The importance of Pakistan as a 'my democratic state' was underlined by speakers at a discussion that also pointed out the need for providing level playing fields for all political parties during the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The discussion titled "Pakistan: Elections, Rule of Law and Freedom of Press" was held at the historic Moses room of the House of Lords on Wednesday evening and chaired by Lord Nazir Ahmad of Rotherham.
The participants included Dr Gareth Price Head of Asia Programme, Chatham House, Matthew Neuhaus, Director Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat Baroness Sayeeda Waris, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, senior political advisor to PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto, Bishop Michael Nazir Ali, Lord Avery, Khan of Kalat Suleiman Daud and Shabaz Sharif, President PML-N.
The participants were of the consensus that Pakistan was passing through a critical period of its political history and the best way forward for the country to progress and prosper was the implementation of complete democracy and the rule of law.
Opening the discussion Dr Price noted keen interest of USA in Pakistan and said the next year was crucial, as both the countries would be facing important elections. He said Benazir Bhutto was one of the very few Pakistani politicians who appear to have large appeal in her country.
He was of the view that liberal parties ought to come together to help offset the pressure from the religious parties and those elements with extremist views and opposed to genuine democracy.
Matthew Neuhaus traced Pakistan and Commonwealth relations and said these had been rocky. He said Commonwealth desired that political parties should be allowed to play their full role in the national politics.
He said Commonwealth expects President General Pervez Musharraf to give up his Army uniform by November 15. Commonwealth, he added, would send a delegation to Pakistan to monitor the parliamentary elections. He also added that situation in Pakistan would come under discussion at the commonwealth Head of the Government meeting in Kampala Uganda next month.
Neuhaus said the fair and free elections were in Pakistan's favour. He also advocated the return of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan to participate in the national elections.
Wajid Shamsul Hasan said PPP desired to run Pakistan according to the vision of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, which was being obstructed by the obscurantist forces. He said his party head has returned to Pakistan for the sake of bringing back genuine democracy and her arrival nearly cost her life. Wajid said terrorism could only be fought through democracy.
"The road ahead for Pakistan is difficult and strewn with rocks and therefore democracy must be allowed to play its full role," he said while adding that Nawaz Sharif has also an important role to play in national politics. He said MQM has been getting a large number of seats and has emerged as an important party in the country and therefore cannot be marginalised.
Shabaz Sharif traced the political history of the country and lamented that democratic forces had not been allowed to play their role with complete freedom. However, he pointed out that the political parties have also failed to live upto the expectations of the people.
"We are fully aware of the mistakes we made. We had learned some hard lessons and this was the reason why Charter of Democracy (CoD) was signed by PPP and other parties." He claimed CoD was the best document since the 1973 constitution.
The PML-N President also criticised the role of the west and its double standard saying that it only supported and assisted the country when it was in the interest of the west to do so. He recalled how Pakistan was left of its own after the withdrawal of Soviet Union forces from Afghanistan.
Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir Ali in his brief speech remarked that had Pakistan stuck to the vision of Quaid-i-Azam, the country would not have faced the kind of problems it was encountering now. Michael Nazir, who once served as the Bishop of Lahore, said extremism was the question of ideology and not related to religion.
He called for respecting the fundamental freedom of belief, expression and the complete withdrawal of blasphemy law. Lord Avery extended his deepest sympathies to the victims of October 18 incident which he described as an attack on democracy that was widely criticised by the civilised world.
He said UK Government supports free and fair elections, which would help to bring about genuine democracy in Pakistan. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, Shadow Minister of Communities, in her thought provoking address called upon the Pakistani political parties to concentrate on developing political society.
"Political parties need to build their own think-tank for advice on various social and economic issues," she said while arguing for debate on issues rather than party politics.
She called for promoting meritocracy and the development of women in a way that they come into the Parliament through election by popular votes rather than being appointed. She termed independent judiciary and free media as pre-requisite of democracy. She said the political parties must develop their own party structure in a democratic way.
Khan of Kalat Suleiman Daud called for greater autonomy for the smaller provinces and said the feeling of alienation by these provinces could only be overcome by giving people greater rights and freedom. Pakistan-origin Councillors Mushtaq Lashari, Qurban Husain and Farooq Qureshi also spoke on the occasion and supported the efforts for restoration of genuine democracy in Pakistan.
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