Democracy around the world was in decline in 2012 for the seventh year in a row as the Arab Spring-led nervous autocratic leaders to clamp down on any stirrings of dissent, a study said on Wednesday.
The annual report by the Freedom House, a non-governmental organisation, found 90 countries now enjoyed full freedom, up from 87 nations in 2011, but 27 places saw new restrictions on rights of assembly, expression, and the media.
There “is a critical need for leadership from the United States and other democracies”, the report, Freedom in the World 2013 said, arguing in favour of a greater US engagement with civil society in oppressed nations.
Some three billion people, or 43 percent of the global population, enjoyed full political rights and civil liberties, while 1.6 billion resided in partly free countries, where there was only limited respect for freedom in place.
Some 34 percent of the world’s population, or 2.3 billion people, however lived in countries deemed to be not free.
TMQ long march conspiracy against democracy: Asma
Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Asma Jehangir has termed the long march staged by Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran chief a conspiracy against democracy. Addressing a rally on Wednesday, she expressed strong resolve to resist undemocratic moves, while also vowing to ensure free, fair and transparent elections and accountability of parliamentarians. Asma said continuity of democratic process and timely elections were the need of the hour and vowed not to let any undemocratic force come into power.