Meira Kumar urges MPs to set aside differences

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who presided over the most unproductive period of Parliament during the recently concluded winter session, today called on political parties to resolve differences through discussions.

“I am again calling on parties to find a solution. I have great respect for members and I believe that they don’t want the impasse to continue either,” said Kumar. “I had a meeting with the leaders of all parties. There was no outcome. But that’s not the end.” Lok Sabha worked less than seven hours in the last session following differences of views between the government and opposition parties over the investigation mechanism adopted to probe the 2G spectrum scam.

However, Kumar argued that the composition of Parliament itself was a challenge, and that democracies “don’t have tailor-made situations” all the time. “We have 37 parties in Lok Sabha. No other Parliament in the world has (so many). If they have, many have 10, usually have five or six... We have such a large number of parties in the ruling coalition and opposition coalition. It is an impossible situation, yet India is going ahead with that situation and managing well.”