Why not a CMP for the Opposition : Making a Roaring 18
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 08, 2012 -

Now that the Congress has swept the polls in an unprecedented manner winning 42 seats, the talk in town is obviously on whether there will be a change in the leadership of the Congress Legislature Party or not.

This is natural for everyone will and should be interested/concerned on whether Mr Okram Ibobi will go on to make it to the elite list of ‘Chief Minister for three terms on the trot’ or not.

However interesting and relevant this question maybe, it is also important that we shift focus to the Opposition, if the comments on the abject failure of the Opposition in the post result analyses are anything to go by.

That the MPP did not learn any lesson from the 2007 election is clear and while it is early days yet, the warning bell, correction, alarm bell, has already been rung out and if they do not sort out their internal affairs soon, the process of inking their political obituary would have been finalised.

It is up to them to go in for serious self introspection and come to the realisation that fire and brimstone can only mean playing to the gallery, whose memory span will be shorter than the most brief of ad jingles.

Make no mistake about it. In as much as the result was a massive mandate for the Congress, it was also a mandate against an ineffective, toothless Opposition and this is all the more reason why the need to focus on the Opposition has never been felt as much as now.

With the Congress capturing 42 seats in a House of 60 members, it means there will be 18 members on the Opposition bench. This math presupposes no other political party extending outside support to the Congress.

The MPP has drawn a blank, so too has the CPI, two political parties which had at one point of time or the other thrown up some of the finest orators in the Assembly in the person of N Mangi of the CPI and of course O Joy of the MPP and others like Dr Nimaichand Luwang and Ph Parijat.

Now that these two parties and their men will not be in the Assembly, a look at the immediate past Assembly may be in line. In the 9th Assembly, Dr I Ibohalbi, who was with the MPP then, did make a commendable debut as a member of the Opposition and now he is back as an MLA of the Trinamool Congress.

Laishom Ibomcha, the lone NCP MLA, too made his presence felt in the Assembly as an Opposition member when he was first elected as a candidate of the now disbanded Federal Party of Manipur.

Going by precedence and the number factor, in most probability the honour of the leader of the Opposition may go to a senior member from the Trinamool Congress and M Kunjo fits this bill.

However it remains to be seen whether this cap of the Opposition leader will sit comfortably on his head or not, but this is basically not about an individual.

That the leader of the Opposition enjoys the rank of a Cabinet Minister implies the importance of the Opposition in a democracy but the tragedy is, this position in the order of precedence or protocol, has been understood only in the context of the perks and privileges that come in the form of the security escorts, the beacon lights and all the trappings that are associated with political netas.

It is this that needs to be set straight. Numbers do matter in a system where almost everything, starting from the election to passing a Bill in the House is about the majority, but this is not the be all and end all of democracy.

Raising relevant questions, mobilising the people on issues which directly affect the lives of the common people, keeping a sharp tab on the Government, in short, taking on the role of the watchdog and protecting the institutions of democracy is what the Opposition is all about.

That this flew over the heads of the Opposition in the 9th Assembly is amply clear and needs no further elaboration. But the important thing is whether any lessons will be learnt from this experience or not.

The Congress may engage in a series of closed door meetings to decide who should be the CLP leader, but for the Opposition this is the time now to close ranks and start setting down the agenda.

Common Minimum Programme need not only be applicable to coalition Governments. Why not a Common Minimum Programme amongst the parties which have sent the 18 MLAs to the Assembly and who look set to sit on the Opposition bench.

The focus of The Sangai Express will be on the Government as much as on the Opposition, for after all we are talking about strengthening the basic institutions of democracy.