It is a matter of pride for Bangladesh to host the largest gathering of parliamentarians from abroad, for the five-day Inter-Parliamentary Union conference. We warmly welcome the delegates and hope they will carry back good memories of our country. 

The focus of the conference is on ways and means to end political and economic inequality for upholding democracy and human rights. There could not have been a more relevant issue than this since, regrettably, democracy today finds itself increasingly under duress with more elected regimes failing to uphold democracy. It is difficult to argue with those who contend that the greatest threat to democracy is not 'autocracy' but 'illiberal democracy'. 

But that said, we hope the IPU Conference would be able to highlight the centrality of the parliament in the good governance of the country. What needs to be highlighted is that there is more to democracy than elections only. Regrettably, of all the democratic institutions and practices, elections are seen as the be-all and end-all of democracy. The focus should be equally on the body of people who fill the House of the People, the MPs, their quality and their output. While the parliament is accountable to the people, how do we hold MPs accountable to those who have voted them to office? It is sad that while MPs claim to represent the people, in effect they become the representatives of the party only. 

We hope that the Conference will also be able to flag the point that popular vote does not justify a majoritarian steamroller, and unless elections are free and fair they will lose their relevance to the people.