|
|
|
| December 24, 2005 | Saturday | Ziqa’ad 21, 1426 |
Pakistan a functioning democracy, says Aziz
ISLAMABAD, Dec 23: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday that Pakistan was a functioning democracy. Talking to a parliamentary delegation from Bangladesh which had called on him at the Prime Minister’s House, he said parliamentary traditions were strengthening in the country and a large number of legislations were passed over the past year.
He stressed the need for promoting relations between parliamentarians of the to countries. He said Pakistan and Bangladesh could share their best practices for speedy development of the people and the region.
The prime minister said Pakistan had learnt a lot from Bangladesh’s experience in micro-finance banking.
He said South Asia had great potential and there was need for promoting people-to-people contact among the regional countries.
He said Pakistan was striving for peace in the region.
He said the world was looking towards Pakistan to play a significant role in bringing peace and the country was committed to playing its role in this regard.
He said South Asia, despite enormous opportunities, had also great challenges which could be faced with greater collaboration among the countries of the region.
Mr Aziz said Pakistan now had a vibrant democracy and a strong democratic system was working well.
He said the country’s press enjoyed unprecedented freedom and it was playing a positive role in promoting democracy.
He said the electronic media was growing fast with about 25 channels on air and more than 25 in pipeline.
He said Pakistan had achieved population growth rate of 1.9 per cent during the last year but more efforts were needed for controlling the rate.
Leader of the visiting delegation Salahuddin Qadeer Chowdhury said Bangladesh was keen to enhance its ties with Pakistani people and government in all fields. He said regular exchange of parliamentary delegations was essential for giving impetus to the ties.
He said his delegation had come to sympathize with victims of the earthquake disaster and offered his country’s expertise for disaster management.
He said Bangladesh could share its experiences with Pakistan for preparedness to cope with any difficult situation in this regard.
He said Bangladesh had made tremendous achievements in family planning and immunization programmes and it could share its best practices with Pakistan in this regard.
|
|
|
|
