Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the question if people can have direct control over elected representatives in the government has bothered him for long and requested the members of youth parliament from commonwealth countries to deliberate on it.
Mr. Kejriwal was speaking at the inauguration of the 10th Commonwealth Youth Parliament, which is being hosted at the Delhi Legislative Assembly for the first time. A total of 47 delegates from 24 commonwealth nations are participating in the programme from November 25 to 27, the Delhi government said.
“When you attend this programme in the next two days, do give it a thought whether democracy can evolve to a stage where we have some kind of direct form of democracy. Can the people have some kind of direct control over the representatives, over the government functions, over the government functionaries, over the government funds? Can the people have some kind of say in the governance in the next five years? ,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goyal and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association chief Emilia Monjowa Lifaka were also present at the event.
Mr. Kejriwal said that noisy scenes at legislatures are an “aberration in democracy”. “This morning I and Ms. Lifaka were discussing if you will be told about the chaos that is there in all the legislatures, when you all will be taken through the procedures of a Legislative Assembly. I hope not. Because that is an aberration in democracy, that is not supposed to be a norm,” the Chief Minister said.
