The discussions around the Lokpal issue, brought into focus by the Anna Hazare group, have been quite fruitless. Also, quite needlessly, the self-serving impression has been sought to be spread that the government’s position on the principal points raised is necessarily wrong and those of Mr Hazare’s followers necessarily right. What is true is that the points at issue are complex and admit of a variety of viewpoints that ought to be respected, and aspersions not be cast even in an implied fashion.
People should also be aware that many leading civil society groups and men of experience in public affairs are not in accord with the Hazare position, which they think will undermine the basic principles of our Constitution. No one — not even the government — differs on the necessity of rooting out corruption. Differences arise on how to go about the task and the nature of the instrument to be brought into play. Precisely because the questions in focus are difficult, points regarding what precisely the institution of the Lokpal should mean, or indeed the nature of its composition, have not been approached yet. Thus definition issues lie in suspended animation. The deadlock between Mr Hazare’s men and the government on whether or not to bring the office of Prime Minister and the higher judiciary within the proposed Lokpal’s scrutiny is also far from being resolved. The gulf is as wide as when the issue first arose in April.
This is not surprising, for such questions typically do attract a variety of responses within society; indeed within the government itself. Within individual parties too there might exist more than a single viewpoint, if news reports are to be taken into account. In recent days, key senior Congress leaders — its so-called core group, which includes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi — have met twice to review their position on key questions raised on the Lokpal matter, but so far there are no intimations of clarity. As for other major parties — national or regional — they have not yet bothered to have an internal brainstorming session. Perhaps the risk of internal fissures being exposed is not inconsiderable. These parties would rather wait for the government to detail its own position and would choose merely to respond, rather than spell out their viewpoint on a matter that has generated so much heat and all too little light.
As government parties are wont to do, the Congress has asked for an all-party meeting. This might be nothing more than a way to tell the country that it is doing what it can to promote a political consensus. But the main parties are hardly likely to attend an all-party debating session unless the forum is Parliament itself. Only two have let their base positions be known. The Bahujan Samaj Party, led by UP chief minister Mayawati, has suggested civil society groups should contest the next general election so that their MPs push their viewpoint in Parliament. This probably means the BSP is out of sync with the known Hazare position. The CPI(M) has said it would like the PM brought in under the Lokpal’s scrutiny, but it is not clear if the constitutional issues this would involve have been investigated. It is indeed time for the government not to beat about the bush any longer, but to bring its own bill on the Lokpal to Parliament regardless of the Hazare position. This would also be in accord with the existing practice. An important civil society body has been consulted at length, and it is now up to Parliament to take a decision.