Ambassador of Denmark to Pakistan Jesper Moller Sorensen said on Wednesday that commercial section of the Danish Embassy will be inaugurated in next week. He said that there is a lot of potential of trade between Denmark and Pakistan. He was addressing launch of the report on the Assessment of the Quality of Democracy in Pakistan in first 100 Days of National and Provincial Governments organised by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency (Pildat).
Jesper urged the need of establishing close ties between the businessmen of two countries. He said future is not for those who divide but the future is for those who unite.
In his speech Sorensen highlighted that a democratic society equals to a civil society, where the youth plays an important role in creating a culture attuned to democracy, liberty and freedom. "This is exactly the process that Denmark wants to support, because we want to make sure that Pakistan continues to move in a positive direction, where the democratic voices are outspoken, heard and mainstreamed in society," said the Ambassador.
He also acknowledged the successful partnership with Pildat, which aims to promote democratic values among the younger generation in Pakistan.
"I am extremely proud that Denmark is involved in activities like today and that we are supporting processes which are so important for the future of Pakistan. Our partnership with Pildat also provided the opportunity to remain active in electoral reforms - reforms, which contributed to the elections this May. I am confident that through the great work of the civil society and the commitment of the youth in Pakistan, Pakistan will be going in the right direction - striving towards democracy and peace."
Speaking on the occasion President Pildat Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said that the purpose of the forum is to create awareness among the youth about challenges to democracy in Pakistan and to discuss the role the youth of Pakistan can play in strengthening democracy and democratic institutions. Young Parliamentarians, students of different universities and colleges, members of youth wings of political parties and former members of Youth Parliament Pakistan participated in the Forum.
Senior Analyst Ghazi Salahuddin, said that youth of Pakistan do not read books, which is the biggest crisis facing this young country. Democracy is an idea that has changed the world, he said to the youth participants. In order to treat others as equals, youth must understand the concept of equality and human rights, regardless of gender, colour, caste or creed.
What defined Malala as a brave girl was that she read books. Imagination is the key to creating ideas. Our future depends on libraries, reading and day-dreaming, said Salahuddin.
Youth is not determined by one's physical age but by one's dreams and visions, said former federal minister Javed Jabbar. He said that Pakistan is a unique country. Democracy allows citizens to participate in decisions that affect their lives. He said that democratic system is not necessarily Parliamentary system and we should not be afraid to explore if a Presidential form of Government, the one through which President is directly-elected, is more suitable to Pakistan.
Jabbar said that his favourite reform is to make voting compulsory in Pakistan as in other 35 countries of the World. For youth to prosper and for democracy to be sustainable, youth must employ reasoned dialogue, based on understanding of issues, respecting other people's opinions and exercise tolerance.
Presenting results of Pildat's Democracy Assessment exercise of first 100 days of National and Provincial Governments, Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, President Pildat, said that Pildat's Democracy Assessment Group - DAG has scored the strengthening of the democratic process in the first 100 days at 44.5 per cent. In comparison, this was scored at 44.2 per cent in 2012. The Performance of Democracy, getting a relatively weaker score of 25.6 per cent is still higher as compared to the score of 20.9 per cent awarded to performance of democracy - or governance in other words - in 2012 by the Democracy Assessment Group.
At the conclusion of first 100 days of National and Provincial Governments in September 2013, the aggregate score of quality of democracy stands at 54 per cent, which shows a marked improvement over the score received by the same - at 45 per cent - in 2012. Pakistan's 10th General Election, though not without its flaws, was relatively better and unlike the previous nine elections, subject to the rule of law. The independence of the Election Commission of Pakistan has been assessed at 58.8 per cent - a relatively weaker score than 63.4 per cent in 2012. In concluding his presentation, Mehboob said that challenges to democracy are weak governance, perception of prevailing corruption, insurgency and its ideological moorings, weak political parties and weak parliamentary oversight of the government and state institutions.
While democracy is stronger than ever before in Pakistan, in the assessment of the group, unless all citizens, especially youth, get involved in deepening and strengthening democracy, the cause for establishing a viable and sustainable democratic system would not be well-served.
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