Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was simply stating the obvious on Sunday when he said, “Parliament is supreme.” Neither did he depart from a common understanding of the scheme of things under our Constitution when he clarified that it is Parliament’s right to decide on legislation and nobody else can presume to lay down deadlines for bills to be passed. Yet, such had been the abdication of argument by the Central government, when it caved in to passive-aggressive blackmail tactics by Anna Hazare in April to constitute a joint committee of ministers and “civil society” nominees to draft the Lokpal bill, that his press conference appeared rather radical. The government took its while to join the argument, but it is good that it has finally taken the initiative.
As the clock winds down towards the monsoon session of Parliament, the Hazare group is upping its contempt for representational democracy. Hazare wants the bill, presumably his exact version too, passed by August 15, or else. The outlandishness of the demand is staggering, privileging the whims of five men over the sovereignty of a legislature that draws its legitimacy from the votes of hundreds of millions of Indians. This point has been made often enough, and most resoundingly and coherently in responses by opposition parties — from the BSP to the BJD, the BJP to the CPM. When asked by Mukherjee, in his capacity as chair of the drafting committee, about their views on aspects of the bill, they reminded him about the central role of Parliament in law-making. Draft the bill, they said almost unanimously, table it, and let the processes of the House take over. As they must. The government erred in allowing a joint drafting committee in the first place; the peace won after the
carnival at Jantar Mantar could never have been sustained, for what Hazare wants is beyond any government to legitimately dictate to Parliament. There is only so far the government could have gone in placating the Hazare team.
Yet, the submission has taken a toll on the government’s credibility. That credibility cannot be wrested back by personally taking on the “civil society” activists. It can only be won through argument and reasoned debate — on how the government proposes to address the issues of corruption that are fuelling a substantial alienation. Addressing apprehensions about the government’s commitment to institutional propriety would be integral to that.
from indian express
As the clock winds down towards the monsoon session of Parliament, the Hazare group is upping its contempt for representational democracy. Hazare wants the bill, presumably his exact version too, passed by August 15, or else. The outlandishness of the demand is staggering, privileging the whims of five men over the sovereignty of a legislature that draws its legitimacy from the votes of hundreds of millions of Indians. This point has been made often enough, and most resoundingly and coherently in responses by opposition parties — from the BSP to the BJD, the BJP to the CPM. When asked by Mukherjee, in his capacity as chair of the drafting committee, about their views on aspects of the bill, they reminded him about the central role of Parliament in law-making. Draft the bill, they said almost unanimously, table it, and let the processes of the House take over. As they must. The government erred in allowing a joint drafting committee in the first place; the peace won after the
carnival at Jantar Mantar could never have been sustained, for what Hazare wants is beyond any government to legitimately dictate to Parliament. There is only so far the government could have gone in placating the Hazare team.
Yet, the submission has taken a toll on the government’s credibility. That credibility cannot be wrested back by personally taking on the “civil society” activists. It can only be won through argument and reasoned debate — on how the government proposes to address the issues of corruption that are fuelling a substantial alienation. Addressing apprehensions about the government’s commitment to institutional propriety would be integral to that.
from indian express
No comments:
Post a Comment