Democracy within parties

This refers to the article ‘Rethinking national interest’ (September 24) by Ahsan Iqbal. The writer claims that national interest requires a proper balance among democracy, development and defence. However, in order to be truly beneficial, democracy must be seen and practised even within political parties. This means that all party positions and appointments, including the top ones, ought to be determined on the basis of merit and experience. Young people must also be encouraged as they can introduce new ideas that can improve the performance of a party.

Unfortunately, the situation is quite different in our country and the top leadership positions of major political parties are usually fixed. This leaves us with no hope for real democracy in the country.

S R H Hashmi

Karachi