Now that the election rhetoric has died down, here is my take on why it was wrong for AAP to resign in Delhi and also why the Congress failed so miserably. In our system of democracy a candidate of a political party offers himself to be part of the legislature with the promise of implementing his agenda through enactment of certain laws or amendments to existing laws and raising peoples concerns in the legislature. This is however only one function that he discharges. The second is to elect a political executive, who will supervise the appointed executive( bureaucracy) and provide governance. AAP legislators insisting on Jan Lokpal Bill, is part of their legislative function. However, when you offer yourself to govern you are volunteering for the political executive, which is not about legal enactments but about governance and discharging that executive function. No one can force you to volunteer for this function. Having volunteered for it, to forget that your job description does not include passing of laws but ensuring that they are implemented and providing a citizen supervision( political executive) of the appointed executive is dereliction of duty. This obfuscation of two different jobs, that you have chosen to do, is why the decision to resign can never be explained to the satisfaction of the people. If they have support in Delhi, in my opinion, and in the various pronouncements of the AAP party and supporters, that support was not attributed to the principled stand on Jan Lokpal Bill but to the 49 day discharge of their executive function. Therefore, to volunteer for the second job( executive) and resign without any impediment to the discharge of that function ( as they were in minority) is the conflict that they are finding extremely difficult to explain. The people, one might assume, may not understand this subtle difference. However the way they have voted surely establishes, that they value the executive function higher than any legislative goal. This prioritisation of the executive function by the masses is perfectly in line , not only with the mandate, but with the reality on ground. If you look at the distribution of the fruits of governance, you will see why this priority. The Congress campaign hinged on providing rights through legislation while ignoring their executive ( mal)function and its disastrous results just bolsters the argument presented. Therefore both parties are guilty of having misread the purpose of a general election. Only the elite can sit in their comforts and debate new laws, the majority need a strong or at least a functioning executive to deliver the fruits of good governance.
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 08:28:46 +0000
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