INDIAN COALITION PROPOSED

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24904, 18 June 1946, Page 5

INDIAN COALITION PROPOSED

British Invitation To Leaders

efforts to form interim GOVERNMENT (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, June 16. The British Cabinet Mission to India and the Viceroy (I ord tfavell) have invited the leaders of the Moslem League and" the Congress Party and representatives of the various minority groups to join a coalition interim Government. J This move follows the failure of the Moslem League and ' Congress Party to agiee on the British plans for an interim Government to determine India’s constitutional future. A statement issued by theunission and the Viceroy says it js urgently necessary that a strong representative Government should be established to conduct the heavy, important business. Accordingly, Pandit Nehru, Mr Jinnah,. and others have been invited to join the Government. “The proposed Government of 14 members will be composed of five each from the Congress Party and the Moslem League and one each from the Indian Christians, Sikhs, Parsees and depressed classes,” says Reuter’s correspondent in New Delhi. “Earlier negotiations aimed at a 12-man interim Government composed of five members from the Congress Party, five from the Moslem League, and two from the other groups.”

"It is generally assumed that the Moslem League will agree to participate in the interim Cabinet but the Frst Congress Party reactions are not Altogether favourable,” says the New Delhi correspondent of “The Times.” •The working committees of both organisations adjourned without a decision. “Mr Jinnah under the latest British proposals receives what may be considered his minimum requirements. The Moslems will number only five of the 14 members of the interim Government, but the remaining nine include four representatives of minorities, and no non-League or Nationalist Moslems are included.” The correspondent adds that India is heartily sick and tired of the uncertainty,, tension, and wrangling. There is general realisation that if the Congress Party rejects this offer it will amount to political hara-kiri by the Hindus. “The Viceroy for some time has been exploring the possibility of forming a coalition Government drawn from the two major parties and from certain minorities.” says the statement. •The discussions have revealed the difficulties which exist between the two major parties in arriving at an agreed basis for the formation of such a Government. The Viceroy and members of the Cabinet Mission appreciate these difficulties and the efforts' which the two parties made to meet them. They consider, however, that no useful purpose can be served by further prolonging these discussions. “It is, indeed, urgently necessary that 9 strong, representative interim Government should be established to conduct the heavy, important business that has to be carried through. Distribution of Portfolios “If any of the persons invited are unable for personal reasons to accept, the Viceroy will, after consultation, invite some other person. The Viceroy will arrange for the distribution of portfolios in consultation with the sad?rs of the two major parties. “The composition of the interim Government is in no way to be taken is a precedent for a solution of any other communal question. It is an expedient put forward to solve the present difficulty only, and to obtain the best available coalition Government.

The Viceroy and the members of the Cabinet Mission believe that the Indians of all communities desire to arrive at a speedy settlement of this matter, so that the process of constitution-mak-ing can go forward and the Government of India carry on as efficiently as possible in the meantime. They, therefore, hope that all parties, especially the two major parties, will accept this proposal so as to overcome the present obstacles and that they will co-operate for the successful carrying on of the interim Government. “Should the proposal be accepted, the Viceroy will aim at inaugurating I the new Government about June 26. In the event of the two major parties or either proving unwilling to join in the establishment of a coalition Government on the above lines, it is the Viceroy’s intention to proceed with the formation of a Government which will be as representative as possible of ’■hose willing to accept the British Cabinet Mission’s statement of May 16. The Viceroy will also direct the governors of the provinces to summon the . provincial legislative assemblies forthj with to proceed with the elections I accessary for establishing constitutionI making machinery as put forward in the statement of May 16.” Other Representatives 5 Others beside Mr Jinnah and Pandit | Nehru have been invited to participate |in the interim Government, including SMr Rajagopalachari and Mr Pptel ((Congress Party), the secretary of the J Depressed Classes League (Jagjivan : Nam), Mohammed Khan (Moslem ■league), the Sikh leader (Sardar I Singh), also a number of leading politicians in the provinces as well as representatives of finance and industry. A separate official document issued ' by the Viceroy gives the text of a let- . jer to the presidents of the Congress Iftfty and the Moslem League. The ktter says that the Cabinet Mission and the Viceroy are fully aware of the difficulties which prevented agreement on | the composition of the Government. , “We are unwilling to abandon our hope of working in partnership with ; the two major parties and representa- ■ bves of the minorities,” adds the letter. : “The mission and the Viceroy, there- ; lore, have done their best to arrive at ; a practical arrangement, taking into consideration the conflicting claims and i the need for obtaining a Government of ' capable, representative administrators. We hope that the parties will now take their share in the administration of the on this basis.” Hie letter ends with an appeal to the Baders to look to wider issues and to the country’s urgent needs as a whole apd consider the proposal in a spirit