Electoral reforms necessary for unity, democracy: forum

LAHORE: Electoral reforms and delimitations are necessary for timely general elections, national unity and democracy.

This was the consensus among the members of ‘FAIR’, a forum of intellectuals including bureaucrats, technocrats, entrepreneurs and journalists, who met at ‘FAIR Talk’ here on Thursday to discuss solutions to the prevailing problems in the country.

Almost all the participants of the ‘Fair Talk’ held at the residence of FAIR chairman and provincial insurance ombudsman and TV anchor Abdul Basit Khan were of the view that next polls should neither be delayed nor held early since the country is passing through political and financial crises and could not afford further problems. The participants warned if the next elections were not held in a free and transparent manner, or engineered like in the past, by any method, it will be disastrous for the nation and widen the already existing political, ethnic, religious and social divisions in the society. Majority of the participants stressed that the solution to most of the country’s problems lies in democratic stability. However, some participants suggested immediate elections should be held to resolve the rising political instability and confrontation in the country. The discussion was moderated by Sher Ali Khalati, while participants included senior journalists Hamid Waleed, Ashraf Sohail, Zameer Afaqi, Asim Hussain, Rana Zulfiqar, Imran Yusuf and Shahid Nazir.