Bidding farewell to Parliament at a function to mark the end of his tenure, President Pranab Mukherjee said here on Sunday that the institution was for “debate, discussion and dissent.” Disruptions, he said, hurt the Opposition as it took away from it the opportunity to raise people’s concerns.
He had a word of advice for the government too: Ordinances should be resorted to only in “compelling circumstances.”
The grand ceremony — held in the Central Hall of Parliament — saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and BJP veteran L.K. Advani, among several others, in attendance.
On Ordinances — issued on pressing issues when Parliament is not in session — Mr. Mukherjee said it should not be resorted to in matters being considered for discussion (in Parliament).
The President’s remark is significant as the Modi government, after repeatedly failing to amend the Enemy Property Act, 1968 in the last three years, had promulgated five ordinances. The Bill was passed by Parliament in March. Senior Union Ministers were reportedly deputed to convince the President to sign the fourth and fifth Enemy Property ordinances as he was against their promulgation.
The passage of the GST Bill, he said, was a sign of Parliament’s maturity. Its launch on July 1 was a shining example of cooperative federalism.
He said values like fraternity, dignity and unity had become the lodestar for the country since Independence.
( With inputs from PTI )
