Noble mission, mighty rush

Editorial-February 16, 2014, 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation in protest against the blocking of his anti-corruption Bill in the state assembly has drawn a mixed reaction. Some political observers view it as a gimmick in view of the upcoming parliamentary polls his party is scheduled to contest. He has also been accused of shirking responsibility by setting unattainable goals for himself and striving to achieve them. However, his supporters argue that, fighting against corruption being his raison d’être in politics, he has got his priorities right.

Kejriwal has, in a letter to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, demanded the rescission of an order issued in 2002 making it mandatory to obtain federal consent for passing laws in the Delhi assembly. He insists that the Indian Constitution does not say the state needs the Centre’s permission to table his Bill. Interestingly, both the Congress and the BJP––two parties that seldom see eye to eye on any national issue––have joined forces in the state assembly to torpedo the anti-corruption Bill. Strange bedfellows, eh?

One is reminded of a similar situation here two decades ago. Today, we see anti-corruption drives of all sorts and are treated to numerous tub-thumping speeches that extol the virtues of good governance, transparency and accountability. But, in 1994, the main political parties including the SLFP, the UNP and the JVP (whose solo MP had been elected on the Sri Lanka Progressive Front ticket) shamelessly stripped the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) of power to initiate investigations on its own without waiting for complaints. Now, the Opposition is weeping buckets for that toothless commission!

Even if Kejriwal’s move to pass a new law to set up an independent body with adequate powers to probe politicians and civil servants suspected of corruption had been inconsistent with the Constitution as claimed in some quarters, the Congress and the BJP should have, for the sake of the country, got together to introduce legal amendments to facilitate its passage as corruption has eaten into the vitals of India’s political establishment just like Sri Lanka’s. In fact, they themselves should have legislated for such a mechanism a long time ago. They have only demonstrated their aversion to stronger anti-corruption laws for obvious reasons.

The fate of Kejriwal’s Bill raises a serious question about India’s commitment to devolution. New Delhi is putting the screws on Colombo to have more powers devolved to provincial councils, but India’s Centre does not allow a state assembly even to pass anti-corruption laws!

Kejriwal has succeeded in selling his anti-corruption campaign to an irate Indian public fed up with the established parties harbouring the corrupt within their ranks, but he is a man with a noble mission in a mighty hurry. He ought to come to terms with reality. He should realise that Rome wasn’t built in a day—nor was New Delhi for that matter—and heed the Latin maxim, festina lente (‘make haste slowly’). Power politics is patronage-driven in this part of the world. He is using a single-issue platform in a bid to capture power to clean the Augean Stables that are Indian politics while his counterpart in Tamil Nadu is promising female electors gold and electrical grinders in return for votes. It is not being argued that he should be as corrupt as others if he is to rise higher in politics. But, he has to take cognisance of the complexities and challenges in a patron-client political system and adapt his strategy accordingly to make it more effective if he is to shift his campaign up a gear. His resignation is widely expected to act as a game-changer at the upcoming parliamentary polls, but it is still too early to say whether he will be able to attract enough voters who have been traditionally voting with the mainstream parties.

The biggest boost that could accrue to a corrupt political system is the failure of anti-corruption activists because that brings about public disillusionment and creates a perception that corruption is unassailable and, therefore, all that people could do is to learn to live with it. Should Kerjiwal’s campaign fall through, his failure would be a massive victory for the corrupt in the Congress and the BJP. Hence, the pressing need for campaigners like him to tread cautiously, avoiding haste and wrong steps!