Asia Foundation praises 18th Amendment

Appreciating the 18th Amendment in the constitution, David D Arnold, the president of the Asia Foundation, has said that devolution process needs to be further decentralized to the district and community levels and as it would help reduce the gap between the state and the people in the country.
In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, Arnold said on Saturday that stable, durable, strong democracy was not something which could take place overnight and it needed a long-term perspective whereby decentralisation of powers was vital to the growth of public institutions.
“Pakistan has had a history of different attempts to create a democratic system but the progress has been interrupted by frequent military rules. It is important to understand that a strong, durable and stable democratic system does not happen overnight. You have to have a long-term perspective and have to be not from the top down but from the bottom up and this is what the Asia Foundation is aiming at in Pakistan and desires to build strong foundation for durable and stable democratic system in the country”, the president of the Asia Foundation said.
Hailing the 18th Amendment, Arnold said devolution was a good step towards participatory democracy at the grass root level but that process of decentralization should not be stopped. “The next step should be further decentralization of the federal subjects to the district and union council or community levels which will make a huge contribution towards making democracy work in the real sense of the word and this is the reason for the Asia Foundation’s long-term partnership with Pakistan. The Asia Foundation is strengthening civic participation whereby government official could be accountable to public representatives at the grass-root. The Asia Foundation is committed to Pakistan in long-term perspective and is involved in evolving and strengthening foundation for stable and durable democracy”, Arnold said.
He further said that a strong participatory grass-root level democracy would reduce the gap between the people and the state. He also highlighted various projects of the Asia Foundation in Pakistan like Supporting Transparency, Accountability and Electoral Processes (STAEP), Democracy and Media project and Women’s empowerment which ultimately would help Pakistan in having stronger foundation for durable democratic system.
Arnold, who had been living in Egypt for a long time as president of the American University in Cairo, also spoke about Arab Spring and said that the movement in Egypt refuted the perception that democracy could not grow and develop in the Arab world.
“The recent changes we have seen in the Arab world really been very rapid and very dramatic. Many people think that democracy in the Arab world cannot grow and develop owing to strong control of the entrenched regimes over the people. But the lesson from the Arab Spring is that it is the movement for secular democracy led by the youth. But real participatory democracy needs a long-term perspective and uninterrupted political process.”
Arnold said that the army government in Egypt was being monitored by the world owing to the worry that army might prolong its rule. He, however, said that long-term continuous struggle was vital to bring the country back to civilian but democratic rule in Egypt.