Collective responsibility in coalition set-up stressed

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 16. In a coalition form of government, neither the Prime Minister nor the Ministers can make any public statement that contradicts the declared policies of the coalition, without the approval of the Cabinet, former Judge of the Karnataka High Court, Mr. H. G. Balakrishna, declared here.

Asserting that the Prime Minister was bound by `collective responsibility' in a coalition dispensation, the former Judge fiercely criticised the controversial statement made by the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, on the contentious Ram mandir issue.

He was inaugurating a seminar on `Cabinet System and Coalition government' today.

Noting that Mr. Vajpayee was not the Prime Minister of a single party but of the entire nation, he charged that the bona fide of the head of the government on whether he represented all sections of the society had come under cloud.

Under the present regime, there was an effort to drive a wedge between the minorities and the majority in the country, Mr.Balakrishna said.

He also said that in a coalition set-up, the Ministerial team should not be weakened by public expression of disapproval of any of the Cabinet decision by any partner of the coalition.

The key to the success of a coalition regime lay in formulation of a common minimum programme, collective responsibility, consistency in policy matters and participation of all allies in the government which should be led by the dominant party, the former MP and constitutional expert, Mr. R. Sezhiyan emphasised, participating in a session on ``the Cabinet system and Constitution - an Overview'' at the seminar.

The Frontline Editor, Mr. N. Ram, who chaired the session, stoutly objecting to the Centre's moves to review the Constitution, said that any suggestion to change the present parliamentary form of government, smacked of `authoritarianism'.

The Prime Minister's recent statement on the Ayodhya issue, he said, conflicted with the spirit of the country's Constitution which gives no room for mixing politics with religion.

Whether it was a coalition or a single party rule, the role of the Prime Minister was of prime importance and any corrective to the present malaise can come only from ``within and particularly from the Prime Minister'', senior journalist, Mr. Inder Malhotra, said, initiating the session on ``Conventions and practices to avoid aberrations in action''.

Chairing the session, the former Judge of the Madras High Court, Mr. S. A. Kader, underscored the need for removing the present ills in the parliamentary system.

The Congress(I) MP, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyer, felt that national consensus on issues was irrelevant for providing good governance. ``How far you are able to maintain consensus within the government is important'', he said.

Mrs. Lakshmi Krishnamurti, Executive Trustee of the Satyamurti Centre for Democratic Studies which jointly organised the programme with Madras Management Association and Konrad Adenauer Foundation, gave an overview of the seminar.

Prof. Gert. W. Kueck, the Kondrad Adenauer Foundation's resident representative to India, detailing Germany's experiments with coalition, said it created a culture of compromise and cooperation and proved successful.

The TMC MP, Mr. Peter Alphonse, senior advocate, Ms. R. Vaigai and Professor and Chairman, Department of Political Science, Bangalore University, Dr. R. L. M. Patil also addressed the seminar.

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