Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb on Wednesday said that strong provincial assemblies were essential for a tensile democracy and only strong federating units could build a strong federation and parliament, adding that democracy derived its strength from the parliament.
The minister was addressing the launching ceremony of a project titled ‘Provincial Pakistan- Strengthening Provincial Assemblies’ in collaboration with the European Union (EU) as chief guest.
Praising the EU initiative for strengthening provincial assemblies as an encouraging setp, Marriyum remarked that it would contribute immensely towards reinforcing democracy in the country.
Aurangzeb elaborated that all the key components of the provincial project were initiated by the National Assembly in 2013 after the establishment of the Project Management Unit by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
The minister observed that technical assistance of the members of the national and provincial assemblies, the senate, and human resource development in their secretariats were imperative for the smooth functioning of democracy.
She also acknowledged the important role played by the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies and the support extended by it for creating an enabling environment for the parliament to gain strength.
