LAHORE | A team of 18 Pakistani Seeds led the third annual Seeds of Peace Mock Parliament attended by 55 high school students from 19 public and private schools around Lahore. This year, the students modeled the operations of the US government.
“We wanted to relate it to the US elections and explain to some degree how political systems work in the US,” said Quratul, a 2010 Seed.
The three-day simulation was held at Crescent Model Higher Secondary School for Girls from November 16-18. In past years, Seeds have run model Indian and Afghan legislatures.
Delegates drafted bills on important social, economic and political issues, including Iran nuclear ambitions, military redeployment in Afghanistan, abortion and same sex marriage. The bills were debated in committee and 2-3 were passed on to the entire House of Representatives for consideration.
By the end of the session, only one bill was adopted. The others failed to achieve a majority, or were vetoed by the President.
For many participants, the simulation shed light on the logic behind decisions made by US policymakers.
“Certain things that seemed very wrong from my point of view might seem entirely right to them,” said one delegate.
Many proud parents attended the simulation’s closing ceremony, during which US Consulate Public Affair’s Officer Brinille Ellis distributed certificates of participation.