Wanted : Strong Opposition
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: September 25, 2013 -

For a country to have a good Government, a strong opposition is a must, and it is all the more so in a democratic country like ours, because any democracy is hobbled without a strong opposition, which could keep the Government of the day on its toes always.

In such a backdrop, it was very encouraging to see 13 opposition parties in the State coming together on September 23 to raise the controversial issue of border fencing along the yet to be demarcated Indo-Myanmar International boundary at Moreh where a large portion of the land falling within the territory of Manipur have reportedly gone to the side of Myanmar.

The opposition parties have also served an ultimatum to the Centre as well as the State Government for resolving the issue positively by next month.

This kind of unity and unanimity of purpose among the various opposition parties in Manipur has become something of a rarity for a long time.

That is why, we said it was encouraging to see and hear all the members of the 13 opposition parties, who took part in the protest demonstration, speaking in one language and showing their strong disapproval over the inability of the ruling Congress Government in the State to say anything against the move being made by the Centre to give away land belonging to Manipur to please the Myanmarese authorities in the interest of maintaining cordial relationship between the two neighbouring countries.

As we have stated earlier, the importance of a strong Opposition in a Parliamentary democracy may need no emphasis as even school going children would know it by-heard.

But the opposition members in Manipur have been acting like nothing more than a bunch of political opportunists who are always on the look out for greener pasture and ready to change their colour as well as party flag at every election time.

This inherent weakness of the opposition members is precisely the reason why the alliance formed by them, despite their expressed desire, has not been able to arrive at any consensus over fielding common candidates to take on the ruling Congress party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In fact, after every meeting of the alliance to finalise the common candidates, the each of the opposition party only end up with coming up with their respective candidates, both for the Inner and Outer Parliamentary seats.

While BJP has already announced its candidates for both the Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur seats, the CPI has named its leader and former minister Dr Nara Singh as candidate for the inner seat.

Even the Naga People's Front (NPF), which has four MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, has decided to go independently in fighting for the Outer seat.

Lack of purpose and commitment among the Opposition parties would only come to the advantage of the ruling Congress.