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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt scores Parliament-is-supreme goal

Govt scores Parliament-is-supreme goal

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published Published on Jul 4, 2011   modified Modified on Jul 4, 2011
-The Telegraph
 
The Centre may just have achieved its objective in calling today’s all-party meeting on the Lokpal bill: a consensus among political parties over Parliament’s primacy in lawmaking.

All the parties stressed that the government must follow parliamentary procedures, with some criticising it for engaging with Anna Hazare’s group.

But though everyone agreed on the need for a strong Lokpal, the parties differed on its provisions, especially on whether the Prime Minister should come within the Lokpal’s ambit.

The resolution passed at the end of the meeting said: “The government should bring before the next session of Parliament a strong and effective Lokpal bill following the established procedures.”

There was some brinkmanship between the Centre and the BJP. The latter suggested sending the bill to a standing committee and wider discussions with civil society, which would delay its passage till the winter session and might provoke Hazare into another round of fasting from August 16.

The Centre, sources said, wanted to grab the moral ground, stressing its “sincerity” in fighting graft and accusing the BJP of delaying a consensus “by scoring petty points”.

The highlight of the nearly three-hour meeting was a spat between the National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and Lok Sabha Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj of the BJP.

Abdullah obliquely criticised the BJP, accusing unnamed political parties of trying to destabilise the government with help from Hazare and Baba Ramdev. “Who the hell is Anna?” he said, according to sources.

Swaraj took strong exception, saying: “What do you mean? Your government talked to Anna Hazare.”

Others intervened to calm tempers.

Hazare role

The Rashtriya Janata Dal, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and the Samajwadi Party criticised the Centre for bypassing parliamentary norms and engaging with the civil society to draft the bill.

Lalu Prasad said new institutions were unnecessary since there were enough laws to combat corruption. Samajwadi leader Ram Gopal Yadav said he did not even want to set his eyes on the Hazare group’s proposed “Jan Lokpal Bill”.

Sitaram Yechury of the CPM said Parliament could not be hijacked through fasts.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the Centre had no desire to undermine established lawmaking procedures. He said the talks with the Hazare group were aimed at having an “extra layer” of consultations and “a new experiment”. He stressed that once the bill was tabled, it would become Parliament’s property.

PM inclusion

Those in favour of the Prime Minster’s inclusion within the bill’s ambit were the DMK, Asom Gana Parishad, Indian National Lok Dal, Janata Dal (Secular) and the Telugu Desam Party. The DMK even wanted the higher judiciary brought under it. But the AIADMK said the Prime Minster’s inclusion would encourage frivolous complaints.

Manmohan Singh said: “The institution of the Lokpal has to work in harmony with other institutions and laws and it has to function within the framework of the basic structure of our Constitution. It has to add to, and not detract from, the legitimate role and authority of other institutions in our democratic structure.”

He said India had several laws to fight corruption but “there is a feeling that the institutional arrangements in place are not strong enough to ensure that the guilty, especially those occupying high positions, are brought to book swiftly and given deterrent punishment”.

“We are committed to bringing the bill before Parliament in the coming monsoon session,” he said.

The Telegraph, 4 July, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110704/jsp/nation/story_14193952.jsp


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