks Dr. Rubina Saigol, Country Director Action Aid Pakistan said that ActionAid Pakistan strongly supports federal principle, equal distribution of resources, people's access to justice and fulfillment of the rights of disadvantaged and marginalized sections of society. She further stated that we believe no system of governance can ensure these demands but a system of democratic governance. She said, the charter of democracy by the two leading political parties of the country has come as a ray of hope and ActionAid Pakistan has organized this dialogue to provide an opportunity to all the democratic activists to discuss and assess the charter by putting it into the perspective of Pakistans political formation. 

Initiating the debate Parvez Malik, MNA-PML(N) said Democracy needs to be strengthen in Pakistan and in the Charter of Democracy PML (N) along with PPP has laid a foundation to the path leading to the real democracy in Pakistan. He further said that the democratic government is the only government which can take stand in the favor of country and people.

Information Secretary PPP-Punjab and MPA Farzana Raja expressed her views by saying that such dialogues will raise the awareness about the democratic significance of this Charter among the common masses. She said we don't want to use this charter as a tool to enter into power corridors rather the soul purpose of this charter is to restore and strengthen democracy in the country. She stressed that government is misguiding people that this charter is basically a tool to win power and it has nothing to do with people. She said the first clause of the charter is enough to falsify government's claim as the very first clause of the charter talks about poverty eradication.

pt">Since this forum was first public appearance of Khwaja Saad Rafiq, MNA-PML(N) after getting released from the prison he thanked Asma Jehangir, Lawyer and human rights activist for voicing against his detention. While speaking on the charter of democracy he said that the charter of democracy is not a divine document, it is a document written by human beings, but this charter is a step towards true democracy. He further stated that we want to invite all political parties and Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and we welcome their suggestions because this is the way to further improve this Charter.

Shedding the light on the contents of the charter Ahsan Wain, Central Secretary Awami National Party (ANP) said that the provincial autonomy is the first step towards democracy and this charter ensures provincial autonomy such as abolishing concurrent list from the constitution, establishing federal constitutional court and revising NFC formula.

Talking about the Charter of Democracy Ghinva Bhutto, Chairperson PPP-Shaheed Bhutto said that its "Too Little, Too Late". We should remember that these two signatories are responsible for the present military regime; both these persons safeguarded the interests of army in order to remain in power.

While chairing the session renowned human rights activist and lawyer Asma Jahangir said that civil society is more politicized than the political parties and it has always been struggling against the military government even when it was being appreciated by the political parties. She said that the Charter of Democracy was really needed and it is of a crucial importance for Pakistan but the next step should be formulation of a plan of action on how to execute all these ideas which are floated through this Charter.

Besides Uzma Bukhari MPA-PPP; Farooq Amjad Mir, MPA-PML (Q) and Farooq Tariq, General Secretary-Labor Party also shared their views and put emphases on making the charter operational so that the state institutions should work democratically and state should be accountable to people.