President slams oppositions for disrupting Parliament

"There is a growing tendency to resort to disruption as a means of Parliamentary intervention. Dissent is a recognized democratic expression, but disruption leads to loss of time and resources, and paralyzes policy formulation," Mukherjee said while Video Conferencing his New Year Message on the topic ‘Parliament and Policymaking’ to Central Universities, IITs, NITs and other Institutions using the National Knowledge Network from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.

 

"The cardinal principle of Parliamentary Democracy is that the majority has the mandate to rule while opposition has the right to oppose, expose, and if the numbers permit, to depose. But, under no circumstances should there be disruption of the proceedings. A noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority," said he.

 

The Winter Session of Parliament witnessed frequent disruptions by opposition parties over a mass conversion ceremony in Agra. 

 

The President also slammed the government for taking the ordinance route for normal legislation.

 

"To meet certain exigencies and under compelling circumstances, the framers of the Constitution deemed it necessary to confer limited legislative power upon the Executive by way of promulgation of Ordinances when the legislature is not in session and circumstances justified immediate legislation. The framers also deemed it necessary to impose certain restrictions on this extraordinary legislative power by constitutionally mandating replacement of such Ordinances within a timeframe by the legislators," said Mukherjee.

 

The President said India’s diversity and the magnitude of its problems require that the Parliament becomes a more effective platform to build consensus on public policies and a bulwark of our democratic ideals. 

 

"The proceedings in Parliament must be conducted in a spirit of cooperation, harmony and purpose. The content and quality of debates should be of a high order. Maintenance of discipline and decorum in the House and observance of etiquette and decency are necessary," said he.

 

Mukherjee also cautioned the Parliament to not yield its space for legislating and policy making to mass mobilization and street-protests, for that may not always provide considered solutions to problems. 

 

"To retain the trust and faith of the people, the Parliament must enact laws to put in place policies that address the concerns and aspirations of the people," said he.