Azo expresses concern on mass suspension of opposition MPs

Our Correspondent
Kohima | January 12 

MLA & NPF Legislature Party leader Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu today said that the mass suspension of opposition MPs is seen as a big threat to India’s Parliamentary future, inviting reactions ranging from “Namocracy in all its tyranny” to “writing obituaries for parliamentary democracy.”

Gracing the inaugural session of the 29th wrestling meet of Secheku Wrestling Association (SWA) at Porba village in Phek district on January 11, Azo said that altogether 146 members of the Opposition, an unprecedented figure in the history of Parliament were suspended from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha from December 14 to 21.

After the suspension, only 42 MPs opposing the BJP remained in the Lok Sabha while in the Rajya Sabha almost 50% of the Opposition strength was depleted while the Government chose to push through key legislations without any deliberations and debates with empty Opposition benches, thus depriving the House of the mandate, Azo said.

As such, he said, Bills like the Criminal Law Amendments “which could unleash draconian powers and impede citizen’s rights” were passed without discussions.

“To many political observers, the suspension spree is a carefully thought-out action by the Modi government to throw out and bulldoze the Opposition while the opposition regard the act as a betrayal of Parliamentary democracy and a move to demolish democracy in the country by an autocratic BJP,” he stated.

Suspension as a tool to bulldoze the Opposition and to pass important Bills without any deliberations and debates is detrimental to the future of parliamentary democracy, Azo said.

Concern on CBI, ED, NIA
Azo further said that the disconcerting trend of the misuse of the three Central Agencies - the CBI, the ED and the NIA and their politicisation by the Union Government was another matter of concern.

He said that probes against 118 opposition leaders by the CBI since Narendra Modi-led NDA came to power “are evidence of abuse when glaring cases against the BJP and leaders were ignored.”

In order to reduce political interference, he said that the Supreme Court prescribed a selection committee headed by the Central Vigilance Commission to select the CBI director in 1998.

Azo said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also been used for prying against leaders of the opposition and other dissenters, “even to change the popular verdict in a state by intimidating a MLA of a party and engineering defections.”

“After the NDA came to power in 2014, the abuse of the ED has intensified; of the 121 political leaders probed by the ED since then, 115 (95%) belong to the opposition,” Azo said.

Azo said that another concern is the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Office and Terms of Office) Bill, 2023 passed recently by the Rajya Sabha. He said this “in all likelihood is likely to be enacted into a law in its present form, as the new mechanism is different from the one spelled out by the Supreme Court.” The independence of the Election Commission of India is essential for ensuring free and fair elections that is paramount for a vibrant democracy, Azo added.

The NPF leader noted that while it is the prerogative of Parliament to legislate on this subject, it would have been more appropriate to retain the CJI in the Selection Committee to ensure utmost independence. “Though the proposed Bill moves the appointment process from just an executive decision to a committee-based selection, it is tilted in favour of an incumbent government; at the same time allowing the Selection Committee’s Recommendations to be valid even with a vacancy could result in a monopoly of ruling party members, undermining the diversity and independence of the Committee,” he stated. 

Expressing concern over what the future holds and where the country, the NPF leader urged for all bold and upright leader's “to voice out to protect our rights and protect democracy.”