Somnath's proposal to separate politicians from constitutional posts merits a proper examination.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has proposed that a member of Parliament elected to the office of the Speaker should temporarily resign from the membership of his political party. Once he ceases to be the speaker, he may consider rejoining the political party.
The proposal has been made in the wake of the controversy over the CPI(M) including Chatterjee’s name in the list of Left MPs who had withdrawn support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. That list was sent to the President and created a piquant situation with regard to the status of the Speaker in the Lok Sabha. The controversy got worse when the CPI(M) leaders asked Chatterjee to resign as the Speaker and then vote against the confidence motion to be moved by the UPA government. Chatterjee did neither, provoking the CPI-M leadership to expel him from the party a day after the Government won the confidence vote.
Will Chatterjee’s proposal help prevent a situation which compromises the position of the Speaker vis-a-vis his political party? The question is being debated within the government and some political parties. It is true a Speaker, who ceases to be the member of the political party on whose ticket he got elected to the Lok Sabha, will be completely free from the kind of dilemmas that Chatterjee must have gone through in the third week of July. Nor will a political party be under the mistaken notion that a Speaker chosen from among its Lok Sabha members should continue to be more loyal to it than to the Constitution or the Lok Sabha.
Chatterjee’s proposal has raised another issue. Should it become mandatory for candidates to resign from their political parties before being nominated as a governor in a state? There was a time when only retired politicians were considered for gubernatorial jobs in the states. But in the last decade or two, even active politicians have been sent to states as governors. Several of such governors have even re-entered politics after the completion of their tenure. A few months ago, SM Krishna got back into active politics in Karnataka after a stint as Governor in Maharashtra. Madan Lal Khurana cut short his tenure as Rajasthan Governor and returned to Delhi to play a more active role in BJP politics in the state.
Governors re-entering politics at the end of their tenure raises many disturbing questions. The ruling party at the Centre takes a final decision on appointing governors in states. Thus, politicians who have the desire to return to politics are likely to be more pliable as governors than those who are barred from playing an active role either in the government or in a political party.
So, Chatterjee’s proposal that an MP must temporarily resign from his political party after his appointment as Speaker may not really work. The Lok Sabha Speaker enjoys a position in the Warrant of Precedence that is only after the President, the Vice-President and the Prime Minister. Temporary resignation from the political party will not be sufficient. Anyone rising to the exalted position of the Lok Sabha Speaker should become automatically ineligible for returning to active politics for at least a few years.
The introduction of a cooling off period for all Speakers at the end of their tenure is bound to be opposed by political parties. Somnath Chatterjee may be an exception as he is likely to retire from politics after the end of his tenure in 2009. But at least two former Speakers of the Lok Sabha occupied ministerial positions after the end of their tenure — Shivraj Patil and Balram Jakhar. Manohar Joshi too returned to active politics after his short stint as the Lok Sabha Speaker in the National Democratic Alliance government.
And if Lok Sabha Speakers are expected to observe the cooling off period at the end of their tenure, there is no reason why the same principle should not be extended to governors. Political parties can be told that if various regulators, senior government officers and public sector chief executives are expected not to take up post-retirement jobs in sectors where there may be a conflict of interest, there is no reason why legislators and politicians also should not follow similar rules. Political parties will not be kind to Chatterjee’s suggestion. But it will be a pity if it is discarded without a proper examination.
