Seeking a Speaker

Now that A.B. Vajpayee is formally seeking to form a stable government along with his allies, he would be well-advised to study the recent sequence of events in the Meghalaya Assembly. The Congress ministry in the state, with the unfortunate Salseng C. Marak as its Chief Minister, collapsed ignominiously on Monday after 12 days of existence because of its failure to ensure that its nominee became the Speaker of the Assembly. Already there are confrontationist noises in Delhi over who the Speaker in the 12th Lok Sabha should be and this speaks for future instability.

In its Working Committee meeting yesterday, the Congress clearly indicated that it would propose former speaker P.A. Sangma8217;s name for the post. What8217;s more, the party is seeking, and will in all probability receive, the United Front8217;s cooperation on the issue. Therefore, from all indications it appears that the probable Vajpayee government8217;s first trial will be over the election of the Speaker. While the BJP would, of course, want its ownnominee for the post, it is left with little manoeuvring room on the issue, given the numerical strength of the coalition it leads. Even groups like the TDP could go along with the Sangma nomination, given the fact that it had unanimously opted for him in the last Lok Sabha. If the BJP perceives that it will be politically difficult to oppose the choice of Sangma as Speaker, it may decide to concentrate its energies on ensuring that its nominee gets to sit in the Deputy Speaker8217;s chair. Here, too, there could be difficulties, with the United Front also expressing its keenness to lay claim to a post that has traditionally been the Opposition8217;s. All this could lead to stormy moments in the days ahead.

The founding fathers of the Constitution had envisaged the Speaker8217;s post as a pivotal one and provided certain provisions to ensure that he or she retain a modicum of independence from party affiliations in the conduct of parliamentary business. Unfortunately, many Speakers have not measured up to the moraldemands of the post. Uttar Pradesh Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi has to date failed to decide on the disqualification of the 12 BSP MLAs, who defied the party whip and voted for the Kalyan Singh Government last October. Tripathi8217;s delay has, of course, helped his party8217;s government to survive. The UP Assembly developments bespeak of an unfortunate politicisation of this crucial position. It is to be fervently hoped that the Speaker of the 12th Lok Sabha, whoever he or she may be, will behave in a manner that is less partisan. Given the delicate balance of forces in the Lower House, much would depend on the fair play and political acumen displayed by the Speaker. In the lobbying for and against nominees for this post, political parties must take care to ensure that the post itself does not get mired in the process.