Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has participated at the democracy conference which began yesterday in Paro, Bhutan.
The first session of the conference was chaired by Vice President Dr Waheed.
The Vice President said that the main purpose of such a conference was to unite all countries with the common goal of achieving a democratic system.
He further highlighted the 20year struggle for democracy in the Maldives. He added that this struggle has brought about a lot of changes to the lives of the people and said that it has now brought about fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of association.
He also spoke on various facets of democracy – such as the importance of smooth transfer of power, necessary to develop a system to work with opponents, and developing the ability to respect the view of the people no matter how different they are.
The three-day International Conference on Deepening and Sustaining Democracy is being organized jointly by the government of Bhutan and UNDP.
