As expected–albeit a couple of weeks earlier than expected–the minority government of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tested its confidence before the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) and won.
Via the Hindustan Times (21 July):
“It (trust motion) was fully avoidable,” Manmohan Singh said as he moved the one-line motion seeking the trust of parliament for his government — reduced to minority after the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left parties withdrew their legislative support in protest against the government’s move to carry the India-US civil nuclear deal forward.
“I have repeatedly assured all, including the Left parties, that I myself would come to the guidance of parliament before operationalising the nuclear deal, if we were allowed to go to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to finalise the India-specific safeguards agreement),†said Manmohan Singh.
He said he regretted that the government had to seek a trust vote at a time its attention was on the economy, especially on controlling inflation and “implementing the welfare programmes for the people, particularly the farmers”.
The vote, on 22 July, was 275-256 (Press Trust of India).
The opposition Telugu Desam Party’s hopes of joining the Left and the Bahujan Samaj Party in a grand alliance1 were set back when the party split on the confidence motion (Hindustan Times, 23 July).
There is also dissension within the Left, with Somnath Chatterjee, the first Marxist to become a Lok Sabha Speaker, expelled from the Communist Party India (Marxist)2 for presiding over Singh’s call for confidence (Hindustan Times, 23 July).
So, at least for now, Singh and his government appear as strong as ever, and well positioned for general elections that must be held by late spring, 2009.
__________
- Often referred to as a Third Front, after the governing Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the main opposition, BJP-led, National Democratic Alliances [↩]
- Yes, the parenthetical adjective is part of its name: CPI(M). His having been chosen to be Speaker had been part of the agreement between the Left and the UPA, which was broken two weeks ago when the Left pulled support over the minority government’s nuclear deal. [↩]
One of the many by-products of this confidence vote was the emergence of Kashmir’s Omar Abdullah, President of the National Conference Party, as an internet star in India. His speech got over 10,000 hits in a mere 24 hours. He was part of the two-day debate on the vote of confidence, watched live across India.
‘I Am A Muslim And I Am An Indian…’ ‘I see no distinction between the two. People were full of praise for his short speech which made a huge impact on the listeners. “He should be next PM.” “Best use of five minutes to cut through noise and cynicism.” “What an amazing from-the-heart speech. He represents what Muslims in India actually feel and think. He is truly reflective of what the youth of India is.. forward-looking and progressive.”
Seed planted by Wilf Day — 28 July 2008 @ 00:58