You can't dictate terms, say parties; ball in Anna’s court

The message from the all-party meeting is clear: Parliament will not be dictated terms and there cannot be any deadline set for the Lokpal Bill. Team Anna will have to re-think its strategy now. It could have gone too far in the game of brinkmanship and landed in a sticky situation, particularly with Anna Hazare looking fragile and drained after his nine-day fast.

That the opposition parties, including the BJP and the nine-party non-UPA, non-NDA grouping, want the government’s bill withdrawn, is not as big an issue as the parties make it out to be in the present circumstances. The fact that all of them made it clear that some of the provisions of Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill were unacceptable as they violated the supremacy of Parliament is significant.

In effect, it becomes a Parliament vs Team Anna issue now.

“This meeting of all parties in Parliament requests Shri Anna Hazare to end his fast. The meeting was also of the view that due consideration should be given to the Jan Lokpal Bill so that the final draft of the Lokpal Bill provides for a strong and effective Lokpal which is supported by a broad national consensus,” the statement issued at the end of the all-party meeting said.

The mention of a final draft and broad national consensus means the Lokpal Bill is in for a long haul. The all-party meet has virtually thrown Team Anna’s 30 August deadline for the introduction of the bill out of the window.

“No bill can be passed in this session,” said the CPM leader Sitaram Yechury. “Procedure should not be overruled. The procedure must be followed. It is serious for parliamentary democracy.” Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley had earlier said that Parliament’s priority is the content of the bill not the timeline.

The government, on its part, said Anna’s Lokpal Bill has been sent for scrutiny to the parliamentary standing committee. It added that the committee has been asked to treat both bills equally for review. Team Anna wants their Lokpal Bill to be debated directly by Parliament. The government’s action means more delay.

The developments put Team Anna, which has been on a winning streak since Anna started his second fast over the Lokpal issue on April 16, in a sticky situation. The strict deadline it has set for Parliament to pass the bill appears untenable.

“If anything happens to Anna, the government will be responsible,” warned the Gandhian’s close aide, Arvind Kejriwal today, maintaining his hawkish position. But the position would be difficult to maintain if Anna’s health continues to deteriorate. The government has given the impression of being flexible over the last couple of days, beginning with the Prime Minster’s appeal to Anna to break his fast. But Team Anna has so far no sign of climbing down.

There’s no way, unless the government does something dramatic, to get the bill passed this session. Now that it has managed to rally the support of all political parties, it seems to be in a situation where it can escape blame. The onus, under these circumstances, of taking a practical decision lies with Team Anna.

They could bide for time and persuade Anna to break his fast. Since they have managed to attract so much of attention to their cause and the media is taking active interest, it will not be easy for the government to go back on its promise. There’s little chance it will risk inviting the wrath of people all over again.