Lokpal bill alone can't end corruption: Rahul
Gandhi
Friday August 26, 2011 04:59:02 PM,
IANS
|
New
Delhi:
As uncertainty continued on whether Anna Hazare would end his
11-day fast for a strong Lokpal bill, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi
said Friday that the bill alone could not eradicate corruption and
suggested that the institution of the ombudsman be given
constitutional status like the Election Commission.
In his first comments on the nationwide debate on corruption,
which has acquired urgency as Hazare's health deteriorated, Gandhi
told the Lok Sabha that the hotly contested bill was only "one
element" to eradicate corruption.
He also thanked the 74-year-old Hazare for helping people
articulate their feelings of disillusionment.
"It is not a matter of how the present impasse will resolve, it is
a much greater battle," he said.
"Witnessing the events of the last few days it would appear that
the enactment of a single bill will usher in a corruption free
society. I have serious doubts about this belief.
"An effective Lokpal law is only one element in the legal
framework to combat corruption. The Lokpal institution alone
cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive anti-corruption code,"
Gandhi said.
This led to an uproar, and Gandhi had to interrupt his speech for
several minutes.
As opposition MPs led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tried to
shout him down, treasury benches, led by Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee, countered by saying Gandhi was speaking the "bitter
truth".
In another intervention being seen as crucial, Gandhi, 41,
suggested that the Lokpal be given constitutional status
equivalent to the Election Commission.
"Why not elevate the debate, let us take it further and fortify
the Lokpal bill by making it a constitutional body like the
Election Commission of India?" he asked during zero hour.
"A tactical incursion, divorced from the machinery of an elected
government that seeks to undo the checks and balances created to
protect the supremacy of parliament sets a dangerous precedent for
a democracy," the Congress MP said.
"Today the proposed law is against corruption. Tomorrow the target
may be something less universally heralded. It may attack the
plurality of our society and democracy."
Stating that "corruption was all pervasive", he said it operated
at all levels and could not "be wished away". Firm political will,
he said, was needed to combat it.
"We speak of a statutory body (Lokpal) but our discussions cease
at the point of accountability to the people and the risk that it
may itself become corrupt," he said.
"Laws and institutions are not enough, accessible democracy is
central to fighting corruption," he said, stressing that
democratic processes should not be weakened in the pursuit for a
Lokpal.
"This process is often lengthy and lumbering. But it is so in
order to be inclusive and fair. It provides a representative and
transparent platform where ideas are translated into laws.
"A tactical incursion, divorced from the machinery of an elected
government that seeks to undo the checks and balances created to
protect the supremacy of parliament sets a dangerous precedent for
a democracy..."
"I believe in government funding of political party, I believe in
empowering the youth, in moving democracy to villages. I know a
lot of my colleagues share these ideas regardless of the political
lines. Let us commit ourselves to truth. We owe it to to the
people of India," he said.
His sister, Priyanka Vadra, was in the gallery listening to him.
|
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top
Stories |
Parliament to discuss three versions of Lokpal bill Friday: Khurshid
Parliament will discuss three versions of
the Lokpal bill Friday, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said here
Thursday. "We will discuss the
»
Government agrees to Team Anna's conditions:
Deshmukh
LNJP Hospital gears up to receive Hazare
PM, parliament urge Anna to end fast |
|
Most
Read |
Advani sees flaws in Jan Lokpal Bill, says it
can't get passed
Some provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill had inherent flaws and
parliament would find it difficult to pass it in its present form,
senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said Friday
in
»
|
Lesser-known Annas also fast across the country
Away from media glare, many people across India have been fasting
in solidarity with social activist Anna Hazare, whose 10-day-old
fast against corruption has caught global attention. The condition
of some of »
Disbelief, praise and fear in Dinesh Yadav's
village
|
|
News Pick |
Rajya Sabha passes teachers' education council
bill
The Rajya Sabha Thursday passed a bill for
re-creating a national body to regulate schools and teachers. The
National Council of Teachers Education (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was
passed by the upper house, restoring the
» |
Is
tobacco plastic sachet ban being implemented, SC asks
More than five months after the ban on the use of plastic pouches
to pack chewing tobacco and pan masala came into effect, the
Supreme Court Thursday asked the government to report how its
proscription order »
|
'In Bihar, floods are a man-made menace'
In Bihar, two and a half days of floods
have been turned into a two-and-a-half-month-long affair so that
the politics over relief continues, says one of India's leading
river researchers. Solutions to tackle the recurring "man-made" »
|
Four Indians among MIT's top 35 innovators
Two Indians and two persons of Indian
origin figure among Top 35 Innovators under 35 in the latest list
of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Technology
Review, the world's oldest Technology Magazine
»
|
|
Picture of the Day |
 |
Anna mocks Congress charge of RSS, BJP support.
But in Malegaon, BJP is using
hoardings to garner support for Hazare. Also, there are good
number of BJP workers and hardcore RSS activists in the rallies called
to support Hazare.
(Photo:
ummid.com) |
|
|
|