“People’s right to recall a representative who fails to live up to their expectations is an important democratic tool that can help in infusing a better sense of accountability among the legislators,” he observed.He was speaking at a seminar on “The role of parliamentary democracy in strengthening the nation”, organised as part the golden jubilee celebrations of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly at the historic old Legislative Assembly Hall here.
Later, speaking to reporters, the Speaker said it was his personal opinion that there should be some retirement age for politicians to “ensure that younger people occupy responsible positions”. However, he was opposed to fixing any educational qualification as it would be detrimental to the participation of the people from rural areas in governance.
“The most crucial factor for survival of democracy is to sustain people’s faith in the system and for that the leaders, particularly the people’s representatives, should conduct themselves as role models.”
“We need exemplary leadership and people of caliber and commitment should not shy away from associating themselves with the representative institutions,” he observed.
“Besides, it is important for the institutions of governance and the civil society to guard against undesirable elements entering into political arena. There is an urgent imperative to streamline our electoral and political system by completely neutralising the role of money and muscle power to help in creating more space for honest and capable persons to enter the democracy institutions at every level,” he noted.
On this occasion, Mr Chatterjee advised the media against glorifying disruptive activities of members in stalling proceedings by shouting and trooping into the well of the House.
He, however, felt that despite the drawbacks and imperfections, in the present circumstances, India could not think of any better alternative to parliamentary democracy in addressing the concerns of its people.
