Question time in the Commons is one of the widely watched parliamentary sessions in the world. It indeed, has more viewers in the United States than in the United Kingdom, where this practice has existed for centuries. The plenary session provides opportunity for members of the House of Commons to ask the Prime Minister questions on cogent, crucial national and international issues.
The Prime Minister in turn used the platform to project his/her party and government. What makes it more interesting and appealing for more than casual observers is the incessant interface that usually takes place among the Prime Minister, front-benchers, shadow cabinet members and opposition leader. Even though it takes the form of a debate, the issues raised and the passionate way they are discussed go a long way to show that politicians are individually and collectively responsible for their actions.
Thus, the question time in The Commons, in large measure, has brought to fore the practice of parliamentary system and why it has not only endured for so long, but became the envy of many countries all over the world. The system presupposes that for you to be a minister or cabinet member, you must first of all be a member of parliament. The Prime Minister, who is also a member of parliament, is only first among equals. In other words, the government is formed by members of the party with the largest seats in parliament.
In this respect, accountability is largely a collective one and not individual. Once a government is unpopular, the cabinet would have to collectively bear the cost and a vote of confidence would be tabled before the parliament. If the outcome is negative, the government would resign and call for new election. If however the outcome is favourable, it would reinforce the powers of the Prime Minister and he might as well leverage on it by restructuring his cabinet and government.
In modern times, the Prime Minister has become more powerful that some are comparing it to imperial presidency in the United States. Tony Blair, a former PM was so powerful that most of his policies were hardly challenged. Some attributed this to the landslide victory that brought him to power in 1997, while others argued that it was due to his adroitness and savvy in handling matters of state.
Currently, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, cannot be said to be that powerful, largely because of the way he came in. He had to form a coalition with Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats five years ago to be able to govern. And now that the country is yet again going to the poll on Thursday to elect a new government, there are signs that there is not going to be a clear winner of the elections. Rather, pundits are already saying that there is likely going to be a Labour government in coalition with one of the smaller parties.
For now, the race is between Labour, whose candidate, Ed Miliband surprised many with his resurgence in the polls, and Cameron of the Conservative Party. And issues that are dominating the campaign, ranging from immigration to Britain’s involvement in the European Union; from Pension to minimum wage; from the economy to Climate Change. Observers had expected Cameron to have an easy re-election, but there is a lot of disenchantment among the voters, most of who are not happy with the widening gap between the rich and poor.
For someone who has been following this system for so long, it came as a surprise that unlike the American presidential campaign, where there is so much blitz and razzmatazz, British politicians are less fuzzy and still very conservative in their approach to selling their messages to the electorate. There is less noise; even TV commercials are measured. It’s even unlikely that a first time visitor to London would notice that election is taking place on the 7th of May. The atmosphere does not suggest that there may be a new Prime Minister by the weekend. It all re-enforces the truism that this is the society where democracy has its roots.
But it appears this traditional way of doing things is what is endearing a system described as first-pass-the-post-to many countries. Both the ones colonized by the British and others that saw it working and not so expensive to operate. While Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan amongst others, have not deviate from this path, Nigeria, Ghana and some others have shifted their focus to presidential system.
Thus, as the British goes to the poll tomorrow, the world would be watching the event closely, but credit must go to an electorate that, even though there is no written constitution, have put those in authority on their toes, by making sure they are accountable for their deeds.
Exit polls show Conservatives as biggest party
CONSERVATIVE Party looked set to win 316 – just 10 short of an overall majority – according to exit polls last night.
The poll put Labour on 239 seats, the Liberal Democrats on 10, the Scottish National Party (SNP) on 58 and United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP) on two as counting began across the country.
If the predictions were true, the Conservatives would gain more seats than in their 2010 results and Labour would lose 19 seats on their result last time – with the SNP were taking all but one seat in Scotland.
The exit poll of about 20,000 voters was dramatically at odds with polling during the election campaign, which suggested right up to the last day that Conservatives and Labour were heading for a dead heat.
But the Liberal Democrats dismissed the exit poll forecast, insisting it did not tally with the information they had received from their activists.
A party spokesman said: “This exit poll does not reflect any of our intelligence from today or in the run-up to polling day. We will wait for the final results.”
The spokesman added: “No opinion poll to date has shown the numbers in this exit poll.”
SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon was also cautious about the exit poll.
She tweeted: “I’d treat the exit poll with HUGE caution. I’m hoping for a good night but I think 58 seats is unlikely!”
If the exit poll proves correct, it would be the first time that a ruling party has increased its tally of seats since 1983, with Conservatives increasing their strength at Westminster by 14.
It will give Mr. Cameron the option of attempting to form a Conservative-only minority government without having to offer ministerial posts and a role in framing legislation to coalition parties.
Although a tally of 316 is lower than the 326 threshold for an absolute majority, it is very close to the lower figure of 321-322 needed for all practical purposes, assuming Sinn Fein MPs do not take up their seats.
A minority Tory government may hope to get its legislation through with the support of Northern Irish unionists, who are likely to win around eight or nine seats.
The arithmetic could even hand the balance of power in key votes to a pair of UKIP Members of Parliament (MPs), who could be expected to use any leverage this gives them to put pressure on the Prime Minister to bring forward his planned in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), currently scheduled for 2017.
If borne out by results, the polling figures would raise large questions over Mr Miliband’s future as Labour leader.
No comments:
Post a Comment