Showing posts with label President. Show all posts

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

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- Unknown Updated at: Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Monday, September 2, 2013

Nelson Mandela Moves Out Of Hospital, Spends First Night At Home

The former South African president, 95, was admitted in early June for a recurring lung infection.

Family members have spoken of their happiness at having Mr Mandela home again after nearly three months.

However the South African government has said his condition remains critical and can sometimes be unstable.

Mr Mandela returned home by ambulance early on Sunday and would continue to receive intensive care there, a statement from the South African presidency said.

His suburban house in the suburb of Houghton has been "reconfigured" for his care.

However, the presidency said he would be readmitted to hospital should his condition warrant it.

The BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Johannesburg says all this seems designed to reassure not just the Mandela family but the nation, too, that he should be no more vulnerable when his condition is unstable than he was in hospital in Pretoria.
Fortitude and grace

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is revered around the world for leading the fight against white minority rule and preaching reconciliation with the white community despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

Despite his various illnesses, the statement from Mr Zuma's office notes, the former president displayed "immense grace and fortitude".

The South African government has released few details about his condition, appealing for Mr Mandela's privacy and dignity to be respected.

The BBC's Andrew Harding in South Africa says this is not the discharge of a man who has made a significant recovery but the transfer of a patient from an intensive care ward in a hospital to a specially-built intensive care unit in his own home, presumably in line with his family's wishes.

But he notes that some people will take encouragement from the fact that his doctors have said he was fit enough to make the 55km-journey (34 miles) and says such a decision will not have been taken lightly.

"It is a day of celebration for us, that he is finally back home with us," said his grandson, Mandla Mandela.

Mr Mandela's lung condition is said to result from the tuberculosis he contracted during the 27 years he spent in prison for taking up arms against white minority rule.

He has been admitted to hospital four times in the past year and his latest stay lasted 84 days.

Shared From BBC