President Pranab Mukherjee hails democracy, Parliament in his farewell speech

Pranab Mukherjee, the 13th president of India, leaves the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, making way for his successor Ram Nath Kovind.
President Pranab Mukherjee hailed India’s democracy and parliament in particular during his farewell speech on Sunday when he looked back at his more than 40-year stint in politics.
Mukherjee, the 13th president of India, leaves the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, making way for his successor Ram Nath Kovind.
“If I claim I am the creation of this Parliament, perhaps it will not be treated as immodesty,” Mukherjee said in his final address to parliamentarians, in which he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support.
“As President, I’ve tried to protect, preserve, defend the Constitution, not just in letter but in spirit as well.”
Mukherjee, a Congress veteran before he was elected President in 2012, said that it was in Parliament that he understood the “real value of debate and discussion”.
“My career as a parliamentarian was mentored by Indira Gandhi. She never hesitated to call a spade, a spade.”
He praised the institution of parliament, pointing to the successful switch to the Goods and Services Tax, one of the biggest reforms in India’s indirect taxation system that required states to be on board with it.
“The recent launch of GST is an example of our cooperative federalism and speaks volumes of parliament’s maturity,” he said.
While he praised the institution of parliament, Mukherjee expressed concerns over the declining “time devoted to legislation”.
“When parliament fails to discharge its lawmaking roles, I feel it breaches the trust of the ordinary people,” he said, adding that “dissent and disruption hurt the opposition more than the government”.
In addition to disruptions, Mukherjee spoke on ordinances in particular.
“I am firm in the opinion that ordinance route should be used only in compelling circumstances and there should be no recourse to ordinances on monetary issues...,” he said.
In the closing parts of his speech, he praised Prime Minister Modi and said: “I’ll carry with me fond memories of association with PM Narendra Modi and remember his warm behaviour towards me”.
“It will be with a tinge of sadness and a rainbow of memories that i will be leaving this building today... I leave with a sense of fulfilment and happiness of having served the country,” he said, before finishing his speech with “Jai Hind”.

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