The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : A FARCICAL VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 04, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

A FARCICAL VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

THE SUDDEN POLITICAL convulsions that gripped Goa have seen the emergence of its 14th Chief Minister since 1990 under circumstances that are bound to be debated fiercely between the main protagonists, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, and possibly in the courts as well. Things seemed to be following the constitutionally ordained course, with Governor S.C. Jamir asking Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to demonstrate his support in the Legislative Assembly and the State Cabinet opting for an early session to seek a vote of confidence. Yet the floor test turned out to be an exercise tainted by the Speaker's partisan act of keeping an independent MLA (who failed to appear before him for an enquiry on his disqualification) out of the House for "disorderly conduct" in an attempt to manage a majority for the Parrikar Government. The Speaker also counted an opposition Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MLA as a ruling camp supporter before declaring that the Government had the support of 18 members in a House of 36, down from 40 after the resignation of four BJP MLAs. In the end, the highly desirable democratic exercise was turned into a farce, with a supposedly neutral and fair constitutional functionary displaying blatant partisanship and prompting the Governor to disregard the vote and dismiss the Government.

This is not the first time that voting within a legislature has been turned into a charade with the Speaker changing the rules of the game and manipulating the outcome. A blatant instance was witnessed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1988 when a large section of the Opposition was evicted from the House and the Janaki Ramachandran regime was declared to have won the confidence vote — the vote was discounted and the Government dismissed by the Governor. In Meghalaya in 1991, the Speaker disallowed the votes of four independent MLAs against whom disqualification petitions had been filed, even in the face of a Supreme Court directive staying his enquiry on the petitions, declared a tie, and cast his vote to "defeat" the Government. The Supreme Court in the S.R. Bommai case held that the dismissal of the Meghalaya Government on the basis of such manipulated voting was clearly unconstitutional.

If the Congress Government headed by Pratap Singh Rane assumes office under circumstances that are controversial, his hurried swearing in probably reflects the desire of the Congress Party to keep the focus on the Governor and within the State, and avoid the imposition of President's rule that would take the issue to Parliament and to the national level. The 15-member Congress Party has additionally the support of three other members — one each from the MGP and the Nationalist Congress Party, and one independent — while the BJP combine has the same strength of 18 including the Speaker. Managing the numbers is going to be a difficult task for Mr. Rane, particularly if the Speaker has to be replaced by someone from the Congress ranks. The options before him are not quite edifying — persuading the United Goans Democratic Party legislator now aligned with the BJP to cross over or persuading some of the BJP MLAs to resign (party splits even with one third or more of the members no longer being allowed under the amended anti-defection law). Given the manner in which he has taken over, it is imperative that Mr. Rane be asked to demonstrate his support in the House through a vote of confidence without delay. It does seem strange that the Governor has not asked him to seek such a vote within a specific time frame. In the hapless 25th State of the Union, ideological and political consistency has not been seen as particularly virtuous and neither electoral verdicts nor the ways of political leaders and parties have made for stability.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

A FARCICAL VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

ADDING VALUE TO THE FOOD CHAIN

The reopened Iraq debate

Crisis in Nepal

India's Nepal stand driven by concern for Maoist danger