Karachi, May 03; The PPPP-PML alliance should work to address issues of governance in areas such as endemic corruption, spiraling prices, chronic unemployment and deteriorating law and order, stressed PILDAT Democracy Assessment Group. The Group was addressing a Roundtable Discussion held by PILDAT over How to Assess Quality of Democracy in Pakistan. The Group further urged the Parliament to investigate incident of killing of Osama Bin Laden and demanded the Government to issue a comprehensive statement on this operation on sovereign soil of Pakistan.

Participants at the roundtable included veteran Members of Parliament, Members of Sindh Provincial Assembly, academicians and analysts and media. Participants proposed details on developing a Pakistan-specific focus on criteria for assessing quality of democracy. Wide ranging issues such as law and order, corruption, elections and legislative reform were also discussed at the roundtable.

While chairing the session Mr. Ilahi Baksh Soomro, former Speaker, National Assembly said that the Government should exercise its writ and powers in safeguarding the rights of the people. Democracy without respect of rule of law is regressive, he believed and the Government should implement the Supreme Court�s decisions.

Lt. General (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider, Former Federal Minister for Interior; former Governor Sindh, said that there is a broad consensus over the fact that martial law is not the correct way to rule a country. Therefore, people have a lot of expectations from democracy. However, we see that the people are disenchanted with democracy over issues of corruption, law and order and economy. Alliance between the PML and PPPP is a marriage of convenience.

Dr. Pervez Hasan, renowned lawyer, said that when we talk about democracy especially in a country which has seen a breakdown of democracy three times, we need to be patient. Citizens show a lot of patience to a decade-long dictatorship generally but are fickle about democracy. We should be patient and give democracy some time. After three years, I see glass more than half full than empty, he said. The democratic government has performed very well as far as constitutional reforms are concerned. They have, in a remarkable show of maturity, moved forward on sensitive issues of provincial autonomy. There are issues in every democracy and we should solve issues democratically. It is dangerous to look only at economic indicators because if you destroy the soul of the country it is a very heavy price to pay for economic stability. There was a lot of economic development in the 1st military regime but it resulted in separation of east wing; 2nd A military Government assassinated the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan and the 3rd killed Akbar Bugti and incarcerated judges of Pakistan.

Senator S. M. Zafar said that the people should realize that Pakistan was made as a result of democracy. We should know that our genesis is democratic. Our future is related to democracy and we should focus on how we can move forward democratically. Civil society is active and a powerful stakeholder now. I would like to stress that the next elections should be free and fair. The election commission should be active and independent, which the Constitution guarantees but there have been lags in implementation. The alliance between PPP and PML is based on the condition that the Election Commission should be reconstituted in order to ensure its independence. People of Pakistan are democratic and they are disturbed by news of corruption in elections. Democracy is for the people and its basic objective should be to benefit the people. Quoting Jefferson, he said that a corrupt democracy shall ultimately lead to despotism, therefore emphasis should be on across-the-board, objective and non-partisan accountability mechanism.

Also present during the discussion was Justice (Retd.) Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqi, former Chief Justice of Pakistan, whosaid that an effective Government protects life and honour of its people. He further said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had envisioned provincial autonomy equivalent to the states in Canada and America. Today we must address the issue of provincial autonomy since it is a burning issue, especially the case of Balochistan. Even though the Judiciary is independent the implementation lies with the executive and it is not fully implementing judiciary�s decisions. Citing the case of resolution against drone attacks he said that the Parliament has passed the resolution but is unable to implement it.

Mr. Nisar Memon, former Senator and Federal Minister, said that PILDAT�s effort to assess the quality of democracy in Pakistan is a commendable effort. He said the assessment, in his view, is generous on the count of civil control of defence, giving it 7 out of 20 numbers though the score should be far less while similar is true of internal democracy within political parties in Pakistan. There is a need to look at the role of political parties and democracy within these parties. The framework for assessment of democracy should be localized in accordance with Pakistan specific issues. He identified two areas; namely Elections and democracy within political parties, as key indicators of assessing the quality of democracy in Pakistan.

Professor Jaffar Ahmed, Director Pakistan Studies Centre Karachi University, said that while assessing democracy one should not focus only on institutions but society at large. The 18th Amendment is a big step but there is lack of political will in its implementation. Although Concurrent list has been omitted, there is no broad consensus over the issue of devolution.

Professor Huma Baqai, Chairman Institute of Social Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, said that in contemporary academic debate, South Asian democracies are defined as consensus within the elite of a country. Whenever the elite develops a consensus they give it a name of democracy. The elite of Pakistan must now look to involve the people of Pakistan in the democratic process.

Mr. Zubyr Soomro, former Chairman Karachi Stock Exchange, mentioned the book Origins of Political Order by Francis Fukuyama according to which democratic systems have evolved in order to control nepotism. However, during the civilian Governments we have moved backwards instead of forwards. He said that from a corporate perspective, stability is the single most important factor in a democracy because it leads to greater long term investment.

Ms. Kishwar Zehra, MNA, stressed on the need for free and fair elections which she said cannot take place until feudalism and tribalism thrive in Pakistan. She further stressed that the civil society needs to take the lead in observing democratic norms.

Among other speakers Mr. Arshad Zuberi, Deputy Chief Executive Business Recorder, stressed that the role of Civil bureaucracy is very important because all implementation lies in its hands. The Civil bureaucracy was not taken on board in the consultations for the 18th Amendment therefore implementation of the Constitutional Amendment is not being carried out smoothly. The provinces are not capable of taking over. After the 18th Amendment you cannot have a federal budget without including the provinces. There is a lot of confusion over the issue of devolution because the process has not been thought through.

Mr. Mujib ur Rehman Shami, Editor in Chief, Daily Pakistan, said that there are no two views on continuation of democracy in Pakistan. A good martial law is not an alternative to dysfunctional democracy as it further compounds governance issues. This PPPP-PML alliance has strengthened the Government but it should translate into strengthening of Governance also. There should be a comprehensive statement from the Government over the OBL killing because it has led the country to a great confusion and people need an answer to these questions.

Members of the Democracy Assessment Group who joined the meeting included Mr. Ilahi Buksh Soomro, Former Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan, Mr. Cyril Almieda, Assistant Editor, Dawn, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moinuddin Haider, Former Federal Minister for Interior; former Governor Sindh; Mr. Mujib ur Rehman Shami, Editor in Chief Daily Pakistan, Mr. Omar Khan Afridi, Former Federal Minister, Dr. Parvez Hassan, renowned Lawyer; Sardar Khalid Ibrahim, Advocate, Mr. Shahid Hamid, Senior Advocate Supreme Court; former Governor Punjab; former Federal Minister, Lt. Gen (Retd.) Talat Masood, Defence Analyst; former Federal Secretary Defence Production, Mr. Wazir Ahmed Jogezai, former Deputy Speaker National Assembly of Pakistan, Senator S. M. Zafar, former Federal Minister, who joined the meeting on special invitation, Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director and Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director of PILDAT.

The Roundtable Discussion was opened by Mr. Ahmed Bilal Mehboob. In his opening remarks he said that PILDAT and DAG believe that democracy is a continuous process that requires time & patience while it cannot be achieved by elections alone; instead, it is built from within the societies.

Ms. Aasiya Riaz while sharing the scores assigned by the Democracy Assessment Group, said that the score increased from before 2008 to the end of 3rd Parliamentary year, March 15, 2011, from 40% to 46%.