Letters: Malaise in the house

This refers to the editorial "Legislative paralysis" (February 12). Even if apportioning blame for the disruptions in Parliament is futile, the United Progressive Alliance government will have to take a big share for this mess, for their ministers have failed to ensure a normal working relationship with the Opposition. It is strange that our members of Parliament (MPs), without performing their duties properly, demand privileges and perks that sound regal. It should be said emphatically that parliamentary democracy for us is not an option but a sine qua non of our Republic. Instead of ensuring debates of high standard, raising uncomfortable questions and putting the ministers on the mat with supplementaries and initiating call attention motions, our MPs have now become adept at rushing to the well of the House and disrupting it's functioning. It was never the same in the past decades. We have been proudly claiming that unlike China, which can only build massive parliament buildings, we can not only build those in African nations but also ensure the imparting skills of conducting free and fair elections, and more importantly, train them in running Parliament effectively. The current events such as frequent disruptions of the House would tarnish this image. It is, therefore, necessary for us to be equally worried about the quality of the MPs of the next Lok Sabha as much as we are about the future leadership.

S Subramanyan Navi Mumbai

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