Parliament: Debate is dead; UP’s ‘Yogi’ gains; Fiji at crossroads
Opinion Watch
Parliament: Debate is dead
Winter session of Parliament just ended on a drab note. The government business was passed. The Opposition held placards beneath the Mahatma Gandhi statue. Reporters sent out dull notes on Parliamentary reportage. Presiding officers of the two Houses of Parliament act as Big Daddies. The Chair rebuking, ordering, giving discipline lessons, lecturing to the Opposition is a norm. The Chair makes it out that a favour has been done by allowing an Opposition MP to speak and he or she should ever be docile. Welcome to the world of Parliamentary democracy!
The New Indian Express has sought to reflect on the lapses of the functioning of the legislature, Parliament and Assemblies. The Madurai-based daily noted that half of the sessions of Parliament was washed out due to protests. Bills were passed in din. Opposition demand for a discussion on India-China LAC standoff was summarily dismissed. From the time when Parliament was convened for 120 days a year after Independence, it’s now just 64 days, added the daily, which also rued the choice of words used by treasury and Opposition benches against each other. It underlined that there is a steep fall in the quality of public discourse, while stressing that democracy withers in the absence of debates.
Legislature is a sum total of the people it consists of. Post-Independence, Parliament and Assemblies consisted of the leaders who were highly educated, besides leading the people with examples in their conducts. Now, MLAs pick up chairs in Assemblies to throw at opponents. Ruling and Opposition parties are enemies. Discourse is abusive. Notion that Parliament is supreme is just a lofty idea. In practice, executive is now supreme.
UP’s ‘Yogi’ gains
Law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is said to have improved, because bulldozers can arrive more quickly than the police at the homes of criminals. The people have richly rewarded Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in elections for better law and order situations. Now, the state is gaining the economic benefits.
The Pioneer in an Editorial has noted that Punjab-based industrialists are now coming to UP for investments. The Punjab-based industrialists are full of praises for better law and order, infrastructure and the manpower in UP, added the Noida-based daily, which advised the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab to pay attention to the issues of governance.
Uttar Pradesh is aiming to be $1 trillion economy. With over 25 crore population, the economic rise of UP will be a growth multiplier for India. Yet, UP badly lacks in skill development institutions. The technical institutions may take an era to come up on their own, and it should be incumbent upon the state government to accelerate the skilling of the people by roping in IIT-Kanpur and other institutions of excellence. The state government should compete with Karnataka in startup policy and other support ecosystem.
Fiji at crossroads
Fiji since its Independence in 1970 has seen a see saw between democracy and dictators. The South Pacific Ocean archipelago has also become a China playground. Now, Fiji is again facing political instability after the national elections.
The Hindu in its Editorial has given an account of the power play of two top leaders of Fiji – PM Frank Bainimarama and Opposition leader Sitiveni Rabuka. Both has previously been dictators, usurping power with coups. The Chennai-based daily gave an account of the divisive Fiji society, with ethnic clashes being norms among the indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indians. A post-poll alignment has given Rabuka the requisite numbers to form government, but Bainimarama has dug in his heels.
About The Author
