Islamabad
Democracy is often advocated as the only way forward for nations to flourish. It is certainly the best option available to guard against erosion of government legitimacy and yet it has some problems of its own.
As different countries can have different connotations of democracy, the challenges respective democracies face also vary. These challenges, varying in terms of their degree or importance have varying effects of democracies on the people. Hence there is need for an understanding and acknowledgement of differences between the countries. This understanding will subsequently lead to a thorough and combined effort at addressing the challenges common to all democracies as well as the ones experienced by some countries.
A hot topic seminar to address these very issues in the Asian region kicks off today (Thursday) in Islamabad as a joint venture of the Senate of Pakistan and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). The seminar titled, ‘Democracies in transition, and the challenges they face’ is the first regional hot topic seminar which will take place as result of CPA's new strategic plan which calls for strengthening the association at branch, regional and international levels through different communications.
The theme of this hot topic forum as devised by the Chairman Senate of Pakistan is aimed at giving the participant countries an opportunity to extract a good deal of cumulative experience from a gathering of democracies in transition. It will touch upon key aspects and difficulties some of which result from critical global issues while others come into light as country specific challenges.
The two-day seminar apart from having the Secretary General of the CPA Akbar Khan and representatives of Parliaments of the Asian and South East Asian region, will have top tier representation from both Houses of the Parliament of Pakistan as well as the provincial Assemblies of Pakistan.
Representatives from academia (LUMS, KU), think tanks like FAFEN, PILDAT, UNDP, columnists, civil society activists, diplomatic corps and the members of Parliament will brain storm the complex interplay between issues and challenges facing the democracies in transition and try to come up with viable options, approaches and solutions to address the same.
The Panel discussions are arranged such that the theme of discussion, panelists and participants correlate with each other effectively.
He seminar Seminar will bring out particular problems of different countries and help their legislatures not only play an effective role within the CPA but more importantly towards the problems of their respective countries
The Seminar will also serve as a platform where elected representatives, while being mindful of the threats democracies in respective countries face from other players, will take moments for introspection to identify challenges facing them from within, loopholes that are inbuilt and weaknesses that can be exploited.
