1 Nov : With frequent disruptions of Parliament weighing heavily on his mind, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Saturday said the right to recall would ensure that voters can "punish" their representatives.
Chatterjee’s stand found support from several members of the intelligentsia and academics at the second roundtable conference on "Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy" in New Delhi.
"Due to factional politics being practised in the country, we have degenerated into a confrontations position. This is the people’s demand that we have a functional Parliament," Chatterjee said.
Propagating a right to recall for voters who elect the representatives, he said, "I know there are problems and do not know whether it is feasible or not, But I know that the general public wants it".
"People should be able to punish their own representatives," he added.
Justice A S Ahmadi, said, "the writers of the Indian constitution never imagined that the Parliamentary system could stoop down to that level".
But considering the present scenario, it would not be a bad idea to take the decision. "I think this is an important right which can be vested with the people", he said.
The only question according to him is what procedure should be adopted to implement it.
According to diplomat Shashi Tharoor, in most Parliamentary constituency there is a strong wave of anti-incumbency.
"Thus the right to recall can lead to colossal chaos as people would any way vote against the incumbent," he said.
Tharoor suggested that Parliamentary committees can be made more accountable and their debates on policy issue should be made open to the media.
Infosys chief Narayan Murthy said India has failed as a democracy as the country has failed to ensure health care, education and food to all its children.
He advocated a training school for the all Parliamentarians and legislators adding that, "any person who wastes time in the House should not be allowed to contest next time".
Noted lawyer Vasant Sathe favoured the Prime Minister being elected by an electorate consisting of elected representatives from Panchayats to the Parliament.
For eminent filmmaker Shyam Benegal state funding of elections was a sure way of ensuring that money power did not overrule democracy.
Providing an interesting insight into the functioning of Parliament, LJP MP Ranjeet Ranjan said, "majority of the times, young MPs cannot raise issues of national importance as their parties chart out their own courses in the House".
"It is most of the time senior-most members of Parliament who make efforts to stall the house proceedings," he added.