Democratic institutions have suffered
erosion in the popular perception: PM
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said his government was examining various proposals to ''institutionalise political stability and strengthen democracy'' by preventing ''the premature death'' of the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.
''Democratic institutions have suffered erosion in the popular perception as frequent political changes greatly affect development and put heavy burden on the public exchequer,'' the prime minister said in an exclusive interview to UNI.
''The instability can be avoided if elected bodies were vested with a minimum tenure -- in the case of state assemblies and the Lok Sabha a period of five years,'' he said.
''We propose to study various proposals to institutionalise political stability -- one of the ways of ensuring this is to replace the present system of no-confidence motion with a constructive vote of confidence, which means the house votes in a new government to replace the incumbent government,'' Vajpayee said.
The prime minister said the government planned to put the foreign direct investment on an ''automatic route'' barring a small negative list. This would help to get at least ten billion dollars foreign direct investment every year.
In the coming month, he said, infrastructure development would receive a big boost with increased private sector participation.
The prime minister said that as part of the government's determination to bring about fiscal discipline he proposed to set up an expenditure commission very soon. This commission would review all subsidies, examine present expenditure and prepare a blue print for downsizing the government.
The government, he said, was already committed to achieving fiscal rectitude by, among other things, improving the management of expenditure and undertaking tax reforms.
On the weaknesses of the armed forces brought to the fore during the Kargil conflict, Vajpayee said ''mere allocation of more resources is not enough to modernise our defence forces.'' He said the National Security Council was engaged in the task of a comprehensive review of the security and strategic requirements and will advise the government accordingly.
Asked what was the government's immediate priority on the security front, Vajpayee said: ''Our immediate focus is on combating trans-border terrorism and terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir as also in other parts of the country, especially in the North East.''
Reiterating that the government would be guided by the principle of ''zero tolerance'' in fighting terrorism, Vajpayee said: ''We are already engaged in mobilising international opinion for action against trans-border terrorism and there has been some success in recent times.''
On the overthrow of the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan, the prime minister said: ''The military coup in Pakistan is of great concern for us and we are watching the developments.''
He said India believed that democracy is the best guarantor of peace among nations. He said that immediately after the Kargil conflict there was an increase in trans-border terrorism. There had also been a great deal of hostile propaganda against India.
Asked if India had any reservations in dealing with the Pervez Musharraf regime, Vajpayee said this was not the first time that there had been a military coup in Pakistan.
He said Pakistan's call for resumption of dialogue with India was ''meaningless in the absence of a conducive atmosphere.'' Pakistan's intentions must be reflected at the ground level. It must ''put an end to both trans-border terrorism and hostile propaganda against India,'' the prime minister said.
Vajpayee said the government was working to evolve a national consensus on the controversial Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He said India's position that all countries, whose ratification was necessary for the CTBT's entry into force, should do so unconditionally, had been made clear.
The US senate's rejection of the CTBT did change the situation for India in the sense that it was going to influence public opinion in other countries, he added.
The prime minister said he was satisfied with the performance of the National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha elections. The alliance, he asserted, would hold together and last its full term. This, he said, was primarily for two reasons. ''First, we have agreed upon an agenda for good governance. Second, we are all committed to providing political stability -- all of us have learned important lessons from our experience during the previous coalition government. So there is no reason for us not to hold together,'' he said.
Asked about his government's priorities, the prime minister said these were providing an impetus to economic reforms, generating employment opportunities and concentrating on the social sector - especially primary education, basic health and shelter. Vajpayee said a country of India's size cannot be governed through parliamentary arithmetic alone.
''I think all parties are now veering round to the view that while a partisan perspective may fetch political gains in the short term, it harms the nation in the long term,'' he said and added that people no longer were carried away by competitive populism.
Asked how he assessed the economic situation, he said: ''We have performed well on the economic front these past two years. For instance, inflation is at an all time low of around two per cent. The global economic environment last year was not too encouraging, but despite that our balance of payment position is comfortable. Our foreign exchange reserves stand at around 33 billion dollars. The economy this year should grow by more than six per cent. So on the whole the economy is in a good shape. What we need is greater fiscal discipline and better management of resources.''
Vajpayee was confident that the NDA's target of seven to eight per cent per annum GDP growth would be achieved and that too soon. ''I have no doubt that we will enter the seven to eight per cent phase by the next year. Some say even this is a conservative estimate,'' he commented.
He said there was no contradiction between the goals of introducing second-generation economic reforms and at the same time giving a strong swadeshi thrust to the national economy. ''We have to keep pace with global development or we will be left behind. At the same time, we have to protect our domestic industry from unfair competition and look after our national interests. A happy marriage of the two is possible,'' he said. If the developed economies have been able to achieve this ''I see no reason why we cannot do so,'' he added.
Vajpayee said the misgivings about the opening up of the insurance sector have been addressed in the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill. There was nothing to be apprehensive about. As for divestment in public sector units, he said a mechanism for both restructuring and divestment was proposed to be set up.
On the issue of cutting subsidies, he said subsidies needed to be better targeted so that it helped the intended beneficiaries and did not become wasteful expenditure.
On the way the situation in Orissa was handled, the prime minister regretted that ''a needless debate'' had been started that the super cyclone should be declared a national calamity. There is no provision for declaring the disaster a national calamity. ''In any case what mattered was not the definition, but the substance of relief and rehabilitation measures. The central government's response till now cannot be faulted.''
UNI
Tell us what you think of this report
|
