Why walk?

Walkouts are a much-used tool of parliamentary opposition in this country,and the debate on their utility and desirability must certainly be deepened. But the oppositions decision to stage a walkout in Parliament on the issue of the India-Pakistan joint statement was definitely bad form. A debate that swayed between opposition MPs and Union ministers,and carried on into Thursday,showed that differences remained on two points in the Sharm el-Sheikh document: whether terrorism had been de-linked from the composite dialogue and whether the mention of Balochistan compromised Indias interests. But if there had been differences between the arguments put forth by the different parties in the opposition,they suddenly appeared to have been papered over when other parties,including the Samajwadi Party and those of the Left,followed the BJP out of the Lok Sabha,saying there was no point in participating in the debate.

No point? A justification is often made for walkouts. It is argued that they are the oppositions only recourse when answers and debate are not forthcoming from the treasury benches,that in the midst of Parliaments routine business they are a way of highlighting the urgent issues of the moment. So,to make Parliament more interactive and engaged it is suggested that the speaker be inventive in allowing the opposition ways of urgently and cohesively raising subjects of concern to them and of having the government respond. However,no such contingency informed the opposition this week. The government had been submitted to a debate carried live on the Lok Sabha channel. It was also,to the credit equally of the opposition,decorously conducted. By walking out,then,the opposition did not put the government on notice. It abdicated its role of putting the government through an astringent process of questioning.

The current Lok Sabha has yielded a government of measurable stability. It has also vast bench strength for the opposition. If this House struggles to get the government submitted to the checks that come with debate and to have the opposition voice its views within,then our parliamentary democracy really has a crisis.