Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's address at the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Countries

"It is indeed a matter of great honour for India to host once again the prestigious Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth Countries for the third time. I extend a warm welcome to each one of the distinguished participants. I am very happy that this Conference will carry forward the multifaceted high-level engagement that is now part of the established Commonwealth tradition. India is also looking forward to welcoming thousands of sportsmen and women later this year when we celebrate the great sporting traditions of the Commonwealth countries during the Commonwealth Games.

This Conference gives us an occasion to reflect on one of the fundamental values of the Commonwealth - that of adherence to democratic principles. The past few decades have undoubtedly seen the triumph of the will of the people. Democracy is taking roots in every corner of the world. Why this has come to be was perhaps most appropriately summed up by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He said and I quote, "Democracy is good; I say this because other systems are worse".

Democracy, in precept and practice, will never wear the mantle of perfection. Consensus building does takes time. But in the end, the decisions that emerge from such processes are durable. They have the support of the majority and they take into account the legitimate concerns of the minority.

India's own tryst with democracy drew its inspiration from our freedom struggle. And so, at a time when most developing countries opted for authoritarian models of government, India chose to be a multi-party democracy. This journey has not always been smooth. There have been stresses and strains. This is inevitable in a diverse and plural society that India is. Despite these often noisy political contestations, India has remained as a functioning multi-party democracy. Democracy has strengthened our polity and our institutions.

I believe that India's experiment in trying to achieve economic salvation within the framework of a pluralistic, democratic polity that respects individual freedom and the rule of law has profound implications for the world at large. If our way of governing can succeed and if we are able to banish poverty from our land in a generation, it will convincingly answer the question of whether democracy can sustain rapid development and growth.

Each society and each democracy has to come to terms in its own way with the competing demands of freedom and development and of respecting diversity while maintaining unity. There is no "one-size-fits-all" democratic system. Democracy cannot be imposed from outside. It has to evolve from the native genius of each society and absorb local political and cultural traditions.

Under the Commonwealth umbrella, our effort should be to recognize each attempt at democratization, howsoever incipient, and encourage it to blossom. There is great diversity and a wealth of experience among the Commonwealth countries. We should pool our experiences and expertise and extend a helping hand particularly to small states and countries that are trying to consolidate their democracies.

India is making a modest contribution in this regard and our effort has been to offer our experience of running the organs of democracy such as parliament, the judiciary and the election commission. Our large aid programmes in Africa and elsewhere have strong components for the development of capacity and human resources.

At the recently held meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth at Port of Spain, we issued a Declaration on Climate Change that affirmed that a global climate change solution is central to the survival of people and to the promotion of development.

The leaders of the Commonwealth agreed to implement the Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan in particular by contributing to the efforts of member states in transforming their economies and strengthening the capacity and voice of vulnerable groups. It is the small states and indeed the developing world in general that is bearing the brunt of a problem they did little to create. Issues relating to climate change require undoubtedly a collective and cooperative approach based on the principles of common but differentiated responsibility. I call for a greater sense of fairness and justice in global approaches to dealing with the problem of climate change.

In recent times, democratic representation has deepened as more and more sections of the electorate are gaining a political voice. In India, this has become manifest in the growing number of regional and sub-regional parties and a concomitant rise in coalition politics. This has not only presented a challenge for governance but also for the conduct of the system of parliamentary democracy, as the voices of the smaller parties have found greater resonance within the political structure.

The role of presiding officers has come into sharer focus. The task of running parliament smoothly, giving due representation and voice to all sections, has become more complex and challenging. The aspirations of the smaller parties may often be anchored in narrower considerations but they carry great weight for their constituents. In the end, democracy must respond to these everyday concerns of the common man and parliament should be the forum to articulate and address them.

I am pleased that the Speaker facing these challenges in our own Parliament is a very distinguished woman, Mrs. Meira Kumar, who sheathes the proverbial iron fist beneath a velvet voice.

Throughout the world, there is now a generational shift in politics as there is in business and other fields of human endeavour. In India, seventy percent of the population is below the age of 35, and they are voting in large numbers. We must act to meet their expectations.

It is also imperative that women are given a more meaningful voice in our political and developmental processes. In India, I am proud to say that, with reservation in our local bodies, we have today more than a million elected representatives who are women. They are deepening our democracy and enriching our development processes.

Our representative bodies should think of ways to marshal the energy and the impatience of the young and the vast latent capabilities of our women. I hope that the deliberations today will address these valuable issues constructively.

The growth of extremist ideologies is threatening civilized existence everywhere. The proponents of such ideologies are challenging the tenets of democracy and representational politics by resorting to intimidation, terror and other manifestations of intolerance. We should not and we cannot give any quarter to such forces. At the same time we should look at ways and means by which such forces can be eliminated without undermining our democratic foundations. This will require sustained international effort and cooperation and I am sure that your deliberations will give new insights on how we can tackle this grave menace.

This Conference is an important forum of the Commonwealth. Over the years, the Conference has begun to address issues that have gone beyond the conventional issues that concern presiding officers. I look forward to the outcome of your deliberations.

With these words, let me say once again what a pleasure it is for India to have you here in our midst, and to wish you all success in your deliberations."