ISLAMABAD - Former president Asif Ali Zardari Friday said that overstepping of the constitutional limits was a threat to democracy.

He called upon all institutions to work within their constitutional limits. On the eve of the International Democracy day - September 15 - Zardari said that in addition to rule of law, transparency, across the board accountability and tolerance of dissent democracy also called for respecting constitutional limits by all institutions.

“Threats to democracy have changed with time,” the former president said, adding: “There was a time when democracy was directly assaulted and this assault protected by devices like doctrine of necessity, the legal frame work orders, provisional constitutional orders upheld by PCO judges. The nature of threats to democracy has changed overtime.”

The Pakistan People’s Party co-Chairman said democracy was under threat from the militants and extremists “who wish to impose their agenda by force and not through parliament.”

“The celebrations today should also enhance peoples’ awareness of the new forms of threats to democracy and the need to guard against them,” he added.

The former President also paid tributes to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto as icons of democracy and countless political leaders and workers belonging to different political parties who rendered huge sacrifices for the cause of democracy.

DEMOCRACY BEST GOVERNANCE SYSTEM: SANJRANI

Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani in his message on International Day of Democracy observed that this day reaffirmed their commitment to democratic principles and to protect and promote this system of governance as the best system in the world.

He said that recognizing and celebrating this day was part of their efforts to strengthen democracy and their belief in this system which meant government of the people, for the people and by the people.

September 15 was adopted as International Day of Democracy as a consequence of a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 and is being celebrated in democracies around the globe since 2008. This year Inter-Parliamentary Union has developed the theme of this day around importance of parliamentary oversight and has termed it a core function of parliaments by maintaining a system of checks and balances on the government in a healthy democracy.

Chairman Senate in his message said that the Parliament of Pakistan has had elections to both houses this year and had seen successful democratic transition for the third consecutive term. He said that the oversight role of the parliament was effectively played by the Senate and its committees during the transition period by keeping a strong check on the outgoing government, work of interim setup as well as the election process before, during and after the general elections.

He said that the young democracy in the country had many milestones to achieve and the path was getting smoother day by day. The chairman Senate felicitated all stakeholders at the national and international stage who have struggled for the principles of democracy.

DEMOCRACY CONTRIBUTES TO WORLD PEACE: ASAD

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has said that democracy contributes powerfully to economic and social progress, international peace and security as well as respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.

“Democracy is essential to achieving our fundamental goals of peace, human rights and development,” said Asad in his message on the International Democracy Day being commemorated across that world under that auspicious of United Nations on 15th September.

The Speaker said that democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.

In order to achieve this objective, it is incumbent upon the political leadership to shun their political differences and join hands to strengthen the democratic process in the country, he said.

“The public participation and ownership of state policies is the bedrock of democracy”, the Speaker added. He said democracy is underpinned by the principle of consensus within diverse sets of opinion. Hence, it creates unity in diversity and diversity in unity in a linguistically, ethnically and sub-culturally broad context. The Speaker reaffirmed that continuous electoral process ensures a democratic dispensation in the Pakistan.

On this occasion, the Deputy Speaker, Qasim Khan Suri has said that democracy is strengthening in Pakistan and all the progressive political forces were united on the issues of national importance and the Parliament is actively engaged in the welfare of the masses.

He said successive derailing of democracy in past has badly hampered the growth and development of Institutions in the country. Democracy is the only way to guarantee our stability and to ensure our economic and social progress, he said.