Reference Text

The era of coalition has come to stay as a reality. In such a situation the coalition parties. Having divergent views on various issues have to agree to a common minimum programmed acceptable to all the parties in the coalition. They have to steer clear of the controversial issues and agree to a common minimum programme in the interest of stability of the government. The country cannot afford elections every year. Experience has now shown that a coalition government can run as smoothly as any single party government. The only requirement is that the coalition partners have to stick to a code of conduct. Every coalition party has to own the responsibility for all government policies or actions. No partner is expected to air the views of a particular group in public. All differences must be referred to the coordinating group set up to coordinate and accommodate the views of the coalition partners. No party or person in a coalition government must also act like the head of a family and respect the views of all the parties making up the coalition. A coalition government has its flaws and failings also. Firstly no single party can act on its own to implement its own policies and programmes as declared loudly during the election campaign. The B.J.P. for example had to give up its declared stand during the NDA rule (1999 2004) on Uniform Civil Code the Ayodhya Temple and Article 370 in Kashmir to set up a coalition government. Similarly the new government of UPA led by the Congress Party has also given up its stand on various issues and decided to work on an agreed CMP (Common Minimum Programme). Secondly a coalition government is always in the danger of breaking up. The Prime Minister is more worried about the stability of his government than about the welfare schemes for the country. Every other day one or the other coalition partner is seen to take a tough stance and threaten to walk out. The successive coalitions at the Centre the NDA and the UPA have proved that the working of coalition governments is difficult but it is not an impossibility. For sheer survival the partners have to continue to work together even where there are serious differences. In spite of all these problems the coalition governments are doing well in the country both at the state as well as the national level. There is however no denying the fact that a single party government is always better than a coalition government. The era of coalition has come to stay as a reality. In such a situation the coalition parties. Having divergent views on various issues have to agree to a

Typing Box

Time Left10:00 Typed Word 00