Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament in the Indian Lok Sabha, recently wrote about why India should scrap parliamentary democracy. There are far more advantages in the Indian presidential system of government than the present parliamentary democracy. Is this the right time to consider a change of governance in India?
There are a few reasons why a debate could end up creating more problems than solutions.
First, there is a justified and widespread belief throughout the country that the present ruling party holds majoritarian views, without giving any kind of comfort or confidence to the fears and insecurities faced by the minorities, particularly a large section of the Muslim population.
Second, the country is facing enormous political, economic and social problems, of unparalleled magnitude, which can never be resolved by merely substituting a presidential system with the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy. Furthermore, the presidential system is no substitute for the national character. Today, India has some politicians who are in public service with no vision, knowledge or moral character. Besides, the entire nation is in grave turmoil – so much so, that an intelligent and dispassionate discussion without rancour is impossible, either within or outside the parliament. As the saying goes, when the house is on fire, one does not pause to think whether the living room should be converted into a bedroom.
Finally, if major changes are made in the Constitution to root out corruption and communalism, it would prevent further degradation of public life. A sense of priority would dictate that it is better to carry out major administrative, electoral and political reforms rather than debate on the question of switching over to a presidential system of governance.
- The reader is a civil engineer, based in Dubai
