July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition said on Tuesday it would try to block parliamentary approval for key economic reforms like privatisations after the government won a confidence vote marred by bribery charges last week.

Although its own economic agenda did not vastly differ from the pro-reforms Congress party-led government, the Hindu nationalist led opposition coalition said the government did not have the “moral authority” to push through any major decisions after the “tainted” confidence vote.

Emboldened by winning the parliamentary vote, during which opposition lawmakers flashed wads of cash they said were offered as bribe to abstain, India’s government was expected to revive some privatisations.

An intransigent opposition coalition will now be a major headwind for any efforts to open up the economy, analysts say.

“Let a new government come and they can discuss new economic reforms,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, a leader of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party that heads the opposition coalition.

—Reuters