REWIND

New Delhi, 3 March 2022

Wanted: A Law for Political Parties

By Inder Jit

(Released on 26 June 1990)

Life in New Delhi continues to be an exercise in double talk and deception, barring a few honourable exceptions. The advent of the National Front Government with Mr. V.P. Singh at its head raised many hopes of clean public life, value based politics and restoration of the debilitated democratic institutions. But these expectations have been largely belied. Corruption, I am told, is not only continuing but on the increase. Various names are mentioned at the highest Government level, as in the past. The Union Ministers have still not kept their pledge to make a public declaration of their assets. Little thought has been given so far to nursing democratic institutions back to robust health. Parliament, as I wrote the other day, abdicated once again in the recent budget session its control over Government spending. There is no sign yet of moving towards a law for political parties. Most of these parties continue to function virtually as Private Limited Companies or Private Armies, each with its own unaccounted, bulging war chests.

Some of us have been crying hoarse for such a law for over a decade to stop the degeneration of the party system and its ad hoc functioning. In fact, a Seminar on Electoral Reforms organized by the Rajaji Institute in Madras in 1985 and in Bombay and New Delhi in 1986 strongly supported the demand. It stated: “In all democracies, which have made a success of the parliamentary system, the party system has grown by traditions or is regulated by statute. In our country, it was believed by the architects of the Constitution that it was possible to build up traditions for the party system. But this has not come about. Therefore, apart from the anti-defection measure recently adopted, which is a welcome step, it is proposed that there should be a law providing for the manner in which parties should be registered, frame constitution, prepare accounts, and subject them to audit and file suitable returns before the registering authority… where a party is found to have violated its Constitution or the law or rules, it should be disqualified as a party….”

The Rajaji Institute Seminar was no ordinary seminar as is clear from the fact that it was held separately in three metropolitan centres. Inspiration and active guidance for the seminar was provided by Mr. C. Subramaniam, Vice President of the Institute and presently Governor of Maharashtra, and Mr. S.L .Shakdher, former Chief Election Commissioner and Director of the Institute. Participants in the seminar at Bombay included Mr. Morarji Desai, Mr. R.R. Diwakar, Prof. Madhu Dandavate, Mr. N.G. Goray, Mr. N.A. Palkhivala, Mr. J.R.D. Tata and Dr. Piloo Dastur. Prominent among those present at Delhi were Mr. Balram Jakhar, Mr. A.K. Sen, Mr. L.K. Advani, Mr. I.K. Gujral, Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, Mr. L.P. Singh, Mr. Indradeep Sinha, Mr. R.V.S. Peri Sastri, Chief Election Commissioner, and Prof Buddhadev Bhattacharyya. Those who attended at Madras included Mr. Era Sezhiyan, Dr. G.V.K. Rao, Dr. M.S. Adiseshiah and Mr. K. Ganesan, former Secretary, Election Commission. Also present at the three venues were the leading lights of the media.

The issue came to be taken up pointedly once again on June 16 at a seminar organised by the Socialist Study Circle, set up some time back by Mr. Chimanbhai Mehta, now Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development. The seminar was attended among others by the Janata Dal General Secretary, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, BJP’s Vice Chairman, Mr. Sikandar Bhakt, and the CPI leader, Mr. M. Farooqi, and was presided over by Dr. Rajni Kothari, a member of the Planning Commission. Opinion at the seminar, which deserved greater media attention, was reportedly divided. While Mr. Sinha agreed with Mr. Mehta on the need for legislation to ensure inner-party democracy, Mr. Farooqi disagreed and suggested that “the leaders of the top five political parties should sit together to hammer out a plan for ensuring inner-party democracy. Mercifully, however, Dr. Kothari conceded two basic points in his summing up. First, the erosion of the inner-party democracy was a reality. Second, there was a need to look into necessary legal safeguards.

Clearly, political parties themselves need to function democratically if they are truly to run a democratic system. But this will never happen on its own, as experience has shown in West Germany. The country’s post-war Basic Law, adopted on May 23, 1949, specifically provided political parties for the first time in the constitutional history of Germany a proper position and function in the Constitution of the State. This stipulated: (1) the political parties shall participate in the forming of the political will of the people. They may be freely established. Their internal organisation must conform to democratic principles they must publicly account for the sources of their funds. (ii) Parties which, by reason of their aims or behavior of their adherents, seek to impair or abolish the free democratic basic order or to endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany shall be unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court shall decide on the question of constitutionality. (iii) Details shall be regulated by federal laws.

This meant that the political parties were now recognised in the Constitution as the executants of public functions. But the law to put the organising of political parties on a statutory basic was enacted by the Bundestag only 18 years later --- in July 1967. Some moves towards a law for political parties were, no doubt, made in 1951 and 1952. But there was little response either from the Federal Government or from the Bundestag and various parties. Fresh efforts were made subsequently. However, nothing happened again. The parties eventually came together and put up a joint draft only after they were compelled to do so by the Federal Constitutional Court. On July 19, 1966, the Court terminated the funding of political parties from the Federal Budget and ruled that there would be no such funding so long as there was no law for political parties to ensure transparency of political decision-making and democratic functioning through a clear set or rules to govern the internal organisation of the parties and the administration of their finances.

Apart from the Basic Laws, which sets out the main points of party legislation, the Law on Political Parties (partiengesetz) has now become one of the most important guidelines to policy formation. It comprises 41 Articles which are classified under the following seven sections: (i) Constitutional status and functions of the parties; (ii) Internal Organisation; (iii) Nomination of candidates for election; (iv) Principles and purview of election expenses; (v) Rendering of accounts; (vi) Implementation of the ban on unconstitutional parties; and (vii) Concluding provisions on, for example, the introduction of tax relief for donations and party dues. Furthermore, the conduct of political parties is regulated by relevant provisions in the electoral laws for the Federal Government and the then Landers (Federal States), and law governing public meetings, the broadcasting legislation and the Civil Code with its general clauses on the composition and statutes of association as well as various tax laws.

Importantly, the law on political parties stipulates the various elements of a democratic party organisation. These embrace interalia its administrative structure from the grassroots to supreme bodies, its written statues and programmes, regular party conferences, election of the party organs including in particular the executive committees, the setting up of party courts for arbitration and the rights to be accorded to party members. Expulsion from the party is only possible if a member deliberately infringes the statutes or gravely contravenes the principles or rules of the party. Equal importance attaches to rendering public account of the origin of party funds in accordance with various specified categories. Books and statements of accounts of a party in respect of the origin of its funds are required to be submitted to the President of the Bundestag annually. Parties which fail to comply are barred from getting reimbursement of their election expenses. Party candidates for Parliament are to be chosen by secret ballot.

All political parties in India have written Constitutions as required by the Election Commission for securing recognition and allotment of symbols. But there is no law to enforce these Constitutions as in France, Denmark, Australia and Thailand and no commitment to healthy conventions and traditions as in Britain. Consequently, few parties care to hold regular elections or function according to their constitutions. The Congress-I represents the worst of all cases --- and of ad hocism. The party has not held organisational elections for over 18 years. Most parties (and the Congress-I more than others) have collected huge amounts of money from various sources and spent these at will. But no one knows who has contributed how much towards the party’s coffers and where and how it has been spent. In the final analysis, India needs what West Germany already has for the past 23 years; a law for political parties. This is imperative if we are serious about our democratic system and wish to see it survive --- and become strong. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)