Motion on Hon. Narendra Modi | Prime Minister of India
03/12/2014
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Dignity for Disability support this motion strongly and thank the Hon. Ms Lee for bringing the story of the Hon. Narendra Modi’s election to the prime ministership of India to the attention of the chamber. Having listened to the Hon. Ms Lee’s introduction to the motion and noting the media attention given to the process some six months ago, Dignity for Disability realised what a process elections and democratic processes are in such a populous country. It is pleasing to hear of the increased engagement that Indian voters have had in a voluntary voting system, a turnout resulting in 537 million votes cast, in quite a logistical achievement, never mind a democratic one.
Anyhow, it is pleasing to see the progressive vision that Prime Minister Modi has shown with his leadership to date, particularly in areas of renewable energy, environmental schemes and social justice measures, as the Hon. Ms Franks has just elucidated, so I will not go any further into listing those. What I do hope to see, after reading so many horrific stories regarding violence against women in recent months, is some leadership from the prime minister that rallies against violence against women and promotes safe communities for women and girls.
If I may reflect just a little more on the enormous voter turnout in such a populous country, quite simply, if a country like India can do it, we can do it, too, and it is time for us to make sure that we are properly engaging with the community, engaging people in the democratic process and making them feel genuinely a part of the decisions that are made on their behalf. In fact, we should not be making decisions on their behalf but decisions with them rather than for them. I hope that not only will we see some very positive changes in India as a result of this outcome but also perhaps some inspiration that we here in this chamber could learn a thing or too from as well. With those brief words, I commend the motion to the chamber.
