ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN: From 18 to 20 November 2020, the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan hosted bilateral online discussions on constitutional structures and processes with its Pakistani partners and Dr. Sandra Michel from the German Federal Council Bundesrat.
The HSF partners included Federal Minister Dr. Fehmida Mirza and her team from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, faculty and students of the University of Peshawar, and the Secretariat staff of the Senate of Pakistan.
Dr. Michel heads the Joint Office of the Committees on Labor, Integration and Social Policy and on Family and Senior Citizen Affairs of the Bundesrat. During her online session with the Senate Secretariat, she said:
The German Federal System is based on the principles of autonomy and cooperation, sharing of power and of responsibility in the interest of the common good.
Dr. Mirza, who also served as the 18th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, added:
Like Germany, Pakistan too has a federal system based on consensus building and cooperation between various stakeholders. Both countries can learn from each other’s experiences especially when it comes to combating the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Before the starting of Dr. Michel’s online lecture to students and faculty of the Political Science Department, University of Peshawar, the Chairman of the department, Prof. Dr. Abdur Rauf highlighted:
My department appreciates HSF Pakistan’s initiative about this workshop as Pakistan is also a federation and can learn from the German experiences of the working of federation. Our department is looking forward to collaborating in academic cooperation on the theme of democratic devolution with the national and international academia.
HSF Resident Representative Dr. Steffen Kudella added:
HSF Pakistan’s idea was simple: that an expert from the German Bundesrat meets experts from Pakistan to discuss federal structures and processes. We are happy that this bilateral cooperation project has been such a great success, and we are looking forward to continuing to work with the Bundesrat and our excellent Pakistani partners!
The online discussions included a short presentation by Dr. Michel exploring the dynamics of the German federal system followed by question and answer sessions. The participants expressed keen interest in the topic and raised pertinent questions about the political systems of both Germany and Pakistan.
HSF is the oldest German political foundation in Pakistan and strives to strengthen Pakistan’s constitutional structures and the better understanding of its idea of subsidiarity and democratic devolution including legislative Capacity Building.
For more information on the discussions including video scenes please visit: https://twitter.com/HSF_Pakistan. For more information on HSF’s work in Pakistan please visit: https://pakistan.hss.de. Press contact: islamabad(at)hss.de.