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| kumatha June 4, 2004 05:17 AM PDT  Your suggestion for a Presidential form of govt. is not a new one. Political parties in India had initiated a country-wide discussion on this subject in the late 90’s itself when we had three unstable governments at the Centre. Too many pages of newspapers and periodicals were devoted to publish the opinions of various political leaders and free lance intellectuals for and against the feasibility of a Presidential system of govt. Thousands of man hours were spent in seminars on this subject. But nothing happened, as usual. Why? The reason can be over-simplified to one word: “beaurocracy”! We all know that beaurocrats are the real rulers of India. Many political leaders who occupy the ministerial chairs (either at the Center or in the States) are obedient signatories to the documents prepared by their IAS secretaries. In most of the govt. offices, beaurocrats have the last laugh. They can thwart or delay any GOs if found unsuitable to their own mind set-up. Any disciplinary actions against the culprits may end up in strikes/paralyzing the administration. The final result; that particular GO remains unattended or even dumped in the waste basket. Such kind of interruptions from the beaurocracy tarnish the image of that govt. These beaurocrats can also, on the other hand, help their pet leaders to display a positive image! This over-influence of beaurocracy in the day-to-day administration of the country may not be possible in a Presidential form of govt. Secretaries of various departments will be forced to be “accountable” in the Presidential system, which they may not like. They are free birds now in our “parliamentary democracy”. (We can discuss later, on how to control the beaurocracy effectively) Your calculations about the voting percentage in this election are absolutely correct. To be ruled by a coalition whose leading party got only about 9% votes of the total population is simply ridiculous! Here we can opt for the Russian method of elections to the Parliament. I have heard that the Russians send their representatives to the Parliament (Duma) on the basis of the percentage of votes obtained by each party in the election. The present voting pattern in India is not really showing the exact percentage of support obtained by each party. Some parties which get 100 seats out of say, 200 (50%), may have obtained only 30% of the total votes polled. This can happen vice versa also like, parties getting 40% of votes, but only 30% seats. This kind of unrealistic situation is the result of coalition politics. If each party is asked to contest the polls separately, the exact percentage of votes (or support) received by each can be known. The party with the maximum percentage of votes may be declared the winner. It can nominate an able representative to the assembly or parliament. In this way, we can expect a good government which can rule the State/country for the full term. The govt. can also think of bearing the cost of electioneering incurred by the political parties. | ||
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