Fixing our nonfunctional Parliament

As far as this year is concerned, the blame indisputably lies at the doorsteps of the UPA Government. It did not hold the monsoon session of Parliament, convening instead a special session of only two days in July to take up the vote of confidence motion. The scandalous way in which it managed to win the trust vote is a shameful milestone in itself in the unremarkable journey of the 14th Lok Sabha. Parliament was re-convened on October 17, strangely, as a continuation of the July special session. It is scheduled to last till November 21. But it will most certainly end on October 24.

The question arises: why did the Government convene Parliament now, knowing fully well that it would not last beyond a week in view of Diwali and the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in six states? The question casts a cloud over the honesty of the UPA Government. Evidently, the Prime Minister who has not even deemed it necessary to get elected as a member of the Lok Sabha does not want to face the predictable barrage of criticism from Opposition MPs on the cash-for-votes scam, the Indo-US nuclear deal a privilege motion pending against him over the many glaring discrepancies in what he promised in Parliament and what is actually contained in the deal, price rise and the economic downturn.

Those who have regularly watched the proceedings of the 14th Lok Sabha would be almost unanimous in concluding that the Speaker himself has contributed to its decline. He has been less of a presiding officer of an august House and more of a bad headmaster constantly upbraiding his students. This would be obvious if someone were to compile from the archives of Lok Sabha TV all the clippings of the Speaker sermonising, scolding, berating and even threatening MPs almost on a daily basis. He was also habituated to making unnecessary comments while other MPs were speaking. On Thursday, after once again lecturing members to do 8220;some introspection8221; over their conduct, he lamented that 8220;this is the worst period of my life8221;. Now that his 40-year association with Parliament is about to come to an end, Somnathbabu should himself introspect over why he was admired for a long time as an MP and why, as Speaker, he has very few admirers in the House8212;or, for that matter, in the press and visitors8217; galleries.

But it is pointless spending any more breath on the 14th Lok Sabha. For all practical purposes, its life has come to a premature end. Let us look to the future instead. If we want to see a vibrant and well-functioning Lok Sabha, one with stimulating and useful debates, one that does not waste its time in disruptions and adjournments, one that carries out its legislative function diligently and keeps the executive on its toes, then both political parties and the people have a duty to perform.

As far as the people are concerned, their duty is two-fold. Firstly, they should not elect a hung and highly fragmented Parliament, which will inevitably deliver an unstable government. Let them give any pre-poll alliance a clear majority, and thus ensure a stable government capable of lasting its full term without indulging in jod-tod ki rajneeti. This, in itself, will not be a guarantee that Parliament will function well. Since the principal responsibility of running Parliament is that of the Government of the day, the next Government should be led by someone with an unimpeachable record of respect for the institution of Parliament. The Prime Minister should be able to take the House and the Nation into confidence with the power of his argument and his personality, someone who genuinely respects the voice of the Opposition and is ready to evolve consensus wherever necessary and possible.

The second duty of the voters is to vote for good candidates, those who are keen to use Parliament as a forum to voice people8217;s concerns and to debate the pressing issues before the nation. Almost all political parties have good MPs. But their number needs to increase manifold.

Political parties represented in the next Lok Sabha should elect a Speaker who is non-partisan and capable of running the House smoothly. Moreover, he should not be someone nursing a grievance over some unmet ambition of his own. In the past, the Lok Sabha functioned well because it had presiding officers of outstanding stature and calibre such as G.V. Mavalankar, M.A. Ayyangar, Gurcharan Singh Dhillon, K.S. Hegde and P.A. Sangma. That proud lineage needs to be revived.

Ultimately, the best guarantors of the health of Parliament are political parties themselves, especially the main national parties. It is not enough for them to rhetorically profess their commitment to democracy. The commitment must be reflected in the conduct of their leaders and senior MPs in Parliament. Their tendency of yielding to the mob mentality, which thinks that the best way of making a mark in the House is to do hulla gulla, has enfeebled our parliamentary democracy. The other day, someone in a small town remarked to me: 8220;Proceedings of Parliament have deteriorated to the level of an unruly municipal corporation.8221; How painful it is to hear such indictment of the highest institution of our democracy! But let8217;s not just complain. Let all of us do something to fix this problem.

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