The Hindu : Govt., Opposition should work together: PM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 07, 2003

International

International

Govt., Opposition should work together: PM

By Amit Baruah

ABUJA (NIGERIA) DEC. 6. "Some people have been surprised by the election results [in four north Indian States], but elections are a continuing process in a democracy," the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said today.

Speaking just before unveiling the foundation stone for a new Indian High Commission building in Abuja, Mr. Vajpayee pointed out that people in Government also change.

"I have been in the Opposition for the last 50 years. But in a democracy, the Opposition, too, is part of the Government. The Leader of the Opposition is paid a salary to oppose the Government," he stressed.

Mr. Vajpayee was clear that "opposition" should be conveyed in such language that after the elections it should be possible for the Government and the Opposition to work together.

The Prime Minister, who mingled with a few children from the tiny Indian community here at the site, said he could not be blamed for the 40-year gap in the visit of an Indian Prime Minister to Nigeria. "I have been Prime Minister for less than five years," he quipped.

On the bilateral relations between India and Nigeria, he referred to the visit by the Nigerian President, Olesegun Obasanjo, in 2000. "We have worked together on the world stage," Mr. Vajpayee said about India and Nigeria.

Nigeria (which is India's largest trading partner in Africa) is the largest democracy on the African continent, the Prime Minister said in his brief address to the Indian community.

He also announced that Air India would begin commercial operations to Nigeria after a gap of 16 years. (Officials accompanying the Prime Minister said the exact details of frequency and when the flights would commence was being worked out).

Mr. Vajpayee said India, as a democratic nation, was working to ensure that there should be peace and democracy in the world. Stressing that India's economic performance had improved, he maintained that New Delhi was being given considerable importance by other countries.

The Prime Minister, who took a break from the executive session of the Commonwealth summit, will be flying back to New Delhi on Sunday morning. He will be reaching late on Sunday night, in time for the sitting of Parliament on Monday.

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Govt., Opposition should work together: PM