Showing posts with label Ordinance. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Prime Minister Not Happy With Rahul, Says That Ordinance Was A Result Of Multiple Discussions

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said he is looking forward to meeting Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, and would try to understand the latter’s agitation over a cabinet-approved ordinance on convicted lawmakers.

Returning from the United States after a five-day visit via Frankfurt, Germany, Singh further said there is no question of him resigning from office.

“I have seen Rahul Gandhi’s statement. He has written to me on this subject also, and, let me say, that when issues are raised in a democracy, in a democratic polity, the right course is to start with trying to understand what is agitating the minds of the concerned people. When I go back, I will discuss these matters with Rahul Gandhi. He has asked for a meeting with me, and, I will also take my Cabinet colleagues into confidence. We will see which way the wind blows,” Dr. Singh said onboard Air India One.

When specifically asked to respond to the opposition’s demand that he should have resigned from office immediately after Gandhi’s criticism of the ordinance while he was abroad, Dr. Singh said: “Well, there is no question of resigning. I said I will put all these issues before my Cabinet colleagues. These are all matters which are discussed before the highest body, the core group of the Congress Party. The Cabinet discussed this matter twice, not once. But, it is always possible to change one’s mind, and, I will consult my colleagues on all these issues,” he added.

Singh mildly reprimanded the Congress number two for the way in which he went about voicing his public disapproval of the ordinance.

“Well, I am not the master of what people say. It has happened, and, as I said, when I go back, I will try to find out the reasons why it had to be done that way, and, how do we handle it,” he said.

“I honestly feel that if there is an important point of view, any member of the Congress Party, any member of my Cabinet is free to raise issues and require reconsideration of issues. I think that’s what a democracy is about. I don’t think we are an authoritarian structure in which one person lays down the line all the way and therefore my humble feeling is that when a point of view has been expressed, we must sit together and understand what is agitating the mind of the person who has raised these issue and that’s what we will do,” he added.

According to media reports, the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are scheduled to meet President Pranab Mukherjee in the national capital tomorrow (October 2), on the issue, as the latter has to decide whether to give it his assent, or send it back to the government for reconsideration.

On September 27, in a major embarrassment to the ruling UPA, Rahul Gandhi dubbed the ordinance to negate the Supreme Court verdict on convicted lawmakers as 'complete nonsense', and said it should be torn up and thrown away.

"I personally think what the government is doing on the ordinance is wrong. It was a political decision, every party does it, and there is a time to stop this nonsense," Gandhi had said in New Delhi.

Shared From DNA India

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Friday, September 27, 2013

Ordinance Is Nonsense, Should Be Thrown Away - Rahul Gandhi Against Govt's Ordinance For Convicted Leaders

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi dropped a bombshell on Friday by saying that the ordinance passed by his cabinet to shield convicted lawmakers from disqualification "is a complete nonsense" and that "it should be torn up and thrown away."

His statement comes after reports of a growing unease in the Congress over the ordinance started doing the rounds. Union minister Milind Deora and Congress leader Anil Shastri have already gone public with their reservations on the ordinance. Even senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh has called for a consensus.

Gandhi made his statement after making a surprise brief appearance at a meet-the-press programme of his party's general secretary Ajay Maken at the Press Club in the national capital.

"Now, I will tell you what is my opinion on the ordinance. It is complete nonsense, it should be torn up and thrown away. It is my personal opinion," he said. Rahul said that the argument given in "my organisation"
is that "we need to do this because of political considerations. Everybody is doing this. The Congress does this, the BJP does this, the Samajwadi Party, the JD(U) does this."

"It is time to stop this nonsense, political parties, mine and all others....If you want to fight corruption in the country whether it is Congress Party or BJP, we cannot continue making these small compromises. Because if we make these small compromises, then we compromise everywhere."

Earlier on Thursday, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday called in three senior ministers for clarifications on the recent ordinance passed by the cabinet to shield convicted lawmakers from disqualification as the BJP urged him to return the proposal.

The government is finding itself in a spot with the opposition turning up the heat on it for overturning a Supreme Court judgment that ordered immediate disqualification of MPs/MLAs convicted in a criminal case punishable by two years or more in jail.

For the ordinance to become a law, it has to be signed by the President. If the cabinet resends it, the President would have no choice but to sign it.

Thursday evening was busy for the President. First, top BJP leaders registered their protest over what they termed was "an unconstitutional move" and then senior ministers were called in to explain the reasons behind the decision. The President, it is learnt, is treading with caution.

Mukherjee is not entirely convinced with the government's ordinance move, and is learnt to have sought some clarifications from home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, law minister Kapil Sibal and parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath after the BJP requested the President to send the ordinance back to the cabinet, sources told HT.

Shared From Hindustan Times

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- Unknown Updated at: Friday, September 27, 2013

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

BJP Opposes President From Signing The Non Constitutional Ordinance

New Delhi: An ordinance hurriedly approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, to protect convicted MPs and MLAs from disqualification, has sparked off another political confrontation between the government and the opposition.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked President Pranab Mukherjee not to sign the ordinance, which skirts around a Supreme Court order that had said lawmakers will stand disqualified immediately after conviction.

"The President is not obliged to sign an ordinance that is unconstitutional. We oppose this ordinance," tweeted BJP's Sushma Swaraj, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

In response, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari tweeted this morning that the BJP leader's advice was "amusing, surprising."

"The Constitutionality or otherwise of legal enactments are tested in Constitutional courts and not in the BJP's moat. Unsolicited advice is neither appreciated nor taken seriously," Mr Tewari said cuttingly.

The ordinance, which allows convicted MPs and MLAs to stay on, but without voting rights or salary, comes just ahead of a possible verdict by a Jharkhand court on the multi-crore fodder scam allegedly involving Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav, a loyal ally of the minority Manmohan Singh government.

If convicted, Mr Yadav faces disqualification from the Lok Sabha under the Supreme Court order of July, which said lawmakers could not stay on even if they appealed to a higher court against their conviction.

The ordinance is also likely to benefit Congress MP Rashid Masood, who was convicted last week in a corruption case. The CBI court will announce quantum of punishment next month and even if he is handed a jail term of more than two years, he will now not face immediate disqualification from the Rajya Sabha.

Law Minister Kapil Sibal has however clarified to NDTV that under the ordinance, protection from disqualification will apply only when the convicted MP or MLA has appealed in a higher court and the higher court has stayed the lower court's conviction.

The ordinance also does not interfere with the Supreme Court ruling that the convicted legislator cannot contest elections unless permitted by a higher court.

Shared From NDTV