Politicians need to be role models for people: Chan

Democracy to be strengthened when words and actions are same

ISLAMABAD: Politicians need to be role models for the public in order to strengthen the democratic system in the country, said Prime Minister’s Spokesman Nadeem Afzal Chan.

“Today's democracy is in much better shape as compared to the past, whereas the debate is now diverted towards the quality of the democracy rather dictatorship versus democracy,” he said while addressing a seminar titled "Continuation of Democratic Governments: Opportunities and Challenges" organised by the Sustainable development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Chan said though, there is no ideal democracy in Pakistan, but there should be no difference in our words and actions. “We are intellectually corrupt society, where our intellectuals and thought leaders are not honest with their professions,” said the PM’s spokesman.

Today's politics has become corporate politics, where money matters a lot and the elite in the political parties do not allow the new faces and intellectual young minds to come forward, he observed.

While denying any curb on the freedom of media, he said the media always remained under pressure from the elite of the society.

Nadeem Afzal Chan appointed PM's spokesperson

PPP Parliamentarian senior leader Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed said it is the responsibility of every political party and institution to run the democratic system smoothly. He said that the dilemma of this country is that the state has expanded a lot from the top, whereas, the ground institutions, including trade and student unions, become weaken over time, which should be revived.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri While analyzing the last one year performance of the incumbent government, he said that the performance on economic and foreign policy dimensions remained on track, whereas, performance in the social sector remained below average.

Romina Khursheed Alam, Vice President, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) said the current government even after so many non-elected members in the cabinet could not tackle the challenges of the country. She said this government has become the spokesperson of every institution and makes every single institution controversial. In the last one year, this government did the politics of avenges, witch hunting on the name of accountability and mudslinging. This government is taking steps to pressurize the media and muting the dissent voices, she lamented.

Zahid Hussain, Senior Independent Analyst said though this third democratic transition was a positive step, but political polarisation has become serious in the last one year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2019.