Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) organized a study visit to UK and Denmark that aimed to learn about the best democratic practices observed in a developed country. The study tour was of five days; one day in London, UK and remaining 4 days in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The day started off with a tour of the British Parliament, where we were briefed about the history of both the chambers, workings and the separation of powers between the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Later on the same day we were told about the Britain’s exit from the European Union and the legal framework available to execute it. The Rt. Hon. Ms. Ann Taylor, the Baroness Taylor of Bolton, MP, and Baroness Liz Barker, MP spoke to us about the role of the House of Lords in the British Parliament.

They also highlighted various reform proposals regarding membership of the House of Lords, including introduction of a retirement age, a limited tenure, or having working peers instead of permanent members of the House of Lords.

We then visited the recently established Parliamentary Education Centre. We were communicated that the concept of the Parliamentary Education Centre is of a robust outreach to younger strata of the country’s population, including school-going children. In this regard, the Speaker of the House of Commons held a Skype session every Monday morning with visitors of the Parliamentary Education Center.

We then headed off to Copenhagen, Denmark where we were supposed to undergo study visit under the auspices of the DANIDA Fellowship Centre for four days on various aspects of Denmark’s governance, parliamentary and political system.

The five days stay in Copenhagen was intense but informative, very educating and thought provoking. We thoroughly studied, examined and discussed the dynamics of Danish Political System in different meetings and sessions. We got to interact and ask questions to Politicians of different parties, Members of Danish Parliament, Journalists, Mayors and Municipality members, Youth Activists, Government employees and Locals of Copenhagen city.

The first day in Denmark began with the briefings on the Danish Parliamentary System, Accountability Structures and Labor Policy. We were given an introduction to the DANIDA Fellowship Centre (DFC) by Ms. Maya. Following that, Professor Flemming Juul Christensen, gave us a brief introduction to Danish democracy and covered details on the unique demography of Denmark which has a population of 5.7 million.

Ms. Nanna, Consultant at the Supreme Audit Institution gave a detailed briefing on the Danish Supreme Public Accountability Institution. The last session of the day was conducted by the Member of Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). He briefed us about the workings of the LO, which essentially is a confederation of Denmark’s 18 main labor unions.

The 2nd day was spent at the Danish Parliament, known as the Folketinget, having a detailed set of interactions on various aspects of its workings, including the Parliamentary practices, the Danish Constitution, the Committee System, etc.

In the meeting with Ms. Iben Tybjaerg, we were informed about the Folketing’s strategy and procedure for implementation and maintaining overall relationship with the European Union.

On the third day of Study Visit to Denmark, interactions regarding efforts for integrating ethnic minorities in Denmark, and a short debate session with representatives of Youth Wings of different political parties were carried out.
We then met with Ms. Rushy Rashid, and Mr. Zubair Butt Hussain. Both emphasized that Danish-Pakistanis, as with other immigrant communities, need to co-exist within the Danish society and be Danes.

The day ended with a visit to the Hammad bin Khalifa Civilization Centre, serving as a community centre and mosque for the Sunni Muslims in Copenhagen. We learnt of the organizational structure of the Centre and the efforts being undertaken to integrate Muslims into the Danish society.

On the final day of the YPP Study Visit, we had a rigorous set of interactions regarding all tiers of the Danish Education System. This included learning about the opportunities afforded by the system and some of the major challenges faced by it.

In the evening, we were hosted by the Honorable Ambassador of Pakistan to Denmark, Ambassador Masroor A. Junejo, for a dinner reception.

This study-tour turned out to be a great-learning involvement and surpassed by expectations by far. The political systems in the UK and Denmark are curiously good. As like Denmark and UK We need to have an effective audit and accountability system to counter corruption, ensure democracy, stability and build trust between the Governments and citizens.

To reinforce us as a nation and country we need health and educational reforms on immediate bases. Most importantly involving the locals of an area to deal with their minor problems. Decentralization is the most important thing we need in our current status.