No role for civil society in Lokpal: political parties to govt

New Delhi: Many political parties were clearly not impressed with the government for involving the civil society in preparing the draft for Lokpal Bill as it was evident in the all-party meeting on the Bill today. Sources said that most of the parties felt that the government erred in its decision to form a Joint Committee with five members each from the civil society and the government and should have instead tried to take political parties into confidence over the issue. [caption id=“attachment_35926” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Why involve all? Political parties questions government. PTI”]  [/caption] Senior BJP leader Sushama Swaraj said the government had set aside Constitutional and political processes and tried to draft the bill with civil society. “It is only when you got stck, you remembered us,” she told the government. BJD’s Arjun Charan Sethi said the government has set a new precedent by making a Joint Committee with civil society members and it should not have been done. Even AIADMK, which was on the same page with the government on the issue of not bringing Prime Minister under the Lokpal’s ambit, felt the government should have consulted political parties first before issuing the notification for the ten-member joint committee having five civil society members to draft the Lokpal bill. CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury appeared sarcastic on civil society when he wondered whether elected representatives are “uncivil society”, sources said. After the meeting Yechury said, “Constitutional scheme of things cannot be disturbed. The sovereignty of Parliament has to be maintained and it is only Parliament, which can make a law. So bring a bill and have discussion in Parliament.” RJD, BJD, JD(U) and Samajwadi Party were also critical of the government for engaging with civil society first on drafting the bill. Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav said he did not want to even see or discuss the draft prepared by Hazare’s team. RJD chief Laloo Prasad also felt it was a wrong move. Responding to criticism, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government had under no circumstances wanted to tamper with the established procedures to enact a law. He said the government’s engagement with civil society was an “extra layer” of consultations and “a new experiment”. When the bill is tabled in Parliament, it will be the property of Parliament, Mukherjee said. In the meeting Sharad Yadav said that the government should go by the existing Parliamentary proceedure in bringing the bill in Parliament. He added “some of the parties asked the government why it started a new precedent by sitting with the civil society members for drafting the bill and questioned why the government did not talk to political parties earlier.” Yadav, however, declined to spell out his party’s stand on the demands for inclusion of the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal. PTI