LAHORE - European Union delegation led by Political Secretary of the European Union Dillarde Teilane called on General Secretary Pakistan Peoples Party Central Punjab Syed Hassan Murtza on Thursday. The meeting was attended by Consultant for the European Union Delegation,Zaid Ahmed Maher and Coordinator DRI Samia Yusuf, Finance Secretary PPP central Punjab Rana Jawad, Secretary events and records Ahsan Rizvi and PPP leader Afraz Naqvi. PPP Parliamentary leader in Punjab Assembly Syed Hassan Murtaza briefed the delegation about the contributions of the party for strengthening the democratic values and democratic values in the country. He said PPP passed the 18th amendment with consensus and it was due to this amendment the democracy and the federation got strengthened. He also said that PPP always stood for the rights of the minorities, freedom of expression and women rights. “PPP believes that democracy is the best revenge”. He said the PPP did not have any objection to the use of Electronic Voting Machines but had reservations on its usage. “The People’s party always welcomes debate on electoral reforms. Political parties should give 5 percent representation to women on general seats”. He also suggested that women should be nominated for reserved seats based on their performance.
“The great example of women representation of People’s Party is Benazir Bhutto, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, Faryal Talpur Dr. Nafisa Shah, Shazia Murry, Sherry Rehman”. He said people of Pakistan were politically awared and women like Abida Hussain, Ghulam Bibi Bharwana and Salim Bibi Bharwana had been getting elected from backward areas like Chiniot and Jhang. The Benazir Income Support Program has played a fundamental role in the registration of women voters, he said. Hassan Murtaza was of the view that Sindh was punished because of their political consciousness. He said electables were used by the establishment to make the governments of their choice.
He also paid tributes to the political struggle of Jam Saqi and G.M Syed.
While responding to a question, Murtaza said that the political parties must discourage bringing the same women again and again to the assemblies. “Women’s membership in the People’s Party is more than other political parties. The representation of women in various committees of the party is 5 to 10 percent”.
To a a question regarding intolerance in Pakistani politics, Hassan Murtza said that former Prime Minister Imran Khan was responsible for increasing intolerance in the country particularly after the 2018 elections. He said Imran Khan instead of strengthening the institutions indulged in blaming his political rivals. He said that he personally believed in strengthening the institutions. He further said Imran Khan was not accepting the decisions of the institutions.
Speaking on the occasion, Dillarde Teilane said that European Union was in contact with various political parties on electoral reforms. She said European Union wanted improvement in electoral reforms in Pakistan. She said that European Union was interested in knowing about the legislations regarding the disabled, minorities and trangender. The European Union will welcome recommendations for electoral reforms at the federal and provincial levels, she said.