Speakers at a roundtable discussion in the city on Wednesday observed that social accountability towards citizens and inclusion of minorities, good governance, decentralisation and people's participation are the centerpieces of democracy.
Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh organised the roundtable to share democratic experiences of the two countries in a dialogue.
Ambassador of Switzerland to Bangladesh Dr René Holenstein, in his remarks, pointed out that one of the main spirits of democracy in Switzerland was constant search for consensus and, in the absence of it, the search for the best compromise was possible, says a press release.
Peter Niggli, Swiss author, journalist and development policy expert, in his keynote presentation explained the Swiss system of Direct Democracy to the audience.
With a view to describing how the Direct Democracy system works in Switzerland, Mr. Niggli said the people in his country did not delegate political decision-making exclusively to the elected government and parliament, as is customary in representative
democracies.
Instead, certain decisions of the elected bodies must be submitted to a vote, and the citizens can approve or reject them.
Editor of the Daily Star Mahfuz Anam welcomed the guests at the event.
"Democracy remains our goal despite its flaws," said Mr Anam.
The Daily Star was the media partner of the event.
Addressing the discussion, Dr Iftekar Zaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said social accountability towards citizens was a crucial process for constructive engagement between citizens and the government to ensure accountable governance at both national and local levels.
He also said accountable governance is the key word in any form of democracy.
Dr Sadeka Halim, dean of the Social Science Faculty of Dhaka University, said people's participation was a central element of any democracy.
Placing emphasis on social inclusion and citizen's participation in democratic processes, Barrister Raja Devasish Roy, chief of Chakma Circle, said it was important to facilitate a louder voice in governance and democracy for the indigenous peoples and minority groups of Bangladesh.
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