ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that across the board accountability, independent judiciary, rule of law, free media, and a vibrant parliament are necessary for a strong and robust democracy.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Democracy Day in Islamabad on Wednesday, Asad Umar said democracy in Pakistan is becoming stronger as political parties are fully active in the country. He said media is also enjoying full freedom in Pakistan as it is free to criticize the government, but there should be a difference between fake news and truth.

Speaking on the occasion, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar said the government is taking measures to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions in the country. He said legislation is the focus of the government and the prime responsibility of the parliament.

He said government tabled 145 bills, while 266 bills were moved by the private members in the National Assembly in last three years, which is a record in the parliamentary history of Pakistan.

The Speaker said parliament played an active role in facilitating farmers, enhancing trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan, introducing braille style of writing to help the blind people.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain urged the media to play its due role in promoting quality democracy in Pakistan.

Fawad Chaudhry said only Prime Minister Imran Khan is striving for making his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, a modern democratic party. He said all institutions should perform their duties as per law as no one is above the law.

Minister for Human Rights Dr. Shireen M. Mazari said democracy in Pakistan has taken roots and gone are the days when it had been derailed in the country. She said the people of Pakistan have rendered numerous sacrifices for the cause of democracy.

She said the government has taken unprecedented steps to protect human rights in Pakistan and legislation to check enforced disappearances in the country is a step forward in this regard. Shireen Mazari said that the bill for the protection of journalists is also ready.

Islamabad: In a virtual meeting with Russian Ambassador Danila Ganich, Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi underlined the need to work together to counter the challenges of climate change, poverty, Human rights and other issues of mutual concern.

“Relations with Russia remains a key priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy”, said Deputy Chairman Senate while speaking virtually with the Russian Envoy here on Wednesday.

During the meeting, issues of mutual interest, Afghan situation and overall regional situation were discussed.

Afridi underscored that relations between the two countries have improved significantly over the last two decades.

While pointing to the recent telephonic conversation held between Imran Khan and the Russian President, and conversation on bilateral relations held between Foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi with his counterpart, the deputy chief of the Senate stated that both the countries have maintained contacts at high-level, which is of paramount importance.

Economic ties between the two countries were discussed in detail during the meeting. Discussing the gas pipeline project, Deputy Chairman Senate said that Pakistan is working towards early completion of the Pakistan-Stream Gas Pipeline Project. Meetings of the technical committee are being held regularly to finalize the Project, he added.

Both the dignitaries stressed the need to further cement the bilateral relations between the Senate of Pakistan and the Council of the Federation as well.

Discussing the impact of COVID-19, Afridi said that the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the lives and livelihoods of people across the globe. He commended the development of “Sputnik” vaccine by the Russian Federation.

“Both countries, being the member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APU), need to utilise these forums and work together for the creation of a prosperous and peaceful future of the world”, Afridi remarked.

He noted that Pakistan and Russia have several institutional mechanisms in place i.e JCC, Joint working group on economic cooperation, Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism etc to discuss issues of mutual concern.

This year the bilateral trade volume has swelled and hit a record 780 million US dollars, Afridi expressed with pleasure. Keeping in view the true potential of both the countries, he called for up swinging the trade volume to its desired level.

“The collaboration between the two sides in the field of Railways, Transport, Oil and Gas, Power Generation etc is satisfactory”, Deputy chairman senate observed.

The Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation is a very useful institutional mechanism to discuss a range of issues, ideas and proposals to further enhance economic linkages”, he underscored. Afridi hoped that the upcoming meeting of IGC in Moscow, to be held in Nov 2021 would be a meaningful engagement.

The Russian Envoy hailed Pakistan’s effort for peace in the region. He said that Pakistan is an important country in the region, adding that Russia cherishes its cordial ties with such a significant country of the region.

During the virtual meeting, Afridi called for regular parleys between the two countries to enhance bilateral relations. He stressed the need for parliamentary ties between the two countries to further strengthen bilateral relations.

Note for the editor

There are 7 Joint Working Groups (JWGs) under the Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC), JWGs on education, Science and Technology, Food and Agriculture, Transport, Finance and Banking, Industries on Production have yet to hold their inaugural meeting.

Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday held telephonic conversation with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed to strengthen their cooperation in all fields and continue close collaboration at various multilateral fora.

According to details, the two foreign ministers agreed to remain in close contact on bilateral matters as well as regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Qureshi congratulated his UAE’s counterpart on making excellent arrangements for Expo 2020 and hoped that the mega event would be a resounding success.

MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said the enemies have launched hybrid war against Pakistan to create unrest through religious and linguistic divide.

Leading the Concluding prayer of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya Soharwardy Multani Rahmatullah Alaih’s Urs in Multan on Wednesday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said present Indian government is inflicting atrocities on Kashmiris and entire Muslim community in India.

The Minister prayed for the freedom of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, end to the sufferings of Muslims in India, peace and stability in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said conspiracies are being hatched to weaken the foundation of the country by fanning sectarianism in the country through fake news on social media.

ISLAMABAD: International Democracy Day was observed Wednesday to raise public awareness about the democratic system.

The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, in his message on the occasion, has said as the world struggles to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating consequences, we must learn from the lessons of the past 18 months to strengthen democratic resilience in the face of future crises.

He said this means identifying and developing good governance practices in situations of emergency, whether public health, environmental or financial.

In his message on International Democracy Day, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser said continuation of democratic system is inevitable for the country’s progress.

He noted that democracy guarantees freedom of expression and other fundamental human rights.

The speaker urged all the political parties to shun their differences and work collectively for promotion of democratic norms in the country.

Turning to the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), the speaker said India claims to be the biggest democracy in the world but it has usurped the democratic rights of Kashmiri people.

Asad Qaiser said Pakistan stands by their Kashmiri people in their just and legitimate struggle for right to self-determination.

In his message, Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri said that Pakistan is getting strong as a result of continuation of democratic setup. He said continuation of this system will strengthen our institutions and take forward the country

ISLAMABAD: The Special Committee of National Assembly on Information and Broadcasting sought legal explanation from the government in connection with ‘Fake News’ issue. The committee recommended swift approval of under consideration bills for rights and safety of working journalists; whereas APNS, CPNE, PBA and PRA unanimously rejected the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA). State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib clarified that the government had not prepared any legal draft so far and neither was it going to pass any ordinance in connection with PMDA. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has also raised objection on the chairmanship of the special committee.

Presided over by Chairperson Maryam Aurangzeb, the meeting of the special committee was held in Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Headquarters where representatives of print and electronic media, PRA and journalistic organizations participated and expressed their views. Members of the committee Dr. Nafisa Shah and Ms. Kanwal Shauzab also participated.

Farrukh Habib noted that the government had finalized recommendations and proposals for the authority on which Marriyam Aurangzeb replied that there was confusion whether establishment of PMDA was legally drafted or merely a proposal and raised concern about presence of respective law if the bill was to be made functional.

Farrukh Habib emphasized about availability of proposed framework for the law and added that laws related to media were not amended according to present circumstances. The minister showed resolve of coming up with a dynamic law in that connection and noted that those were the first proposals which were widely discussed and final decision would be taken in the parliament, a platform of collective insight. The minister showed concern that despite ignoring formal procedure for formation of the committee and opting two out of three members from the opposition, Marriyum Aurangzeb was still calling PMDA a draconian law and what stance she would hold in the committee. He noted that they wanted a meaningful discussion on the bill and that the government would not use any influence on the commission and neither the commission would mess with the operational matters of telecommunication and digital media and the commission would not enjoy any authority in this regard.

The stated minister added that a number of foreign Apps were functioning in Pakistan without paying taxes and neither these Apps advertise Pakistani stuff. He added that even NETFLIX did not advertise Pakistani things whereas India, on the contrary, had implemented strict laws and enjoyed approach to every App. Farrukh Habib noted that when India was being accused, on Twitter, of spreading Coronavirus, Indian authorities warned Twitter administration of closure of all its offices in India, thus, the term ‘Indian Corona’ was replaced by ‘Delta Corona’. He regretted absence of such a system that could cope with such a situation and narrated when on complaint of a citizen, a lower court ordered filing of petition against CEO Facebook because of a controversial post, there wasn’t any law present in this regard.

The state minister emphasized that laws promulgated in Hong Kong and several other countries had been observed prior to formation of the law and about the framework. According to Marriyum Aurangzeb, the proposed law was a combination of the laws of USA and Britain. Farrukh Habib said that Journalists’ Protection Bill was under consideration for several years and currently it was under discussion in Human Rights Committee and that they were seeking opinions prior to making it a proper law. He added that what they demanded was economic protection of workers and prevention of fake news. The minister emphasized that there was not any law present in Pakistan to regulate social media and the draft of such a bill would be forwarded to the Law Ministry.

Nafisa Shah and Marriyum Aurangzeb sought clarification as to what was the explanation of fake news to which the minister replied that such a bill had not been prepared so far and that such a strategy was available with Ofcom. The opposition members in the committee demanded instance of any country where all institutions worked under an umbrella, to which the minister couldn’t find any instance. Marriyum Aurangzeb was of the view that under 18th Constitutional Amendment, the control of print media was shifted to provinces and asked whether the control was being repatriated to the federation to which the minister replied that the government had not such intensions.

PTI MNA Kanwal Shauzab protested that their party was not given due membership in the committee and also raised objection on its chairmanship. She added that she had written a letter to the central committee as the convener of the committee had called it a black law on the road. Nafisa Shah was of the view that the government was confused and entangled in complex matters and asked why the black law of PECA was not changed and not government institution was aware of that law. The former president of APNS Mujeebur Rehman Shami sought explanation of fake news on behalf of journalists from all over Pakistan. He asked as to why there was an uproar if there wasn’t any draft prepared. Other media organizations also supported stance of Mujeebur Rehman Shami.

The meeting was also attended by CPNE leaders Sardar Khan Niazi, Shakil Ahmed Turabi, Shakeel Masood Hussain and others.