“Anna Hazare, Get Elected Then Speak” – The Argument Is Flawed.
Over the last fortnight I have seen many people questioning Anna Hazare’s methods. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament on Wednesday that the protesting methods of Anna Hazare were "misconceived" and full of “grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy”. The ruling dispensation has even gone to the length of epitheting Anna’s movement as “tyranny of the unelected”. The correct method that the skeptics suggest is to get elected and then change laws. The argument is flawed.
We elect the candidates of political parties / Independents to the parliament for five years. These elected candidates are then supposed to form a government which heads the executive. As per the tradition of the parliament it is the government’s responsibility and prerogative to table the proposed laws to the parliament which are then debated and passed/rejected/amended. After tabling the bills in the house, in case a further discussion is warranted the bills are transferred to the appropriate parliamentary select committees which have representation across the political spectrum, but headed by the ruling dispensation. A behind the scene consensus is built and the bills are again tabled for voting. Now the whips rule. The ruling dispensation issues whips to its MPs and the bills are passed.
The parliament of the world’s largest democracy is the least democratic institution of the country. It’s the place where the whips rule instead of the elected MPs. We have also seen that the elected representatives hardly have any power to propose new bills independently or jointly. God forbid, if one is a MP from an opposition party and wants to press for an amendment in some law then he must first develop a consensus amongst his own party then the opposition must put enough pressure on the ruling dispensation to table the amendment. Basically, he must forget about amending anything and better concentrate on creating enough shor sharaba in the parliament so that he is also noted by his electors. It is safe to conclude that, only those bills/ amendments are tabled in the parliament which are cleared by the cabinet. So, we have seen that we have a system where not all MPs are equal, Independent candidates are worst of as they have no powers other then MPLAD funds, and those MPs who form the cabinet are the plumpest of the lot. Imagine a country where individual votes were to be weighted according to the Income Tax slabs they fall in!! Yes, there is a provision for private member’s bill (PMB), whereby MP’s can introduce a bill for discussion in the parliament. Till 14th loksabha 96% of the PMBs lapsed without a single debate in the house.
In the light of the above, where is the room for the argument “Anna Hazare, Get Elected Then Speak.”In fact, our democracy rests on activists like Anna Hazare who pressurize government, bring issues to the fore and force the MPs to also listen to something other than the party whips. Our parliamentary democracy is in fact a tyranny of Whips. It forces MPs to forget about the people they represent. United States has a system where law making is completely separate from the executive. The proposed laws are presented to the congress by the congressmen, individually or jointly. Hence the argument ‘get elected then speak’ sounds more plausible in America than in India. Anna Hazare is absolutely correct when he says that it is the duty of the voter to put pressure on his elected representatives to listen to him and the Prime minister is absolutely wrong when he says that Annaji’s methods have grave consequences for our democracy. The Land Acquisition (Amendment) Act, 2007, Right to Information Act, Forest Rights Act and many other are the result of popular movements and pressure groups only. There is no other alternative that I see. Anna Ji is one ray of hope that we must follow. Whatever the pitch of the campaign may be it strikes a chord with me and many others. I don’t want corruption and I want the government to take note of it now. This is the moment. Let’s not let it go.
