India’s Premier Pleads for Support of His Plans in Televised Address [View all]
Source: NYT
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a rare nationwide televised appeal on Friday night to defend a series of unpopular measures, intended to revive the floundering Indian economy, that have stirred mass protests across the country and almost toppled his coalition government.
Mr. Singh’s speech came on a day of intense political jockeying, as the governing coalition lost the support of a crucial regional ally yet managed to stay in power, for the moment, by securing support from two other nonaligned regional parties.
“The time has come for hard decisions,” Mr. Singh said, in an apparently prerecorded address that was broadcast across the country in prime time. “For this I need your trust, your understanding and your cooperation.”
The political storm erupted last week after Mr. Singh’s government announced a series of economic moves, including an increase in the price of diesel fuel, a cap on the subsidy for cooking gas and measures that would allow for greater foreign investment in civil aviation and retail, opening the door for big, multibrand retailers like Walmart.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/world/asia/singh-appeals-to-india-to-support-his-measures.html
One year ago President Obama called a special session of congress to announce the American Jobs Act. Nothing came of it in the year since. So maybe Obama should take some cues from Singh?
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