“Disruption is replacing discussion as the foundation of our legislative functioning”

Context

The recently concluded monsoon session of the Parliament again witnessed a high level of ruckus from Opposition Members of Parliament leading to the suspension of several of them by the Speaker.
Also, last month several Opposition leaders criticized the post and powers of the President as ‘Rubber Stamp’ thus dishonoring the highest executive position in the country.
These incidences point toward the ‘crisis’ that the Opposition is facing in India at several levels. In this article, we will analyze this issue in depth, its implications and possible solutions.

What is Opposition in a democracy?

Parliamentary democracy is based on the party system of government. It is a government by criticism and exposition and therefore, it has to be governed by two political parties – a party or parties in power and a party or parties in Opposition.
Opposition is defined as a person or group of people opposing, criticizing, or protesting something, someone, or another group. Political Opposition is different and is defined as ‘the major political party opposed to the party in power and seeking to replace it.

Role of Opposition in a democracy

Constructive criticism – In the legislature, Opposition Party has the role of Constructive criticism of the government and its policies.

Check the excesses of Government– The role of the Opposition in the legislature is basically to check the excesses of the ruling or dominant party, and not to be antagonistic.
Uphold accountability of government– Their main role is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. This also helps to fix the mistakes of the Ruling Party. This is mainly done through methods like debates and bringing a no-confidence motion.
Public welfare– The Opposition is equally responsible for upholding the best interests of the people of the country. For example, the demonstrations by the Opposition on roads against fuel price hikes or inflation.
Safeguarding liberty and right of people– For example, Opposition member Brinda Karat filed the petition in Supreme Court against the demolition drive of Delhi Municipal corporation to protect the right to life of citizens.
Expression of public opinion– Opposition members put forth the demands of the public and their opinion in Parliament, the highest forum of discussion.

Opposition in India

Multi-party based– Being a multiply party system democracy, India has several political parties that form Opposition in multiple states and Parliament. For example SP in Uttar Pradesh and Congress in Madhya Pradesh.

Official recognition– Official Opposition (recognized Opposition party) designates the political party which has secured the second largest number of seats in either upper or lower houses. To get formal recognition in either upper or lower houses, the concerned party must have at least 10% of the total strength of the house.

10% rule– A single party has to meet the 10% seat criterion, not an alliance. Many of the Indian state legislatures also follow this 10% rule while the rest of them prefer the single largest Opposition party according to the rules of their respective houses.

Issues with Opposition in India

Leaderless Opposition– the Opposition today in India is leaderless. There are indeed good political leaders heading major regional political parties but there is no consensus on the name of one person or party as Opposition leader.

Highly fragmented– Today, the Opposition is divided among several political parties and coalitions holding different ideologies and working styles leading to its fragmentation and thus hampering unity.

Lacks an Original Agenda– the Opposition today lacks an original agenda or plan to put against the government, but is instead involved in just reacting to government actions rather than putting an alternative choice to the electorate.

Involved in adverse politics– The opposition sees government as its adversary and remains involved in unnecessary criticism and do not support even good policies. For example, the opposition criticized Gaganyaan Mission, Construction of the New Parliament Building as wasteful expenditure.

Not being innovative– Opposition parties remain involved in older ideologies of left and right, walk-outs from houses of Parliament and primitive methods like demonstrations and rallies, rather involving in new methods like Facebook live, virtual rallies, podcasts etc. This leads to a disconnect from the youth of the country.

Playing the role of investigative agencies– where Opposition parties keep hunting for scams and misappropriation of funds in government schemes rather than upholding government accountability.

Loss of credibility– continuous disruptions in Parliament proceeds, blind Opposition of government and lack of connection to ground level have led to the loss of credibility of the Opposition in the eyes of the electorate.

Issues with the regime

Indifference attitude of government- towards Opposition leaders and parties. For example, the government did not recognize the leader of Opposition in loksabha for 1.5 years after 2019 elections and still has a vacant deputy speaker post in loksabha which usually goes to the Opposition party.
Labeling Opposition as Anti-national and roadblock to development– if Opposition asks for details and clarification about government actions.
Misuse of power– by using institutions like Police, CBI, ED against Opposition leaders. There are allegations against the government of using Pegasus software for snooping on Opposition leaders.
Lack of pre-legislative discussion- with Opposition parties on legislative bills leads to the sidelining of Opposition in the legislative process and thus poor debates in Parliament.

Consequences of a weak Opposition

Leads to Politics of enmity– as both government and Opposition see each other as rivals and indulge in ugly politics. Slogans like “Congress mukt Bharat”, “Samajvaad Mukt UP” are a manifestation of such enmity.
Weakening of democracy– as evident from dropping rankings in several key indices like Democracy index (labeled India a ‘flawed democracy’), V-Dem report (called India ‘Electoral Autocracy’)
Decline of Parliament– Parliament as an institution is the biggest victim of weak Opposition. The ability of Parliament to seek accountability of the executive has been severely hampered. Productivity of Loksabha in 2021 monsoon was just 22% due to disruption by Opposition. Informed debates have also reduced.

“Debates are rare, informed debates are even rare. Government and Opposition meet as two warring camps in Parliament” – Former Vice President Dr. Hamid Ansari

Autocracy of government increased- as evident from reducing the number of bills being referred to the Parliamentary committee has reduced from 76 in the 15^th loksabha (2009-14) to 27 in 16^th loksabha(2014-19), and important bills have been passed by simple voice vote.

Ordinance raj– Continuous disruptions by Opposition in Parliament have led the government to take up the ordinance route very frequently. From 2014 to 2021, the Government promulgated 76 ordinances which are 14 higher than UPA’s 10 years of rule.

Side-lining of public issues– Finally, in this rivalry, important public issues such as unemployment, inflation, economic distress are side-lined and less essential topics like the arrest of any Opposition political leader takes centre stage in Parliament and leads to disruption of the house by that political party members.

How to improve the situation?

“Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed and no republic can survive” – JF Kennedy

Stop unnecessary criticism-The Opposition has to complement in the running of the government. Merit-based Opposition to specific government acts is welcome, but opposing for the sake of opposing can only be counterproductive.
Work at grassroots level– There is an imperative need for the Opposition to develop an ability to read the nation’s pulse by going in between the public and then adopt a constructive approach.
Develop a new ideology and structure– It is necessary for a ‘New Opposition’ in India to emerge. It must have a centrist ideology that appeals to the majority of the people. It must be supported by a rank-and-file organization, with a decentralized structure.
Bring its own house in order– It must practice internal democracy to bring up good leaders. And it must have a practical agenda, with good slogans.
Consensus building– Government should also understand the importance of Opposition and should try to take Opposition together on important issues like national security. Pre-legislative consultations should also be promoted to improve the quality of debates in Parliament.

Good practices related to Opposition in different countries

Shadow Cabinet system of the UK- The shadow cabinet is made up of senior members of the main Opposition party in Westminster who act as spokespeople for the Opposition in specific policy areas. Shadow ministers are appointed by the leader of the Opposition and generally take roles that mirror the current government. Their job is to scrutinize those they ‘shadow’ in government and develop policies for their party.

The practice of Opposition day– An Opposition day is a day in a legislature in which an Opposition party sets the agenda for the whole day. Most days the Parliamentary agenda is set by the government; Opposition days allow the smaller parties to choose the subject for debate. It is a regular practice in UK and Canada where 20 days are allotted to the Opposition to set the agenda.

Way forward

The Opposition must be tolerated because if it is left to the party in power to decide what is healthy and unhealthy criticism, then every criticism of the latter will be treated as unhealthy.
While the Opposition must be credible and strong, it is for the Opposition to make itself credible and strong. It must feel the pulse of the people.
Unless it makes itself respectable, it cannot demand any respect. This is the biggest challenge facing the opposition today.

Conclusion

Accommodation and understanding, not division and confrontation, lay at the heart of any Parliamentary democracy. Thus, disruption and confrontation in Parliament must be stopped.

The opposition, as well as government, must come to the table to draw a common working plan for the sake of improving the health of Indian Democracy, fulfilling our commitment to the founding fathers and making the Grand Experiment called ‘India’ a success.