Democratic process is becoming strong despite all hurdles: interior minister

Says democratically-elected govt completing tenure for second time sends positive message

Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday the country's democratic process is becoming strong despite all hurdles, Radio Pakistan reported.

Speaking to the media after a high-level consultative meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz [PML-N] at Punjab House chaired by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Iqbal stressed that democracy is taking roots in the country.

Iqbal added that a democratically-elected government completing its tenure for the second time in Pakistan sends a positive message to the world.

According to the interior minister, the party meeting reviewed political situation and held discussions on upcoming Senate elections. Iqbal reiterated that Senate and general elections will be on time and PML-N will continue to mobilise its supporters.

Last week, Iqbal had claimed that higher growth rates Pakistan achieved during military regimes were artificial and led through the inflow of dollars.

“People often say the growth rate during military regimes was higher than the one in democratic regimes,” Iqbal said, while addressing the business community at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industries. “Don’t compare apples with oranges; whenever the country achieves six per cent growth rate during a military regime, it is due to certain events,” he added.



Iqbal went on to add that it is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a political government has managed to achieve economic stability by not getting involved in geo-politics, but in geo-economics. “We targeted four areas including energy, extremism, economy and education and achieved considerable results”, he maintained.