New Delhi:
It was expected to be fiery, and it didn't disappoint. The all-party meeting on the Lokpal Bill on Sunday saw a combative and largely united Opposition slamming the government for its handling of the Bill, which is meant to rout corruption among politicians and bureaucrats. (
Read: The draft Lokpal Bill)
There was also some tense sparring with the BJP's Sushma Swaraj asking the PM to intervene after Farooq Abdullah used language that she found inappropriate.
The meeting was meant to gather feedback from different parties on the Bill. Most, like the BJP, said they would not do this till the government presents them with an actual draft of the Bill. The BJP's Sushma Swaraj said, "We did not discuss specific provisions of the bill in today's meeting. We clearly said we want a strong Lokpal. The government should bring a bill and send it to the standing committee so that all the parties can give their points of view. (
Watch)
The BJP also raised serious objections to several elements in the draft bill prepared by the ministers. The BJP told the Prime Minister that all clauses regarding who appoints Lokpal, who is eligible to serve as part of the Lokpal and who can remove Lokpal are unacceptable.
What has been circulated so far is the result of the cumulative differences between the four ministers appointed to draft the Bill along with five activists led by Anna Hazare. The ministers' version of the Bill is designed to fail in combating corruption, says Team Anna. The government says the sort of powers that the activists want to endow the Lokpal with are unconstitutional.
In April, Mr Hazare's week-long fast, shouldered by massive public support, forced the government to agree that five non-elected representatives would formally be involved in preparing the bill. The wide and public dispute between the activists and the ministers on the committee has led the government to suggest that this is not an experiment it will consider repeating.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "Good law and strong institution is necessary to tackle corruption but these alone would never suffice. Lokpal has to work in harmony with other institutions and laws; it has to function within the framework of basic structure of Constitution". (
Read: PM's opening remarks at the all-party meet)
A joint resolution at the end of the meeting said, "The all-party meeting agreed that government should bring before the next session of Parliament a strong and effective Lokpal Bill following the established procedures".
Kiran Bedi, a close associate of Anna Hazare in his campaign for the Lokpal Bill, told NDTV, "The government went to meeting unprepared. They should have cleared it with the Cabinet then gone for the all-party meeting".
Ms Bedi added, "We can't guarantee Anna won't fast again, but we see now a sense of urgency".
PM in Lokpal? Opposition Divided
The lack of consensus could prove to be a major headache for the government which is already at loggerheads with members of the civil society in the draft panel over various points, primarily, the inclusion of the Prime Minister and the higher judiciary under the purview of the Lokpal.
This is a point which also has the Opposition divided - Left parties have said that they want the Prime Minister to be included in the Lokpal, but parties like the TRS, SAD and the AIADMK are opposed to any such move. AIADMK at today's meeting said frivolous complaints against the Prime Minister will derail the process.