Brawls In Parliament

Bini Dahal

Not long ago, the Maldivian parliament was in real havoc when its members began physically assaulting one another. Photos and videos circulated through the media clearly portrays the situation. In a video, lawmakers are found playing toy trumpets and punching, kicking and pulling each other’s hair. It is said that one of the member had to be taken to hospital as he had sustained injuries. 

All this happened on a day where the parliament was planning to approve four of the Cabinet ministers. These individuals belong to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of the newly-elected President of the country. However, the members of the opposition party People’s National Congress (PNC) were reluctant to extend their support to the ruling party. And this caused disruptions to the House. The governing party has said that not allowing the ministers to be appointed was affecting the public service delivery of the country. 

Reading about such ugly brawls in the parliament does not come off as a shock. Over the years, members of parliament in different countries have fought with one another for different reasons. Even in Nepal, the 2015 brawl in parliament is quite memorable. Then, during the process of drafting the constitution, members from the opposition party had disrupted the House. The Speaker had also been attacked. Chairs had been broken and microphones had been thrown away. It was even reported that several of the security guards had suffered injuries.

Why do parliamentary members act in such a manner? Limited research has been conducted and to some extent they can help answer the question. One of the key researches has shown that parliamentary scuffles take place based on levels of electoral democracy and the composition of the parliament. So, it is said that most of the time, parliamentarians fight in hybrid or intermediate regimes. Hybrid regimes basically mean that the regime is neither fully authoritarian nor highly democratic in nature. 

With such fights, the political parties want to achieve certain political objectives. So this means, it could be used to change the public perception or prevent certain laws and constitutional amendments from happening. The outcome of such a brawl is not exactly good as it is said that it changes the perception of voters in a negative manner. 

Considering these research-based points, we can see that in the case of the Maldives and our own, there is a fragmentation in parliaments. The disintegration is between the majority and the minority. In the Maldives, the two-third majority is held by the opposition party while the ruling party is a minority. Therefore, a continuous tussle between the party in power and the opposition ones brings about conflict and violence. Such behaviour can be termed problematic as it develops a very negative image. If we look at the issue through the lens of democracy, physical violence is seen as a challenge to the real sense and spirit of democracy. 

In a situation as such, strengthening democratic institutions is very important to stop conflicts from happening. As elected representatives of the people, it is crucial that the members of the parliament be responsible towards the people. Focusing on petty interests of their own and their respective political parties can never be good for a country. They must not forget that the people have voted them to parliament to work for bringing about desired changes in the nation and not for washing their dirty linen in public.