Reducing Opposition to tissue papers : Damning democracy
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 12 2011 -

If it is childhood that shows the man and morning that shows the day, then to a certain extent it may be said that election campaigning shows the type of Government that is in store or the quality of men who would be sent as representatives to the Assembly or Parliament whichever the case may be.

And the nature of campaigning that has so far been seen in some Assembly Constituencies does not inspire confidence at all.

If the surfeit of social workers who have emerged on the horizon indicates the absence of political leaders who have the interest of the people on their agenda, then the manner in which the Chief Minister ran down the very idea of an Opposition in the Parliamentary system is a damning statement of how the spirit of democracy has been twisted and manipulated beyond recognition.

If the principle of the majority is the basis for Government formation in a Parliamentary democracy then it holds true that the Opposition is the basis for governance, for no governance can be understood without the mechanisms of checks and balances.

However when the very man, who is known as the first among equals in the Council of Ministers and the leader of the people, reduces the Opposition to the status of a disposable tissue paper, then what does it say about the concept and very idea of Parliamentary democracy ?

Chief Minister O Ibobi may have been under the impression that he was being forthright in telling the voters or people of Mayang Imphal that Opposition members get nothing but Travel Allowances and Dearness Allowances but on closer scrutiny it reveals a mindset that is drunk on power and blinded by arrogance, brought about by being in the cushy chair of the Chief Minister for ten years.

The irony becomes all that more palpable given that the Chief Minister in his very address had taken digs at the culture of party hopping and setting up camps in the context of the move launched to oust the Chairman of the Mayang Imphal Municipal Council.

In its barest understanding, the move to oust the Chairman of the Municipal Council is power and nothing else and here is the Chief Minister taking digs at the power struggle within the Council and urging the people to vote only for the candidate who can be in power !

It is true that power fuels the great election bazar in the largest democracy in the world and this power should be understood through the mandate given to each of the representative and not only on the basis of whether one sits on the Treasury bench or the Opposition bench.

This is the reason why Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly enjoy a certain status in the order of precedence.

Rubbishing the status of Opposition members as some two bit players waiting for their TA and DA is nothing but cocking a snook at the very idea of democracy and this cannot augur well for Manipur as a whole.

This is also the right time for the Opposition MLAs to dig in their heels and study why their esteem has plummeted to a depth never thought of possible earlier.

The Chief Minister may have rubbished their status with an eye on the election, but where does the Opposition stand in the perception of the public ? This is a question that merits some serious and sincere introspection.

The Congress did exceedingly well in the current Assembly snapping up wins in three of the four by elections held since it was constituted in 2007.

In as much as this may be construed as the strength of the Congress, determined by certain factors such as the party being in power at Delhi, it is also indicative of an Opposition hopelessly lost and without any vision.

The very fact that none of the Opposition parties could nominate a serious contender in the Yaiskul Assembly Constituency by election tells the story of the Opposition parties having lost its moorings.

The win by the Trinamool Congress candidate in the Konthoujam AC by election is the only comfort but here again, the Trinamool Congress does not exactly fit into the classical understanding of the Opposition given the fact that it is a partner of the UPA Government at the Centre.

The increasing arrogance of the SPF Government and simultaneously its growing alienation from the issues confronting the State may be attributed indirectly to the presence of a toothless Opposition, which has emitted the message that it survives and functions at the fancy and whim of the Chief Minister.

In such a scenario, it is not surprising to see O Ibobi running down the Opposition parties like some items which can be disposed off after use.

This is at the level of the ruling versus the Opposition parties, but on a broader understanding it is damning the basic concept of democracy.