ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairperson Benazir Bhutto has said countries that spend huge amounts on militaries and have non-democratic systems cannot combat poverty.
According to a statement issued by the PPP media cell, the party's chairperson was speaking at the World Political Forum on 'Poverty, inequality and development: Is the international model working?", in Stressa near Milan, Italy, on Friday.
The PPP leader said governments and financial institutions often lent huge loans to dictators for political or strategic reasons, turning a blind eye towards how this money was spent or misspent. However, as soon as the short-term goals are met and democracy is restored, financial institutions come down hard pushing for fiscal responsibility, she added.
Ms Bhutto said three major steps were important for poverty alleviation. Firstly, democratic political systems; secondly, economic support by the international community and thirdly, equitable international trading practices.
She pleaded for balance in free trade with a moral imperative and a social safety net, saying that market forces alone could be ruthless. Rejecting the view that alleviation of poverty lies in authoritarianism, she said Indonesia, the Philippines and Pakistan had prolonged periods of authoritarianism, but these failed to provide economic prosperity.
Instead, it made the transition to democracy, accountability and transparency more difficult, leaving behind a legacy of weak political institutions, inexperienced political leadership, violent ethnic and sectarian groups and gross poverty, she added.
Significantly, she said, authoritarianism in Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan as well as other countries also created a culture predicated on use of force. It is unsurprising that terrorism emerged in countries where power flowed from force rather than the majesty of law, she added.
She said democracy and development go hand in hand. Democracy is the holding of fair and impartial elections, smooth transition of power, an independent judiciary, an impartial investigative process and a well-trained and neutral police force, she added.
Ms Bhutto said democracies needed peaceful borders to cut down military expenditures and diversion of financial resources to women development, literacy, availability of drinking water, health facilities.
In the absence of such factors, there is the danger of failing states, mafias, ethnic strife and violence amidst a sea of poverty, she added. Dismissing the "propaganda of dictators against democrats", she said some times the periods between democracy and authoritarianism was too short for the public to tell the difference in the quality of life.
The masses can then become disillusioned with democracy. Disillusioned with both democracy and dictatorship, there was a danger of the radicalization of the masses, she added.
"That was why in Pakistan, parties that are sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda claim that neither democracy nor military dictatorship works and that theocratic rule should be given a chance."
She said when people felt alienated from the democratic model of development, they could choose another system that was even worse. Despite the skewered position, democrats still do better as Pakistan's experience shows. Growth, investment and revenue rates are all better under democrats, she added.