Lessons from Lok Sabha:

Of lean Cabinets and representation

by W.A.C.P. Wijayaratne

Much is spoken of the proposed enactment and operational procedures for the draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Lok Sabha Pic: weblivenews

This became a contentious topic of discussion among all politicians, parties and the general public. Looking at what the government sought to achieve through reforms, this article seeks to highlight some lessons for Sri Lanka from neighbouring India.

The Parliament of India comprises the president and the two Houses. The Lok Sabha is the house of the people and the Rajya Sabha is the Council of states. The dissolution of parliament of India means the dissolution of its Lok Sabha, to which members are elected by popular vote. The President of India has the power to summon and prorogue either house of parliament or to dissolve the Lok Sabha.

The Indian Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. The first general election under the new constitution was held during the year 1951-52 and the first elected parliament came into being in May 1952.

India's parliament comprises only 545 seats, despite representing one sixth of humanity.

Reflection of Indian people

The Lok Sabha, as the name itself signifies, is the body consisting of representatives of the people. Its members are directly elected once in every five years. The minimum age required to enter the House is 25 years, a legal requirement in India. Today, India has 900 million voters.

Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of Parliament with 250 members, which is similar to the Sri Lankan senate in the earlier days.

The members of Rajya Sabha are not elected, directly or indirectly. Every state is allotted a certain number of members to Rajya Sabha as India has 25 states. No member of Rajya Sabha is under 30 years of age and is expected to be mature enough to discuss any matter relating to legislation.

Twelve Rajya Sabha members are nominated by the President and are chosen from the field of literature, arts, science, journalism and social science.

Presiding officers

Rajya Sabha is a permanent body. It is not subject to dissolution but one third of its members retire in every two years. Rajya Sabha was duly constituted for the first time on 3 April 1952 and it held its first sitting on 13 May, the same year.

The 245 members in Rajya Sabha are distributed as follows:

Andra Pradesh -18, Arunachal Pradesh-08, Assam - 07, Bihar - 22, Goa - 01, Gujarat - 11, Haryana -05, Himachal Pradesh - 03, Jammu and Kashmir -04, Karnataka -12, Kerala -09, Madhya Pradesh -16, Maharashtra -19, Manipur -01, Meghalaya -01, Mizoram -01, Punjab -07, Rajesthan -20, Sikkim -01, Tamil Nadu -18, Tripura -01, Uttar Pradesh -34, West Bengal -16, Delhi -03 and Pondicherry - 01 and nominated by the President under article 80 (1) of the Constitution - 12.

Lok Sabha elects one of its own members as its presiding officer and is called the Speaker. He/she is assisted by the deputy speaker who is also elected by the Lok Sabha.

The conduct of business in the Lok Sabha is the responsibility of the speaker. The Vice President of India is the Ex-officio-Chairman of Rajya Sabha as per the constitution.

He is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of members of both houses of parliament. Rajya Sabha also elects one of its members to be the Deputy Chairman.

Functions

The main function of both the houses is to pass laws. Every bill has to be passed by both houses and assented to by the President before it becomes law.

The subjects over which Parliament can legislate are mentioned in the Union List in the Second Schedule of the Constitution. Broadly speaking, Union subjects are important subjects which for reasons of convenience, efficiency and security are administered on an all- India basis.

The main Union Subjects are: defence, foreign affairs, railways, transport and communications, currency, banking and customs and export duties. There are numerous other subjects on which both parliament and state legislatures legislate.

Besides passing laws, parliament can, by resolutions, motions for adjournment, discussions and questions, exercise control over the administration of the country and safeguard peoples' liberties. Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of state assemblies in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the scale transferable vote.

Lok Sabha is the house to which the Council of Ministers is held responsible under the constitution. Finance bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha. Also, it is the Lok Sabha which allocates funds for running the administration of the country.

Rajya Sabha has special powers to consider jurisdiction of parliament to legislate with respect to matters listed in the State List in the national interest or to create by law an all India service commission to the union and the states.

In India, when a single party has no parliamentary strength in the Lok Sabha to form a government, the President of India has powers to dissolve. The Prime Minister acts as the caretaker with his caretaker Cabinet until the Lok Sabha elections are over.

Political changes

In Sri Lanka, when there is a political change and a cultural change in the political landscape, the opposition parties often oppose the concept of cohabitation and undermine the progress that can be achieved through the creation of new democratic spaces. It also reflects the lack of support for the mandate given to a government to clean up the system and restore good governance after years of corruption and abuse. It is hoped that Sri Lanka learns from neighbouring India on putting the country before parochial politics and redefine 'patriotism' beyond the party lens.

What Sri Lanka needs today are policies that promote economic development and unity among all communities. There is a need to foster reconciliation among the people after long years of war.

The Indian population is over a 1000 million, but only 545 members enter parliament. But here, the numbers often are disproportionate in a small island state of nearly 22 million people. As Sri Lanka heralds a new political era of consensual governance, it is hoped that there will examples that the people can be proud of.