MARGAO
As the withdrawal of the controversial Bills in the just concluded Goa Legislative Assembly session triggered a blame game in the ruling dispensation, High Court senior Advocate and political commentator Adv Cleofato Almeida Coutinho reminded that collective responsibility is the essence of a Cabinet system of government, wherein Cabinet ministers not in sync with a decision has no option than to quit or the Chief Minister steps in to drop the Minister.
“Cabinet Ministers are bound by a decision. They cannot resort to a blame game. They have no option to shift the blame, but to own up the responsibility in a Cabinet system”, Adv Cleofato told The Goan. “We have an instance of former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi dropping then Minister Morarji Desai from her Cabinet”, he said.
He added: “There cannot be any blame game at all. For, the Bill is moved by the concerned department, goes to the Cabinet for a nod and vetted by the Law department”.
Commenting on the circumstances that must have forced the government to withdraw the controversial bills, the political commentator pointed out that public outcry against the brazen real estate development by outside builders, coupled with the general resentment against the contentious clause barring courts from entertaining challenge to the Amendment is the prime reason behind the government’s volte face in withdrawing the Bills from the Assembly.
“The Assembly was in session when an unprecedented tragedy struck the picturesque hill station at Wayanad in Kerala. We have seen MLAs from both the ruling and opposition shedding tears over the tragedy, even warning that the incident is a wakeup call for Goa. On the other hand, people on the ground were protesting against real estate development at Reis Magos and Zuari in Sancoale”, he said.
He admitted that the BJP party leaders played their role in getting the Bills withdrawn. “The BJP leadership clearly saw the writing on the wall and played its role in convincing the Legislature wing to do the needful”, he added.
Asked whether the public outcry had the portents of shaping a massive agitation on the lines of the Goa Bachaco Abhiyan (GBA) that had forced the then Congress government to abandon the controversial Regional Plan and Scrap the Special Economic Zones in the event the government had to bulldoze its way and pass the Bills, Adv Cleofato said “Though Goa has not witnessed an agitation of the magnitude of the GBA agitation in the last decade and half, the TCP Amendment had all the dimensions of uniting the people against the government. Somehow, the BJP party sensed the mood of the people on the ground and got the leadership convinced to step back and withdraw the Bills”.
