He politics of sruptions

Another Parliament session gets ted, political incentives must realign

here is a lesson from the ongoing failure of the monsoon session of Parliament. Until there is a clear link between how one performs in Parliament and the votes one elections, politicians will not change the ey approach their role as legislators. It has working days and both Houses remain ted. There are another nine working days to

given the impasse, an immediate resolution t appear to be on the horizon. There is a ility that the session — the first full session March 2020 — will not see Parliament m its core role of deliberative lawmaking, g the executive accountable and articulating -centric issues. immediate trigger for the impasse is the ition’s demand for a discussion and enquiry asus, and the government’s reluctance to do s newspaper has argued that it would be ctive to have a discussion on Pegasus — the oes to the heart of Indian democracy — and ursue other legislative business. There could other mechanisms to resolve the impasse t the question is why the government and position have not invested enough energy in ng what is really not an intractable issue. at goes to the question of incentives. government that enjoys a majority and can legislative agenda through even amidst a din, ctioning of the House does not make a al difference to its objectives. Nonning allows it to evade hard questions. For position, the ability to disrupt, make a noise, natch papers from ministers (as a Trinamool mentarian did) seems more politically ageous. They think this allows them to come as belligerent and aggressive. For Members iament (MPS), on both sides, who would like use to function, there is little room to te pressure because their incentive lies in g their loyalty to the party line. But at the it, MPS know that what they do — and do — in Parliament will not affect their al prospects. Attendance, questions asked, ntions in key debates hardly figure in the nd dust of electoral battles. And, therefore, liamentary performance becomes a eter in how citizens judge their entatives, India’s Parliament will continue to rsts of productivity interspersed with bouts uption. Democracy is the loser.