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International Day of Democracy Pildat seeks arrest of downward spiral of democracy



ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development Institute (PILDAT) on International Day of Democracy urged that Pakistan must arrest downward spiral of democracy.

" But what ails democracy can only be cured with more and not less democracy which is firmly based on rule of law and equal civil liberties," the PILDAT said in a statement on the eve of International Day of Democracy.

PILDAT stated that as the International Day of Democracy is marked globally on September 15, there is little comfort to be had from global decline in democracy and for the first time in more than two decades, point various indices, the world has more closed autocracies than liberal democracies

It stated former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif days before relinquishing the office had admitted that his government was a hybrid regime similar to those that had existed before in Pakistan's troubled democratic history.

The PILDAT stated that outgoing Prime Minister was right when he said that to ignore that military establishment had a direct or indirect role in Pakistan in the past 75 years would amount to a denial of history.

"The fundamental question facing Pakistan on this International Day of Democracy is whether acceptance of history also condemns the country to repeat it ad nauseam." It stated.

It stated that the 'Electoral Autocracy' reportedly meant that the country has held elections in the past, but these elections have not been free and fair. "The V-Dem report also noted that Pakistan has seen a decline in civil liberties and media freedom in recent years," it stated.

The PILDAT stated that Pakistan is categorized as Partly Free in 'Freedom in the World 2023' by the US-based Freedom House.

It stated that Pakistan's score has dropped from 37 to 36 out of 100, indicating a decline in its democratic status.

"The report highlighted military's continued interference in political affairs, decline of media freedom, and the rise of religious extremism as the major concerns in the context of democracy," it stated.

Within its 5-year term, the PILDAT stated Pakistan's only popularly-elected national legislature did little to address, let alone reform, the fundamental weaknesses in Pakistan's democratic system.

"Empowering the Next Generation" as this year's theme on International Day of Democracy highlights the role of young people in democratic dispensation.

It also points to the responsibility placed on societies and cultures to impart better awareness of democracy in young people and meaningful engagement of youth in democratic processes.

The PILDAT stated that even though Youth make the largest chunk of Pakistan's population and registered voters in 18 to 29 years cohort form the largest of all age cohorts, average 30 percent youth voter turnout remains abysmally low in Pakistan displaying their apathy with the democratic process.

In the specific context of Pakistan, the PILDAT viewed that elections needed to be free and fair in all phases including pre-election, election day and post-election.

Greater focus is needed to establish and sustain effective and financially-empowered local governments preferably through a constitutional amendment, non-interference in political affairs by those who do not have a political mandate so that elected legislatures and governments complete their constitutionally mandated terms to implement their election manifestos and be accountable to the electorate.

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