The world’s largest and most dynamic democracy has a lesson to share. India’s argumentative and vibrant democracy has emerged as a role model for many countries across the world, ranging from Myanmar and Nepal in Asia to Egypt, Libya and Tunisia in North Africa. New democracies, especially those born in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, are now looking at the Indian model of democratic development for inspiration. And the Indian government is more than happy to extend all possible help.
A delegation of the constitution and legislative committee of the Libyan General National Congress is in India imbibe lessons in Constitution-drafting and legislation preparation from the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST) of the Lok Sabha (India’s upper House). This three-day course includes lectures by experts, MPs on constitutional processes and the primacy of Parliament.
Many other nations, which are now emerging from the ashes of civil uprisings in the last two years such as Lebanon, Sudan and Algeria, will be in the capital later this month to study parliamentary affairs. “We are expecting some more countries like Tunisia to join in,” an official of the Indian Parliament was quoted in the Hindustan Times. The course will be in Arabic, as suggested by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
New democracies are definitely showing an interest in learning the dynamics of India’s model, R. L. Shali, director, BPST, said in an interview to India Perspectives magazine last year. “While participation from our African partner countries has been substantial since the beginning of the programme, participants from new democracies such as Georgia and Belarus have also started coming. The popularity of the course can be gauged from the fact that many participants finance themselves to be a part of it.”
The course in Legislative Drafting, for instance, has seen a substantial increase in participants since 2000. Last year, 40 students from 29 different countries were in India to participate in this particular programme. The students came from countries as geographically and constitutionally diverse as the West Indies and Poland. A 28-year-old legislative drafter Jamiel Greenaway from Montserrat, West Indies, admitted that he impressed by the “driven and dramatic” debates in the Indian parliament after a visit there.
Sixty-six years of India’s tryst with democracy is an invaluable experience, which many nations are now trying to replicate. Participants from many countries come on their own – of course, with an invitation from the government of India – to get a first-hand experience of democracy. Nepal, for instance, which is in the process of framing its Constitution, has been sending groups of parliamentarians to understand workings of India’s democratic institutions. Last year, a group of young MPs got a ringside view of Indian democracy when they visited the country and learnt about parliamentary procedures and niceties. It was more like learning on the job for them.
Myanmar is undergoing a radical transformation and is in the process of adopting a democratic constitution. The nascent country has been sending its budding parliamentarians for training to India over the last two years. Indian officials have welcomed this surge of interest in the workings of Indian democracy, but have made it clear that New Delhi was not in the business of exporting democracy.
During the visit of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy to India in March, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced strong support for democratic institution-building in Egypt. Manmohan Singh said India was willing to share its experience as President Morsy “ably leads his nation in building strong institutions and frameworks for democracy, social justice and inclusive economic development.”
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