This past week, the United Kingdom was ushered into a new era of politics, one involving a rule by a coalition government for the first time since the Second World War. Outwardly, the alliance between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats couldn’t have represented a starker difference in ideology between partners, with the Conservative’s emphasis on traditionalism countered by the Lib-Dem’s belief in social liberalism. But ideology, although some may have you believe otherwise, has only ever played a bit-part role in politics.
Politics, at least the modern-day version, seems to be about finding the most convenient path to power. Countries around the world have seen the basic dogma of a political party shelved in the interests of attaining power. David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party and the new Prime Minister of Britain, and his deputy, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Lib-Dems, in their first press conference addressed this very notion. ‘Power’, though was substituted for ‘national interest’, which they said would receive preference to ‘party interest’, so as to give Britain a stable and good government and so as to rest the power back with the people. Noble ideals no doubt and the charming earnestness with which it was presented by the new leaders wouldn’t make you want to think otherwise.
After all, coalition politics, one where a party’s basic doctrine is at times compromised in the interest of pragmatism, should provide greater checks and balances against the potential of authoritarianism by the party in majority. But on the flip side, lies the utter chaos that often ensues from such a brand of government. Britain’s coalition does not contain the mathematical complications that alliances in countries like India have witnessed, wherein a multitude of political parties and individuals come together to form the government. A partnership of such a nature can lead to a situation, where the ruling government, isn’t a product of the mandate of the people, but merely of political alliances, which defeats the most basic tenet of democracy.
In India, with the mushrooming of regional parties, the stability of the single largest political party forming the government sans agreements with other parties has perhaps been consigned to the past. Bending to the needs of a coalition partner often takes precedence to good governance, a practice that is hardly symptomatic of a great democracy. As an Indian, it is natural to be sceptical about coalitions, but leaving aside the appalling experiences that India’s coalitions have offered, it must be said that it is quite conceivable that Britain’s new government may indeed deliver upon the promises of its fresh-faced leaders.
Notable in the emergence of a coalition government in Britain is the fact that the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems did indeed have a choice. They could have both gone it alone had they felt the need to, but as Cameron endearingly pointed out during the course of his press conference, it was an option that he and Clegg found uninspiring. Following brief talks, the coalition was formed on the bedrock of transparency, with the partners releasing a seven page draft of their power sharing agreement. Soon after, the cabinet was established swiftly and seamlessly with adequate representation granted to the Lib-Dems, including the appointment of Clegg as the Deputy Prime Minister. The early signs are certainly good, with both parties putting their differences aside and teaming up in their endeavour to provide Britain with a stable government, as showcased by the coalition agreement.
The mandate of the people in some respects also seems satisfied by this new breed of government. It was clear from the results that the people wanted the Labour Party and Gordon Brown ousted from power and the fact that the Conservatives were unable to secure an outright victory meant that a coalition between the Tories and the Lib-Dems, provides the government the legitimacy of representing the command of the people, thus satisfying one of the fundamental precepts of democracy.
As always the efficacy of Britain's new government can only be judged in time, but what is apparent from it's early days, is that the evil lies not in coalition as a form of government, which when formed for the right purposes can certainly embody true democratic spirit.
The swiftness, and the seeming ease with which differences were ironed out in forming this coalition, perhaps also indicates the extent of disillusionment with Labour amongst the Britain's political parties. Making the best of a fractured mandate, while pragmatic, also seemed to translate into 'anything but Labour and staus quo'
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