Claiming that governance and constitutional obligation of an elected government had nothing to do with the ongoing peace talks between Government of India and Naga political groups (NPGs) or the question of unity among NPGs, The Naga Rising (TNR) said the decision to form ‘Nagaland United Government’ by the NDPP-led PDA government along with opposition NPF in the name of unity and solution was hardly convincing.
In a statement, TNR said the fact that there was already a parliamentary panel on Naga issue represented by members from both the ruling and opposition parties made it even more bizarre.
It said the PDA government deciding to abdicate its governance responsibility and NPF absolving itself from playing the role of a responsible opposition were driven by misplaced reasoning, adding that political solution, reconciliation or coming together of NPGs should not be mixed up with the functioning of parliamentary democracy.
TNR asked the chief minister and ruling alliance to instead focus on providing good governance to the State and fulfilling the mandate on which they have been elected – corruption-free government with the slogan “change is coming”.
If at all, TNR said the Parliamentary Panel on Naga issue, already represented by both the ruling and opposition parties, should come out with a clear formulation/draft and timeline for NPGs to work together towards one solution.
Mentioning that people of Nagaland could do without a “role model opposition-less government”, TNR said they would rather have the elected government and opposition perform their respective constitutional obligations. It quoted American writer Walter Lippmann, “…in a democracy, the opposition is not only tolerated as constitutional, but must be maintained because it is indispensable.”
It pointed out that in a representative democracy, people exercised their adult franchise to elect legislature, to which the real executive/government, or the council of ministers, should be responsible.
“Collective responsibility is, therefore, a basic feature of the constitution and it is for the Legislative Assembly to enforce the collective responsibility of the council of ministers to itself as provided under Art 164 (2).
The people of Nagaland deserve a responsible government and a responsible opposition,” it stressed.
In an opposition-less government, TNR further pointed out that there could be no ministerial responsibility nor any effective supervision of the government of the day.
Referring to the important role played by the Legislature vis-à-vis money Bills and spending power of the government, TNR said the constitution has provided that no money should be appropriated, except in accordance with law. The government cannot spend public money without parliamentary sanction and financial control by the Legislature provided checks and balances, it added.
And without an opposition, TNR pointed out that the government would enjoy power without responsibility with unfettered control over resources. But it warned that without an opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Nagaland would witness an absolute and autocratic government, which would not only be unhealthy for democracy, but a fraud on the Constitution of India and on the people of Nagaland.
“The Nagaland United Government, even if it goes ahead, is detrimental to the essence of representative democracy as it does not represent the views of the electorate faithfully. The spirit of the constitution, therefore, demands that the chief minister should first tender his resignation along with his council of ministers and then reconstitute the new government, if the situation so warrants,” the statement demanded and said that elected leaders should not act in a way that ridiculed the institution of democracy.