All political parties standing on undemocratic system: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Wednesday said so far the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf could not be made a modern democratic political party.

Speaking at a seminar here in connection with the International Day of Democracy, the minister noted that there is only one person in Pakistan, Imran Khan, who wanted to make the PTI a modern, democratic party, which he could not so far.

“The problem of politicians is that we want a democratic government but want undemocratic political parties. All political parties in Pakistan are standing on undemocratic system,” he maintained.

Fawad also emphasised that the judiciary should be free of pressure from the government but it should not be from the ambit of law and added the same applied to the Election Commission of Pakistan.

About democracy, he said that there are three pillars of democracy that include human rights, the rule of law and partnership. He noted the present era is of information and democracy, and both go hand-in-hand.

“Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world that came into being as a result of the democratic process. Despite the rule of majority in a democracy, protection of minority rights is also important. The current system in India cannot be interpreted as real democracy. While India has a majority government but the rights of minorities are being violated there,” he explained.

The minister contended that the Pakistani media is the most independent of all countries in the region. He regretted that unfortunately, advertisements against the prime minister and information minister have been published in the media for five days on a fake ordinance.

“Is there an example in a democracy where the head of a party is appointed on a will? Many times Nawaz and Zardari met for the government and then against each other over their own interests. In the past, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been a part of every government,” he noted.

Unfortunately, he said the system of self-accountability within constitutional institutions has also declined over the time and that the media in Pakistan says it will criticise everyone but no one can regulate it but if democracy is to be strengthened, then everyone has to abide by the law. “The protection of basic human rights is also essential for strengthening of democracy,” he contended.