Sindh

Speakers question revelance of Charter of Democracy

"Charter of Democracy was a tryst with democracy, says PPP Taj Haider

Our Correspondent May 11, 2022

KARACHI:

Pakistan's political landscape has changed since 2006, ever since the then leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) signed the Charter of Democracy.

It went from a two-party to a multi-party system with the emergence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as an important political actor in the 2013 elections.

In this context, a launching ceremony of the book "Charter of Democracy and Beyond: The Way Forward for Institutional Reforms" was held at a local hotel in Karachi on Tuesday by Germany's oldest political think-tank Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

There was a vociferous debate among the panellists and the participants. Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Taj Haider presided over the session. He said that the "Charter of Democracy was a tryst with democracy. We have fulfilled that tryst. Not fully but quite substantially."

Dr Huma Baqai disagreed with Senator Haider's optimism as democratic order was in danger, referring to Pakistan's latest precarious political crisis. Journalist Mazhar Abbas said political leaders made many compromises that negated the utility of CoD like documents. Earlier, FES Programme Advisor Abdullah Dayo welcomed the participants on behalf of his organisation.

They were presenting salient features of the publication. Nazeer Mahar, the co-author of the research study, explained the context under which the CoD was signed. Mahar said that the third consecutive democratic transfer of power between elected governments, the passage of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, were significant successes in the post CoD era. Major achievement deficits continued to be lack of true decentralisation to the lowest tier of governance.

Jeay Sindh Mahaz Chairman Abdul Khaliq Junejo said it was unfortunate that CoD did not consider the perspective of federating units. MQM-P leader Muhammad Hussain Khan blamed the political parties for failing to ensure fundamental rights outlined in the Constitution of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2022.