Senior government officials, lawyers and civil society activists at a ceremony on Thursday commemorated the Open Governance Week where Second Vice President Sarwar Danish said governments should create laws based on people’s demands and in coordination with members of the public and elites.

Danish said transparency and not hiding realities are part of the values of open governance.

“Every individual from any school of thought, left, right or middle, should have the ability to express his ideas freely and should not fear what he says or expresses, and no one should be excluded from society because of his thinking,” Danish said.

Afghanistan received the Open Governance Partnership membership in 2011.

“Transparency and accountability are the main values of open governance, but serious attention has not been paid to these values,” said Mohammad Naeem Asghari, a civil society activist.

“Rule of law still faces many challenges in our society,” said Zia Danish, a civil society activist.