ISLAMABAD, April 22: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said on Monday that he had unflinching faith in democracy whose essence lay in the rule of law and good governance.

He was talking to a delegation of lawyers representing the Punjab Bar Council and High Court and District Bar Associations of Punjab.

Talking to the members of the delegation, the President said he wanted to build a political structure which could strengthen democracy and democratic institutions and ensure good governance in the post-October elections era.

The President regretted that in the past the elected governments governed the country arbitrarily and dictatorially, based on whims and wishes of the personalities rather than institutions.

Gen Musharraf told the members of the legal profession that the government was aiming to serve and strengthen the institutions rather than personalities.

He said he firmly believed that the voice of the people was supreme and therefore he was going to the people and asking them to speak on the issue of continuity of reforms.

The President described the lawyers as the torch-bearers of law and asked them to analyse themselves what actions of the government had been in conformity with law and make a judgment on the basis of the government’s performance.