LAHORE, Nov 24: Former Bangladesh foreign minister Dr Kamal Hossain believes that empowering people through empowered legislatures is the main ingredient of any successful democracy.
Delivering a lecture on 'Democracy in South Asia: Challenges and Prospects,' organised by the PILDAT here on Wednesday, he stressed that political freedom should be used to ensure equality-based socio-economic activity.
Pakistan former foreign and finance minister Sartaj Aziz chaired the function which was attended by ex-president of Supreme Court Bar Association Hamid Khan, US Consulate principal officer Brian Heath, British Council director Dr Iftikhar Ilahi, members and officials of the Punjab Assembly.
Dr Kamal, who is also member of the committee that had chalked out constitution of Bangladesh, commented that the transformation from colonial to post-colonial rule in Pakistan and Bangladesh was not very rapid. The institutions like police and other administrative divisions did not change their behaviour overnight after independence, affecting the balance of who ruled whom.
According to the colonial setup, the people were subjects of the state while after independence they became citizens of the free countries. This change, he said, did not translate into reality.
The former Bangladesh minister pointed out that in the post-colonial rule the difference of who was supposed to rule and who actually exercised the power was not in the right direction.
Responding to a question about uninterrupted democracy in India vis-a-vis military interventions in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Dr Kamal remarked that India did not have a leadership vacuum even after the assassination of Gandhi as Nehru continued to lead the country for 17 years.
Indian political parties also had very long history and were mature enough while the Indians also framed their constitution earlier. The huge geographical size and diversity of population also forced Indian leaders to have democracy in their country for keeping it running, he added.
Had Quaid-i-Azam or Liaqat Ali Khan survived, the situation in Pakistan and Bangladesh would have been different, he believed. Replying to a query, he said true democracy needed free and fair elections so that each voter could have a sense of participation and responsibility.
An independent election commission with full financial and administrative autonomy was also necessary. He also urged civil society and government organizations to educate voters by building their capacity.
Answering another question about how to prevent military interventions in a democratic process, he said pro-democratic elements of the region should understand once for all that they would be united on common things like support for democracy. Mr Aziz summarized the discussion and thanked the guest for sparing time.