OPINION: “Political Will” required for Presidential form of government

INDIA SHOULD switch over to presidential form of democracy to save the crores of rupees on elections which could be used for the welfare of the people.

It is said that ancient Indian rulers were guided by a council of ministers and these ministers were chosen from amongst the wise persons who were elected by the general public of the village presenting or town. Parliamentary democracy has had its origin in England, though its roots lie far deeper in the soil of history.

In fact, post 90s there have not been a single prime minister in our country whose part had the capability to form government on its own. Coalition politics has reduced the power and privileges of our Prime Minister. When it comes to take decision on certain crucial matters the fear of offending coalition parties restrict prime minister to work on his own. This trend of keeping the party in power has pushed our country into a spate of scams.

Changing the political configuration from Westminster system to presidential system is not going to bring any drastic change and above all it is not a practical solution in Indian context. First of all for that we will have to overhaul the multiparty system and form two party system which given the cultural, religious and geographical diversity of India is not possible. Second no one can insure that wielding all power to a single person is always going to result in taking right decision. It might well end up being an authoritarian form of government with minimum people's participation.
The problem is to modify the traditional institutions of democracy to suit present day conditions. The inefficiency of democracy first became noticeable in its economic aspect. One of the most important problems for the parliamentary democracy in India, therefore, is to manage its economic system in such a way as to ensure for everybody a reasonably high standard of living, coupled with a reasonable amount of security and liberty.

But, Khushwant Singh has rightly pointed out that we don’t have the “Will” to change for the better.

Whatever be the defects, if any, in the parliamentary system in India, it can never even break the idea to get herself transformed into a military dictatorship. For the advancement of our national aspiration, for the emancipation of our country’s prestige abroad, we have to maintain our democratic ideal which is not a legacy of British rule, but which is rather a traditional gift and proud heritage of our ancient policy.

Today, the biggest problem for India is our coalition government because no one party is getting an absolute majority in Lok Sabha. As a result, every important development work is getting delayed in the country. The best way to escape this paralysis is a presidential form of government.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of City Air News.)