JAMMU, India, March 5 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he accepted responsibility after the Supreme Court struck down his choice of a tainted civil servant as the country's chief anti-graft official.
Singh's statement to reporters was another huge personal setback for the 78-year-old leader but it was not enough to satisfy an increasingly assertive opposition demanding he explain himself to parliament.
The controversy comes as Singh is trying to defend himself against a series of graft scandals, including a $39 billion telecoms licensing scam, that has called into question his ability to govern effectively Asia's third-largest economy.
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| An activist of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) linked to India's main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), shouts slogans during a protest in New Delhi on Friday. Reuters |
"I have already said I respect the judgement of the Supreme Court," Singh told a televised press conference during a trip to Jammu. "I accept my responsibility... I admit that such things should not occur again," he said.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), aiming to ride a wave of popular anger over the corruption scandals, seized on the verdict, demanding Singh accept responsibility since he was the head of the panel that chose P.J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner.
The Supreme
Court said the appointment of Thomas was made last year without taking into account a 1992 case in which he, as a state official, had been accused of signing a deal to import palm oil from Malaysia at inflated prices.
The BJP has urged Singh to explain his decision to parliament, which has only just started functioning properly again after months of opposition protests that stalled key reform bills.
More parliamentary paralysis would hold up bills such as to liberalise investment in the banking sector, enact wide-ranging tax reforms and ease land acquisition for industry.
"We have a lot of questions to ask. If he accepts responsibility, then where is his accountability? " Ravi Shankar Prasad, a BJP spokesman, said.
SINGH UNDER PRESSURE
Adding yet more pressure on the government, the Supreme Court, of late an outspoken critic of the government, on Thursday criticised its failure to crack down on large scale tax evaders.
Singh has faced increasingly harsh questions about his leadership despite a reputation for personal integrity. But for the moment many analysts see his resignation as unlikely as it would probably lead to an early election and the defeat of the Congress party.
"He is accepting political responsibility as the head of the government," said B.G. Verghese, a professor at the Centre for Policy Research, adding he did not expect Singh to resign.
Singh named Thomas to the top anti-graft job last September despite opposition then from a BJP leader who was a member of the three member panel that had the task of naming the anti-corruption chief.
Last month, the prime minister was forced to defend himself against accusations that he was a "lame duck" leader, soon before the government gave in to an opposition demand to set up a parliamentary investigation into the telecoms scam, considered to be India's biggest corruption scandal.
Regulatory concerns in India, combined with the global economic slowdown, have hit foreign direct investment and contributed to making the Mumbai stock exchange the worst performing of the world's major share markets. |
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