Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said the democratisation of wealth, resources and markets was a must to ensure global peace. Speaking at a luncheon debate at the World Forum for Democracy here on Tuesday, the PPP Chairman said regional peace was vital for trade and prosperity.
Bilawal said Pakistan had a long history of struggle for achieving the universal values of democracy. He stressed full public support and necessary consensus for a strong counter-terrorism efforts. He also highlighted the need for a thriving civil society and free media for growth of democracy, at the World Forum that gathered reformers and global leaders to identify democratic responses to the economic, social and political challenges affecting the societies of the day.
Bilawal Bhutto paid rich tributes to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, and said she left an everlasting impression by laying down her life following a long and hard struggle for democracy in Pakistan. He said though democracy was nascent in Pakistan, yet the country shared democratic values with the world. He urged the participants that universal values of democracy should be respected at all costs irrespective of national and transient interests.
Others who participated in the debate, included Asma Mehfouz, an activist and blogger from Egypt, Ahmad Al-Senussi, member of National Transition Council of Libya, and Ali Ferzat, a political cartoonist. The Forum was attended by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Head of Government of Morocco and former Prime Minister of Canada.
Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met former Director General UNESCO and President of Foundation for Culture of Peace Frederico Mayor, on the sidelines of the Forum. He said the Foundation should work for the abolition of death penalty and informed him that not a single person had been executed during last five years in Pakistan.
Later, in the afternoon, he met Head of the Government of Morocco Abdelilah Benkirne, Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Norway. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was accompanied by his political secretary Hasham Riaz Sheikh.
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