Chief Minister’s Swedish plebiscite model has constitutional bottlenecksAjay Thakur I The Goan ,Panjim22 June 2013Last week, after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the media that he would keep the Regional Plan open in the first week of July and “allow each village to plan for their own development, akin to the Swedish model of plebiscite”.While the IIT-ian in Parrikar is known to suggest ideas from across the world for the betterment of the state, this idea did not strike a chord.“The CM is wasting the time of Goans and cheating us with this figment of his imagination. It is surprising that while our demands for amending TCP laws, checking rectifications and plans submitted by village level committees is being ignored, he wants to hold a referendum for people who live in these villages”, says Zarina D’Cunha of Village Groups of Goa. The opponents of RP 2021 have reacted with amusement to Parrikar’s suggestion of a Swedish model of plebiscite.The Constitution of India has no specific provision for holding of referendums or plebiscites. The last and the only time when India and Goa had a plebiscite was when the Opinion Poll was held in 1967. Even that time, the state had no say in initiating it.It took an Act of Parliament to organise the referendum. In this case, the Goa Government will have to follow a long drawn process of passing a resolution to the effect which will be then examined and voted upon by the Parliament. After this, will villagers in panchayats get to vote on the Regional Plan? The question is, will Parliament vote to hold 223 village plebiscite for village level plans and four for town level Outline Development Plans? “Where does that leave towns like Valpoi, Sankhali or Curchorem who do not have an ODP nor a Panchayat?” says Yatish Naik of Pilerne Citizen’s Forum. Unlike India’s Constitution, Sweden’s has a provision for referendums that are binding on the state.The only catch - there it is meant only for affecting changes to the constitution. In India, the Parliament plays that role. Between 1922 and 2012, Sweden had six referendums and all were inconclusive. And for the referendum to become binding, one tenth of those deciding the change must demand it the first time. Thereafter one third of those deciding or voting must then support the referendum. If the number of votes cast for the change is more than half of the votes cast only then does it become effective. It appears that the CM wants every single change in Regional Plan to be tested by this kind of plebiscite.“Is the plebiscite constitutional and will it hold good under the TCP Act and Goa Panchayat Raj Acts?” asks Naik. The Swedish Model or anything remotely similar to it does not find a mention in TCP or Panchayat Raj Act”, asks Naik, echoing most of Goa.
