Electoral reforms: PM to hold all-party consultations soon

Electoral reforms: PM to hold all-party consultations soon
New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) Aiming to give a push to
electoral reforms, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would
hold all-party consultations soon to chalk out a strategy to
prevent the entry of criminal elements in politics.
"The prime minister is laying considerable stress on
electoral reforms to de-criminalise the system and put a check
on the entry of criminals in political arena. Very far-
reaching steps are being taken in this regard. Prime Minister
will very soon hold consultations with all political parties
on the issue," Indian Law Minister Salman Khurshid told
reporters.
He said that issues like exit polls and pre-election
surveys would also figure in these talks, which would also be
held with the civil society.
"Under the new style of governance, we are willing to
listen to all stakeholders, including media, civil society and
others, before the bills are drafted", Khurshid said.
However, he made it clear that the job of the legislation
belonged to Parliament. "That is not something we can delegate
to anyone as Constitution has given the power to us."
The minister said that the deliberations would consider
how exit polls or pre-election surveys can be legitimately
done and how election campaigns should be covered properly by
the electronic and print media.
State funding of elections and recently-raised issues
like the right to recall and the right to reject would also
require consideration, he said.
In order to redress people's grievances over the public
delivery mechanism, the government was planning to bring a
Public Delivery and Citizens' Redressal Bill, Minister of
State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said.
Narayanasamy said the government felt the need to
strengthen public delivery mechanism in the country. The bill
is on the anvil and he would discuss the issue with the Law
and the Rural Development ministries.
The government would soon bring the Electronic Services
Delivery Bill before Parliament as lot of services like
banking and scholarships are being delivered electronically,
Khurshid said.
Listing other measures of the government to cleanse the
system, he said the government was also working on the
Whistleblowers Bill which has already reached the
parliamentary panel concerned.
Besides the Judicial Standards Accountability Bill, the
government would also be "looking at the appointment of the
National Judicial Commission" to deal with appointments of
judges or how criminal proceedings can be conducted.
Asked whether the move to constitute a panel to decide on
judicial appointments meant that the bill would be a temporary
draft, Khurshid said it would be a stand-alone legislation but
part of a larger structure of judicial reforms.
"We will move forward with this bill, but it does not
foreclose further options. Larger step of appointment of
judges is still to take place and we will like to do it
through a consensus," he said.
Describing all the bills proposed as "turning point in
the history of the nation", Khurshid said this could change
the face of the country.
To questions, the Law Minister said major suggestions
have been made on the legislations relating to land
acquisition, communal violence and food security and
discussions were being carried out with various stakeholders
including the civil society.