03.01.12 MACCS
Failed Indian anti-corruption bill will return, insists Congress
India's ruling Congress party has insisted that the Lokpal Bill, which would have created an
anti-corruption ombudsman, is not dead and “will be back soon”. This is despite the bill's chaotic failure in parliament, which has led to
strong criticism of all the players involved.
The bill is the brainchild of civil society activist Anna Hazare, who became a potent force last year when his anti-corruption movement gathered
hundreds of thousands of supporters and put serious pressure on the government
to clean up India's notoriously corrupt politics.
The legislation, which was largely driven by Hazare, would have instituted an
independent body to register and investigate complaints of corruption against
politicians, as well as protecting whistleblowers. The process was marked by
tension
between activists and the government, which had proposed its own version of the
bill which campaigners said was insufficient.
Hazare's movement began to fracture at the end of last year, with erstwhile
supporters accusing him of a naïve approach to corruption and warning that the
proposed ombudsman would be undemocratic and unaccountable. The shift in
Hazare's
public fortunes decreased momentum for the legislation, and it got bogged down
in
parliament.
Although it was approved by the lower house on 27th December, the bill failed to
be passed to the Senate before the end of the parliamentary season at midnight
on 29th December. In chaotic scenes in Parliament, MPs filibustered and argued
for hours.
Congress and the opposition BJP have begun a war of words over responsibility, with Congress accusing the BJP
of tabling dozens of last-minute amendments in order to torpedo the bill and
the
BJP calling on the government to resign for its failure to pass the
legislation.
Although the government is adamant that the bill will be resuscitated in the
next season of parliament, its chaotic failure suggests that politicians are
not
fully committed to tackling corruption.
Sources: BBC, The Hindu