Democracy should be strengthened: Bilawal Bhutto

Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that strengthening the roots of democracy in the world was the responsibility of individual nations and the collective responsibility of the democratic world.

In his message on the eve of the International Day of Democracy being observed by the United Nations and its member states on Tuesday, the PPP Chairman emphatically endorsed the UN statement that, “the values of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections by universal suffrage are essential elements of democracy.”

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the fight between democratic and dictatorial forces which began in Pakistan after the death of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, is still raging despite the sacrifices of democratic leaders Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and others who laid down their lives for democracy and human rights.

He said the democratic workers of Pakistan suffered capital punishments, solitary confinements, tortures, public lashing, long imprisonments and fabricated cases at the hands of tin-pot dictators and their puppets, but never compromised on democratic and human rights of the people. The Pakistanis struggle for democracy and the huge sacrifices made to achieve it, stands out in the contemporary struggles for democratic systems, he added.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari pointed out that PPP gave to the people of Pakistan their first-even unanimous Constitution, the first-ever directly Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the first-ever woman elected Prime Minister of Islamic world Benazir Bhutto, besides the first-ever democratic government in Pakistan to complete its tenure under President Asif Ali Zardari.

PPP Chairman pledged that his Party, together with other democratic parties would continue the struggle for strengthening of democracy, because a strong democracy is the sole guarantee for a strong Pakistan. “Victimisation, intimidation and fake cases cannot deter our Party and the democratic forces from carrying out the mission of our democratic leaders who embraced martyrdom but didn’t surrender,” he added.