Question

Explain the role of the Opposition Party in a democracy.

Answer 1

1. The Success of the democracy depends to a great extend on the constructive role of the opposition parties.
2. In every democracy all the parties cannot get majority seats all the time in the parliament.
3. The parties which do not get majority seats are called opposition parties.

4. The party which gets majority seats in the Lok Sabha next to the ruling party is called the recognised opposition party. The leader of the opposition party enjoys some privileges equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.
5. All the powers mentioned in the constitution are exercised by the ruling party. The opposition party also functions in an effective manner, and their work is no less important than that of the ruling parties.

Functions of Opposition party
(1) To check the government from becoming authoritarian and to restrict its powers, the opposition parties keep a watch over them.
(2) The main duty of the opposition party is to criticize the policies of the government.
(3) Outside the legislature the opposition parties attract the attention of the press and report their criticism of the government policy in the news papers.
(4) The opposition parties have the right to check the expenditure of the government also.
(5) During the question hour, the opposition parties criticism the government generally