Sonia certain govt will win July 22 confidence vote
The head of India's ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, said yesterday she was certain the government would win a confidence vote triggered by the withdrawal of support by left-wing allies.
The parliamentary vote, set for July 22, will decide if the world's largest democracy will have to go to early polls before the end of the year and not when the government's mandate ends in May 2009.
A bloc of left-wing and communist parties pulled their support for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress-led alliance after he decided to push ahead with a controversial deal on sharing nuclear technology with the United States.
At present, the government has 225 assured seats in India's 545-member directly elected lower house, far short of the number required for a simple majority.
Last week, the regional socialist Samajwadi Party with 39 MPs promised to vote for the government, but still far away from a simple majority, the Congress is currently shopping for support.
"I have no doubt that we shall prove our majority and work to fulfil our remaining agenda," Gandhi told a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), as the coalition is known.
"Everybody is prepared for a vote of confidence," Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee also said.
Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who heads a party allied to Congress, also insisted that "there is no doubt that we will get a confidence vote in our favour."
Singh and US President George W. Bush in 2005 unveiled the agreement to share civilian nuclear technology -- a deal that when finalised would see India entering the fold of global nuclear commerce after being shut out for decades.
Singh argues the pact is crucial for India's energy security and continued strong economic growth.
But left-wing parties insist the deal would bind India too closely to the United States and runs counter to India's non-aligned status.
They also believe that allowing UN inspections of the country's civil nuclear programme -- as demanded by the Americans -- would harm India's strategic weapons programme.
But ignoring their strident criticism, the government Wednesday moved forward on implementing a pact on subjecting the country's civilian nuclear sites to international controls for the first time as a preliminary step to implementing the deal.
The draft safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) is one of several conditions India must fulfil before it can finally seal the deal with the United States.
In New Delhi, intense lobbying was underway Friday with Congress reaching out to smaller parties who now hold the key to the balance of power.
But many preferred to keep the party guessing.
"I am the lone MP from my state," said Wangyuh Konyak, who represents the remote northeastern state of Nagaland.
"I will decide the day before the trust vote," Konyak told AFP.
Author and political analyst Rasheed Kidwai noted that it was "the government which asked for a confidence vote, which they would have avoided if they did not have the numbers.
"This shows the government must have its arithmetic all worked out."
Comments