Keep talking

After a week of parliamentary gridlock over retail reform,it appears as though both government and opposition are getting too used to this state of stalemate,the squandering of precious parliamentary time over one thing or the other. The constant adjournments,disruptions and boycotts over the last three sessions have,by now,seriously undermined Parliament blocking important legislation,putting showy partisanship above the nations real needs.

Is the question of FDI in retail really a battle worth suspending parliamentary functions for? After all,the executive order leaves it open to various states to take it or leave it,and all parties opposed to the idea can use their clout in state assemblies to block it. On the other hand,if various parties still want a discussion in Parliament to ventilate their own points of view,the government must give in. The BJPs belligerence,at least,is purely intended to show their small-trader constituency that the party fought for their interests. They,and other parties,should be allowed these rhetorical contests on the floor of the House. The government also loses nothing by fleshing out its own arguments for retail FDI in Parliament in fact,a thorough discussion would be the way to move from empty ideological certainties to more qualified assessments on the impact of the move,which could then also inform the state-level debates to follow. Meanwhile,eight Congress MPs demand a discussion in Parliament on the Telangana question one that must also be frontally faced and discussed in the House. Parliamentary debate is not a formality to be dispensed with it is the only way to test the strength of various arguments,to examine them for evasions and inconsistencies,in order to find the best way forward. Both the opposition and the government must be blamed for abandoning their duty to the democratic process. There is no miraculous solvent that will dissolve the differences between parties on many of these contentious issues,but these differences must be synthesised in Parliament.

The government must make some real attempt to persuade,make full use of the arts of floor management and accommodate the oppositions concerns as much as possible. The opposition,equally,must realise that they are frittering away public trust and goodwill with their obduracy. Indeed,the opposition parties must know that they dont just embarrass the government by stalling Parliament they implicate themselves in the policy drift at the Centre.