Once again, the issue of collective responsibility has resurfaced into the open for the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) coalition government. Traditionalists who appreciate the British model of Cabinet government would indeed be shocked by the open criticism of the DAN government’s decision by its own coalition members most notably JD (U) MLA Huska Sumi in this case. While the convention of collective responsibility in essence means that coalition/cabinet members have to be prepared to defend cabinet decisions in public once they are reached in this case of Huska Sumi the very doctrine has been turned on its head.
While, someone holding onto a seat of power such as a minister may not be able to openly criticize the Chief Minister this latest missive from one of the DAN coalition partner should be a reminder that democracy also affords such criticism to be brought out into the open so that it is also a check on a policy or a decision with which there is some degree of disagreement. It is obvious that in the present situation, as a DAN coalition partner, the concerned MLA may be extremely sensitive to the impact of a government decision on the public especially among its constituents.
Criticism of each other has several positive implications as well and the present DAN government should not merely brush these asides but rather become sensitive to such opinion as brought out by Huska Sumi. If criticisms by allies lead to a maturing of the political process, thereby making the government more responsible to the electorate and not simply a formal responsibility to the legislature, then one should welcome it.
Although it has professed that ‘equi-closeness’ is to remain close with all factions, in practice, this has not happened. At the end of the day for both Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and his predecessor SC Jamir, despite their good intention of remaining equi-close or equi-distant with the armed factions, both have not been able to apply their respective doctrine in letter and spirit. Even the State Government’s role as ‘facilitator’ is highly out of context and needs to be reassessed. And it is probably this failure of both the present NPF-led DAN government and the Opposition Congress party which has caused as much damage to the Naga unity bid that remains grounded till date.
Huska Sumi, a veteran politician and himself a founding member of the DAN Alliance, is now demanding that the DAN government discard its policy of equi-closeness as well as immediate withdrawal of the 9 IRB from Chattisgargh. While one may question the motive of the senior MLA to raise these two points at this juncture, the merit of the issue itself raised by him calls for serious deliberation. This can hardly be sidestepped by the DAN government as both the issues have political implications for which Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and the present government would have to answer to the people one way or the other come election time.
