Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman M.Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday asserted that the legitimacy of legislators and lawmaking bodies is critical for effective functioning of parliamentary democracy backed by the much-needed trust and confidence of the people.
Noting that legislatures are the instruments of according legitimacy for the decisions of both the executive and the judiciary, he raised the prospect of the very legitimacy of legislatures coming into question if they are dysfunctional and lawmakers do not enjoy the respect of the people they represent.
Speaking to the present and former legislators of Goa on the occasion of the ‘Legislators Day’ in Panaji, Naidu urged the law makers to ensure the legitimacy of the law making bodies through ideal behavior and effective functioning both within and outside the Houses. He suggested to the lawmakers to do so by equipping them with six attributes that would make a significant difference.
“It is the functioning of legislatures and law making bodies that can either make or mar any democracy,” said the Vice President.
Goa Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant and Members of the Goa Legislative Assembly were among the dignitaries who attended the event.
Naidu further observed; “Any legislator has the option of either supporting the Government or opposing it. Informed opposition to the government’s proposals in fact does a certain good but opposing for the sake of doing it does harm.”
The Vice President complimented the people and successive governments of Goa for the emergence of the State as the most developed in the country with the highest Per Capita Income in the country and the best human development indicators since its liberation from the colonial rule 60 years back after a long drawn struggle.
However, referring to Goa having had as many as 30 governments during the 57 years since the first elections in 1963, Naidu said that it is a huge number by any reckoning and it is difficult to justify such a political flux which results in negative perception.