Democracy functioning without any restrictions: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that democracy is functioning in Pakistan without any restrictions on political activity, an active parliament, vociferous Opposition, free media and an independent judiciary.

The Prime Minister said this while talking to a delegation of British Members of Parliament who called on him at the PM’s House on Tuesday.

The three-member delegation belonged to the Labour party and comprised Mrs. Dari Taylor, Ms. Laura Moffatt, Ms. Amanda Webster.

The meeting was also attended by Minister for Women Development and Youth Affairs Ms. Sumaira Malik, Foreign Secretary Mr. Riaz Muhammad Khan and senior officials.

Commenting on the maturity of democracy in the country, he said it was first time in history that Parliament would complete its tenure by the end of this year.

The elections, he said, will be free, fair, transparent, and open to inspection by national and international observers and media. All political parties will also be free to contest them, he added.

Talking about women empowerment, the Prime Minister said, the affirmative actions taken by the government including the increase in the seats for women in the legislatures and their quota in government jobs are truly historic and unmatched in that they go far beyond those taken in several others countries.

The government, Prime Minister told the delegation, has reserved 20 per cent seats for women in the Parliament, which are in addition to the twelve seats won by them on the general seats. Similarly, he said 33 per cent seats have been reserved for women in the local governments.

In order to ensure the rightful place for women in the society, he said, the quota of women in the government jobs has been increased to five per cent and for the first time women have been given representation in the army, air force and other nation building departments.

The government, Prime Minister said, the government has also started providing loans to women through microfinance schemes to help them become economic contributors to the household and the society. The government is also focusing on skills development and capacity building programmes to enable the women play their due role in the process of national development.

Talking about the government’s gender reform agenda, Prime Minister said, a law has already been passed to ensure the rights of women while a new bill to prevent anti-women practices has been tabled in the National Assembly Tuesday which, to ensure elimination of discriminatory social practices against women.

Lauding Pak-UK partnership, Prime Minister said, Pakistan highly values its relationship with UK, which is historic and truly multifaceted. Pakistan is highly appreciative of financial and technical assistance and expertise provided by the UK, he added.

Giving an overview of the economy, Prime Minister said, Pakistan has been totally transformed in the last seven years during which the economy grew by 7 per cent and its size and per capita income has doubled.

The British MPs told the Prime Minister that they were pleasantly surprised to see the progress made by Pakistan in the last seven years. Ms. Dari Taylor, MP said that the realty of Pakistan is very different from the general perception about it in Britain and Western Europe.

Ms. Christine Russel, MP said Pakistan’s progress especially in the areas of gender reform is indeed impressive especially in terms of women’s representation in the parliament. Pakistani women, she said, certainly have more representation in the parliament and the districts governments than their counterparts in many others countries. They also appreciated the pivotal role being played by Pakistan in war against terrorism.

The MPs also assured the Prime Minister that they would go back to their constituencies and the Parliament and talk about the new face of Pakistan as witnessed by them during their stay in country.