Indian government’s reform drive faces unruly parliament challenge

Source:AFP Published: 2012-11-23 0:10:06

India's parliament adjourned in uproar on Thursday on the first day of what promises to be a stormy new session for the weakened government and its pro-market reform drive.

Unruly protests and shouting led the speaker of the lower house to adjourn proceedings twice before she called a premature end to the sitting of the increasingly dysfunctional legislature around mid-afternoon.

Amid the bedlam Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition, facing parliament for the first time since losing its majority, avoided a no-confidence motion, which flopped after being proposed by former ally Trinamool Congress.

Singh had called on all parties to let parliament function after the last session was almost entirely lost due to protests, which have added to a growing national sense of political and economic malaise.

"We all have an obligation - in opposition as well as in government - to work together to enable our parliamentary democracy," he said in a statement.

"Our parliament has a very heavy legislative agenda during the winter session. I seek cooperation from my colleagues in the house," he added.

The ruling coalition lost its majority in September when Trinamool Congress withdrew its 19 members to protest against the government's decisions to raise fuel prices and increase foreign direct investment in the retail sector.

Opponents have billed the measures as anti-poor, saying they pander to large foreign corporations, and have demanded they be submitted to parliament for discussion.

Decisions to allow foreign supermarkets into the retail sector did not require a vote, but proposals to open up the gigantic insurance and pensions markets will need parliamentary approval.

"The government has not even made an effort to create acceptance (of foreign investment)," Sushma Swaraj, leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, told the parliament.

Singh's push for pro-market reforms comes as the government faces a slowing economy, a gaping fiscal deficit and high inflation, which have built pressure on the left-leaning alliance led by the Congress party.

AFP




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