PRATAP BHANU MEHTA WRITES: THE COLLAPSE OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY IN BHARAT THAT IS NOT INDIA

THE CONTEXT: The  suspension of more than 140 MPs is being seen merely as a political contest between the government and the Opposition. However, it is rather the expression of a radical change in this regime which is collapse of parliamentary democracy.

ISSUES:

• Unconstitutional concentration of power: The biggest challenge is the pseudo constitutional appearances of terminologies. The rules of procedure, legal redress, constitutional morality, institutions or even the terminology of parliamentary democracy is not appropriate. The recourse to this formal language of democracy serves increasingly to provide a unconstitutional concentration of power.
• Parliament as dead institution: The weakening of Parliament leads to accretion of a disproportionate power in other institutions, disregard the system of checks and balances, and Parliament is effectively now seen as dead as an institution.
• Misuse of press: The media which is a site of public opinion formation recklessly worships power, or even creates appropriate diversions for it.
• Separation of power: The separation of powers has long been dead as an idea and in most parliamentary democracies, executive and legislative power has increasingly been fused. This has been a process long in the making and has roots in the nature of party government.
• Not a representative institution: For Parliament without Opposition is simply the unbridled power of the executive. It is not a representative institution, but a Parliament that now rests entirely in the persona of the leader.
• Personification of popular will: Democracy now is about the personification of popular will. This is the popular will institutionalised in a single person and enacted through the party. In this conception, the person wields power, without any seriously effective constitutional limitations. This leads to elected dictatorship and unprecedented concentration of power and monopolisation of all organs of the state.
• Monopolisation of power: Monopolisation of power is altering the fundamental nature of our regime, it is nothing short of a constitutional coup d’etat. Civil liberties are weakened to give the government more powers of surveillance and control. The three criminal code bills that the Lok Sabha has just passed and the Telecommunications Bill are just the two most recent instances.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Democratic Participation: Disruptions in Parliament are necessarily counter-productive. Thus, the government needs to be more democratic and allow the opposition to put their ideas in a free manner.
• Ensure productivity of parliament: There is a need to monitor the productivity of the day-to-day working of both Houses of Parliament. The overall productivity of the session also can be studied and disseminated to the public on a weekly basis.
• Ensure political accountability: There is a need to ensure political accountability. It can be done by allowing proper representation and right to seek answers and hold the government accountable to the parliament to ensure their responsiveness.

THE CONCLUSION:

There are diverse and often competing, even conflicting, views in political discourse. However, the plurality of views is the very essence of parliamentary democracy. The ability and willingness of the ruling party and the opposition to engage in a dialogue serve to demonstrate accountability in public governance.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

Q.1 Explain the structure of the Parliamentary Committee system. How far have the financial committees helped in the institutionalisation of the Indian Parliament? (2023)

Q.2 Discuss the role of Presiding Officers of state legislatures in maintaining order and impartiality in conducting legislative work and in facilitating best democratic practices.(2023)

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.1 “Mass suspensions of legislators not only undermines principles of representative democracy but also leads to executive captures of parliamentary democracy.” Comment.

SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/imfs-message-9078117/