In a democracy, adversarial relations between the ruling party and the opposition are inevitable, and such relations are important in a way that brings forth strong differences and controversial views. Democracy thrives on reconciliation through legislative debate. As yet, adversarial relationships result in conflict Talk poorly of legislative conduct, following the lack of discourse on differences on issues of public importance. This is true of Kerala, where legislative business has come to a standstill following a serious deterioration in relations between the ruling coalition and the opposition. What started as an issue of the Speaker last week over the opposition United Democratic Front’s repeated refusal to discuss the Rule 50 notice has turned into an issue. a full blown confrontationLegal cases are being filed against the MLAs following incidents that created ruckus in the assembly. A case can be made that the opposition should resort to parodying the proceedings of the assembly after the Speaker’s refusal or to protest in an unparliamentary manner against the chair currently held by AN Shamseer. But it is the responsibility of the Speaker and the ruling front to ensure that the legislative privilege of the opposition is respected and allowed to discuss important issues. Obviously, repeated denial Discussion on Rule 50 notice And the filing of serious legal cases against opposition members has only deepened the conflict. Other complaints expressed by the opposition that their legislators do not get enough drama on official broadcaster Sabha TV also seem to have merit.
On Monday, the Speaker gave a reconciliation note removing his remarks against the Congress MLA from the House. He also assured the opposition that he would retain their rights, including the privilege of moving Rule 50 notices on matters of “significant public importance” and would ensure that the Assembly broadcaster was non-partisan. This should be a signal for both sides to start a dialogue leading to reversal of the abusive legal actions and resumption of normal legislative discourse. Kerala is India’s leader on socio-economic issues, but it faces unique challenges as an ecologically fragile state, which has to strike a balance between development and ecological sustainability, as demonstrated by the Brahmapuram fire. Incident is also an example. Healthy discussion and debate on ideas, however adversarial, will go a long way in ensuring good governance by keeping the LDF government on its toes. The ruling coalition and, by extension, how the chief minister responds to the opposition’s call for non-partisan conduct of legislative proceedings, will determine the course of normalization of ties between the two fronts in the state.