In the pursuit of his personal commitment, external affairs minister PranabMukherjee continues to distort the Constitution. Earlier he distorted theConstitution to commit contempt of parliament by stating in the House that hewould inform MPs about the IAEA draft agreement only when some decision wastaken. Meanwhile he said he could parley with Left parties on the subjectbecause they were part of "an internal arrangement of the UPAgovernment".
In his latest assault on the Constitution, Mukherjee told a TV interviewerthat an international agreement could be overturned by a successor government ifsigned by a minority government bereft of majority parliamentary support for theagreement. This is arrant nonsense.
A successor government has no more moral or legal authority to do this for aminority government as it has for a majority government. Any international dealsigned by the government-- majority or minority -- has equal legal andmoral validity both internationally and domestically.
Either the external affairs minister is being devious or he is betrayingpathetic ignorance about the way our Constitution and parliamentary system work.Parliament has every opportunity to vote a government out if the majority of MPsfeel that the government is jeopardizing national interest by signing aninternational agreement.
This of course Pranab Mukherjee's political godfathers-- the Left parties whichhelped him win for the first time a Lok Sabha election -- have consistentlychickened out from doing. To cover the bluster and impotence of his Leftbenefactors the honourable external affairs minister is trotting out hisuntenable arguments.
It would better for the honourable minister to maintain a discreet silencerather than to advance arguments that make him appear ignorant and expose him toridicule.
