Speakers’ Speak
By Dr S. Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)
As the winter session of Parliament is fast approaching, a dominant thinking in our mind is around the behaviour of members of this august body in and out of its campus and about the quantum and quality of debates that would take place. The anxiety pervades over the functioning of State Assemblies also which too present a replica of Parliament. People have a right to expect that elected members do their duties like any salaried official. At this juncture, a meeting of the presiding officers and officials of the legislative bodies, who have a lot of common problems to discuss and exchange views, is very timely and relevant.
The 82nd All-India Presiding Officers’ Conference (AIPOC) was held a few days ago at the Himachal Pradesh Assembly at Shimla. It was preceded by 58th conference of secretaries of legislative bodies. It is the centennial year for the conference. The first one, also held in Shimla, was in 1921.Delegates included Speakers, Deputy Speakers and Assembly Secretaries of 36 State Assemblies, but only 26 States were present. Noticeable was the absence of West Bengal and Chhattisgarh delegates.
The Speaker, the presiding officer of the House, and the Deputy Speaker who takes his place in his absence are chosen by the members of the concerned House from among themselves. He is the authority to conduct the business of the House and decide whether a bill is money bill or not. It is his job to maintain discipline and decorum in the House and he can punish a member for unruly behaviour by suspending him. He decides the agenda of the House. He holds 6th rank in government along with the CJI. Both Speaker and Deputy Speaker can be removed only by a resolution passed by a majority of members of the House. He cannot participate in voting in the House, but has the power of casting vote in the event of a tie.
The main topic for discussion at the Shimla conference was “Journey of a Century: Evaluation and Way Forward”. The agenda included several issues relating to the role of Speakers like the responsibility of presiding officers towards the Constitution, the House, and the people. The Anti-Defection law under which a vital political power and responsibility is vested with the Speaker was also on the agenda. The role of the Speaker in dealing with cases coming under this law is indeed a challenge to his neutrality between parties.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who presided over the conference, announced 75 programmes on Parliamentary Democracy across the nation to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence involving the smallest but the most important and responsible institution of democracy, the village panchayat, to municipal corporations, legislative Assemblies and Parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the conference said that the representatives should have one mantra for the next 25 years — “duty, duty, duty” and should conduct themselves according to “Indian values”. Yes, the mantra must guide not only the presiding officers, but the entire House of representatives of the people prone to forget that they are elected to serve the people. He gave an idea to allot fixed days in the business calendar for “healthy debate” and also suggested giving training to first time elected legislators on the right way to participate in legislative bodies. He wanted to give more time for youth, women, and members representing “aspirational districts” to speak in the Assembly — glorious ideas difficult to practice in the present parliamentary climate. Still, we must cherish ideals and propagate these on every occasion for the benefit of newcomers as well as seasoned parliamentarians who are their preceptors and role models.
The programmes announced by Om Birla were intended to strengthen democratic institutions and make these accountable and to prepare an action plan to run the House. He said: “We will make an advisory on the standard operating procedure (SOP) to run the House in the lowest level of institutions which the States can follow”. The object is to make the functioning of State legislatures “more transparent and enforce discipline in the House”.
This year is the centenary year for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also, which is the most important standing committee of the legislatures. An international conference is scheduled to take place early December in which PAC Chairpersons and members, and Speakers will take part.
The problem of frequent disruptions of the proceedings, cancellation of Question Hour due to disturbances were raised. Birla stressed the need for finding solutions to the problems and also suggested increasing the number of sittings of the legislatures. He called for drastic changes in the functioning of Standing Committees and their rules and said that the Speaker should evaluate the work of committees once a year.
Application of the Anti-Defection Law, meant to put an end to the regime of “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram”,is one of the most important powers of the Speakers. It is also a test for his impartiality. Speakers’ role has often and in recent years invariably become a matter for legal battle between political parties and needs some definiteness to remove vagaries and scope for political partisanship.
Though it is an important issue, the Conference arrived at no consensus on this law. The discussion on the report of C.P. Joshi Committee appointed in 2019 to examine the working of the law on Defections, was inconclusive leaving the Speaker free to deal with defections. The post of Speaker is loaded with immense power in party politics because of this law. The law made to curb frivolous party migrations has ended in enhancing the importance of Speakers. It has also landed them in an unenviable situation as the target for political attack by affected parties. Will Speakers agree and voluntarily decide to curtail their power and importance?
Speakers of legislative bodies continue to be members of the political parties they represented in the election. The original British system of resigning from the party after election as Speaker has never been practised in India. The lone exception was Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, who resigned from his party after election as Speaker in 1967.
By mid-19th century, it became another unwritten rule in England that the Speaker should stay away from parties. However, in recent times, Speakers are drawn into active politics as in the Brexit controversy which led to the resignation of the Speaker, John Bercow known for his anti-Brexit stand. Hung Parliaments have increased the role of Speakers as in India. Historically a consensual choice of MPs, the post of Speaker now goes by electoral victory on party lines.
“I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place but as this House is pleased to direct me”, said British Parliament Speaker Lenthall in 1642 to King Charles I who entered Parliament to arrest five “traitors”. Such political neutrality has vanished even in the Mother of Parliament.
Clearly, no concrete result has emerged from the Shimla AIPOC, but it has highlighted some weak spots in the parliamentary system. — INFA