LONDON, Feb 13 (APP)- The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has described the independence of judiciary as the essence of democracy which begins with fair and free elections.
He was delivery a speech on ‘Democratic Imperative’ under the auspices of Aung San Suu Kyi Lecture at St.Hugh’s College, Oxford University, on Tuesday evening.
Speaking about the state of democracy around the world, he mentioned about Pakistan and said the path to democracy begins with free and fair elections but pointed that it needs deeper roots.
He explained that an independent judiciary, a commitment from the army to stay out of politics, and devolution of powers to states and local government are some of the essential elements to ensure a lasting democracy.
The British Foreign Secretary said the elections in Sierra Leone last year demonstrated the importance of a powerful and independent election commission.
“ The Commission’s resistance to pressure and its determination to root out fraud and irregularities meant that the elections were amongst the most free and fair the continent has seen. Independent election observation can help to reinforce public confidence in the electoral process.”
Speaking about the recent events in Burma where the Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under detention, he said the country’s Junta has been unable to destroy the hope of a better and freer life. ‘The people of Burma show that the hope for a life lived at liberty extends to all people in all parts of the world,’ he said.
The Foreign Secretary believed that established democracies are less likely to fight each other because their intentions and motives are more transparent and also they are better able to build trust with other states.
He observed that the main security threat, from terrorism and conflict, comes not from conflict between states, but within states. Local disputes and ethnic divisions escalate into wider regional conflicts. Groups that begin with local grievances increasingly become co-opted by Al Qaeda into global terrorism.
Miliband said in weak states, there are no military solutions to the insecurity and injustice that helps to breed terrorism, only political solutions and Democracy provides a way of resolving competing interests and claims on resources in a peaceful way.
“Without democratic legitimacy, it is hard to sustain the increase in state capacity needed to maintain law and order,” he elaborated.
He defined democracy as plural and not singular and said there are many aspects to democracy and some countries are more democratic than others.
However, Miliband underscored that checks and balances of human rights and democratic governance are important for the security and development of any society from established systems in West to the new democracies of Eastern Europe and Africa to the emerging economies of China and the Middle East.