Leadership training: Aspirants groomed on democratic norms

They were speaking at the concluding session of a five day training programme on Monday.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA from Islamabad Asad Omar gave out certificates to participants of Mehergarh’s Advanced Leadership Training on Active Politics at the concluding ceremony, according to a press release. While addressing future leaders, he said unless we fix our democratic systems, it would be difficult to bring about change. “Instead of pointing fingers, we need to take ownership and fulfil our responsibilities.”



The residential programme, “Advanced Leadership Training on Active Politics,” organised at Mehergarh Training Centre, brought together 33 participants from all four provinces, some of whom had political affiliations.


At the inaugural ceremony, chief guest Senator Raza Rabbani had told participants to stick to their political parties because ideological grounding is important for political leaders. He had said that honesty and perseverance was the key to success in politics.

Pakistan Mulim League-N MNA Daniyal Aziz also spoke to the participants, encouraging them to join the political process with the commitment to stay connected with people and their issues. He also talked the importance of forming alliances with people and organisations which share common goals to support politicians’ work in communities in their constituencies.

“The political architecture of the country is shifting towards local priorities,” Aziz said. He encouraged participants to join mainstream politics by focusing on issue-based politics.

A few of the participants had taken part and won in one or more elections. A participant from Faisalabad said, “It was a great learning experience where I got an opportunity to learn about the Constitution and the electoral process.”



Mehergarh Chairperson Dr Fouzia Saeed taught participants the basics of public speaking, personality development, converting weaknesses into strengths, forming alliances with other political parties and networks. She also gave an overview of the election processes in other countries to expand their horizons.

Dr Saeed said, “We have to change the system to ensure the participation of minorities and women.” She emphasised the importance of planning for participants’ election campaigns to help them prepare for the upcoming local government and the next general elections. Aspiring politicians developed their campaign plans according to their individual and party ideologies.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2013.