What is a No Confidence Motion?
26-08-2023
01:24 PM
1 min read
What’s in today’s article?
- Why in News?
- What is a No-Confidence Motion?
- Who can move a No-Confidence Motion?
- How is a No-Confidence Motion Debated and Voted?
- What happens if the Government wins the vote on the No-Confidence Motion?
- How many No-Confidence Motions have been introduced since Independence?
Why in News?
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has admitted a no-confidence motion against the ruling government.
- The motion was proposed by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, on behalf of opposition parties of I.N.D.I.A alliance.
What is a No-Confidence Motion?
- In a parliamentary democracy, a government can be in power only if it commands a majority in the directly elected House.
- Article 75(3) of the Constitution embodies this rule by specifying that the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
- For testing this collective responsibility, the rules of Lok Sabha provide a particular mechanism – a motion of no-confidence.
- The procedure is specified under Rule 198 of the Lok Sabha. The Constitution does not mention either a Confidence or a No Confidence Motion.
Who can move a No-Confidence Motion?
- Any Lok Sabha MP, who can garner the support of 50 colleagues, can, at any point of time, introduce a motion of no-confidence against the Council of Ministers.
- A no-confidence motion can be moved only in the Lok Sabha. It cannot be moved in the Rajya Sabha.
How is a No-Confidence Motion Debated and Voted?
- The motion is moved by the member who submitted it, and the government will then respond to the motion.
- The opposition parties will then have the opportunity to speak on the motion.
- After the debate, the Lok Sabha will vote on the no-confidence motion.
- The motion will be passed if it is supported by a majority of the members of the House.
- If a no-confidence motion is passed, the government must resign.
What happens if the Government wins the vote on the No-Confidence Motion?
- If the government wins the vote on the no-confidence motion, the motion is defeated and the government remains in power.
How many No-Confidence Motions have been introduced since Independence?
- There have been 27 no-confidence motions introduced in the Lok Sabha since independence.
- The first no-confidence motion against the administration of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was presented in the Lok Sabha in August 1963.
- The motion obtained only 62 votes in favor and 347 votes against it.
- The last no-confidence motion was moved in 2018 against the then NDA government.
Q)What is the difference between Motion and Resolution in Parliament?
A motion is a proposal or suggestion made during a meeting or assembly, while a resolution is a formal decision or action agreed upon by a group or organisation.
Q) What is meant by the term collective responsibility of ministers?
Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility, is a constitutional convention in parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them.
Source: What is a no confidence motion? I ET