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State of the Nation : Parliamentary democracy undermined |
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Relations between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Opposition leaders which have been strained ever since the new Congress-led coalition took office, have touched a new low.
The “tainted” ministers issue which continues to rock Parliament since Day One of the current session, is yet to be sorted out. The BJP-led NDA had ensured that the parliamentary proceedings were not conducted smoothly. Adding fuel to the opposition anger was the issue of a non-bailable warrant against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti for a National Flag-hoisting incident a decade ago violating a ban order in Hubli, Karnataka. The Shiv Sena found an issue in an alleged insult to its hero, Veer Savarkar, by Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer and has launched an agitation. Last week matters came to a boil when a delegation of Opposition leaders went to meet Manmohan Singh with a memorandum containing suggestions on amendments to the Finance Bill pertaining to Union Budget 2004-05. The Prime Minister reportedly refused to accept the memorandum on the ground that these were issues that should be debated in Parliament. Though the Prime Minister is not known for losing his temper, the opposition leaders alleged that they had been treated shabbily and insulted.
PM’s version
Expressing his deep “anguish,” Manmohan Singh said he hoped that “processes” will be put in place “before the next session” to ensure that Parliament isn’t paralysed by bitter partisan politics. But the Prime Minister also made it clear that to blame him for the latest deadlock was unfair. His version on the sequence of events on Aug 26 was in sharp variance with the NDA version.
“I received them at the door. They were there for 15 minutes. The appointment was given at half-an-hour’s notice. It was given for Advani and Jaswant Singh, leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, respectively. But seven Opposition leaders of them showed up. It took a few minutes to arrange the chairs in the room. Then George Fernandes gave the memorandum. “I told them you don’t want a discussion in Parliament but you want these changes,” Singh said. “This is not acceptable to me. The forum for discussing this is Parliament and not the PMO. The Finance Bill has been printed. Even if we wanted to, we cannot incorporate these amendments. But if you want a discussion, I told them, we are ready even now to have it and extend the Parliament session. Why should I play into their hands and do what they want me to do? Their real purpose was to go out and tell their constituency that they had raised those issues,” the Prime Minister said.
On whether he had thrown the memorandum back at the Opposition leaders, the PM said he put the memorandum on the table. He intended no discourtesy, and called up Advani later. But the situation was unacceptable that Opposition leaders should disrupt Parliament and refuse to discuss financial business and then come to seek amendments in the Finance Bill.
The Prime Minister was deeply unhappy at the way Parliament had been prevented from functioning since he took office. “For three months, they have been disrupting the Houses. They did not allow me even to introduce my ministers, they did not allow me to speak on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. And now they have not allowed a discussion on the vital financial business of the country.” At the valedictory functions in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha before both Houses were adjourned sine die, a week before the Budget session was slated to end, Singh said: “We will set into motion processes to ensure that what has happened is truly a thing of the past.”
Expressing his “sadness” at the turn of events, the Prime Minister said it was “not for want of trying” by him and his government that Parliament had not functioned. “We have tried sincerely to seek the cooperation of all sections.” “Politics”, he said, “requires a great deal of patience, tact and understanding” and Parliament provides a mechanism to reconcile divergences. But when Parliament is not allowed to play this role, “this is something to worry about” and it does not “augur well for the future of democracy and the parliamentary system,” he said. “We are living in abnormal times. Parliament has been unable to discharge its duties and now we must ensure that such things are a thing of the past.”
Strong condemnation of NDA attitude by Left
The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) which are supporting the Manmohan Singh Government from outside, came out strongly against the attitude of the NDA towards the Parliamentary system. The CPI(M) congratulated the Prime Minister on his firm refusal to entertain the Opposition demand that its points for the Union Budget be taken in the form of a memorandum.
“The Prime Minister’s Office cannot be converted into the floor of Parliament. By choosing to disrupt its proceedings and then boycotting it, the Opposition attempted to hijack the right of Parliament to discuss the Budget proposals in a private meeting,” said party leaders.
The CPI(M) asserted that no party can be above the system. The BJP and the NDA were unable to accept the verdict of the April-May Lok Sabha poll and Parliament had seen the unprecedented situation when the President’s Address, the Railway Budget, the Demands for Grants and the Finance Bill were passed without any discussion. They tried to wreck the Parliament system.
The CPI also warned that the manner in which the BJP was not allowing Parliament to function did not augur well for democracy. The Opposition’s attitude towards the system was reflected in the statement of the former Defence Minister, George Fernandes, for suggesting that the fight against rising prices was to be carried on the streets rather than in Parliament.
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