Resuscitating governance

A Surya Prakash 

A weak Prime Minister, unstable political alliances and warped election results have led to a logjam. PA Sangma has some possible solutions. 

Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha Purno A Sangma has flagged some weighty issues in recent days which are extremely pertinent in the context of the growing crisis of governance, the declining influence of national parties, the decay of institutions, the fractious nature of political coalitions and the precipitous decline in the prestige of the office of Prime Minister.

Some of these issues figure in his book, A Life in Politics, released last week. He  elaborated on them in a lecture he delivered a fortnight ago at Vivekananda International Foundation on, ‘The Functioning of Parliamentary Democracy in India’. All these issues are inter-related. With people opting for diverse political choices across the country, the two national parties that are at the core of the two main coalitions have got weakened. They are now facing greater pressure from regional players within their coalitions and outside. This in turn has injected instability into the coalitions and produced a crisis of governance.

The ruling United Progressive Alliance in New Delhi is now a pale shadow of the sturdy coalition that it was between 2004 and 2009 and the Prime Minister no longer exercises the power and authority that he did some years ago. For a politician like Mr Sangma, who has a strong nationalist streak and a desire to pool political and intellectual resources available in the country to try and stem the rot, this is the time to speak up and press for action. He also offers some out-of-the-box prescriptions that could, especially in a deteriorating social and political environment, gain ground.

Among the issues that he has dealt with is the weakening of the office of Prime Minister. Mr Sangma is very clear that the Prime Minister must be a member of the Lok Sabha — a person who is directly elected by the people. He does not favour Rajya Sabha members becoming Prime Ministers, because when that happens, the authority and legitimacy of the office are eroded and the Prime Minister remains beholden either to the leader of his party or to the leaders of a coalition who have together chosen to install him.

Mr Sangma says that under the Constitution, the Union Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister, can survive in office only so long as it commands the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha. Therefore, it makes sense to have a Prime Minister who is a member of that House. Also, is it not absurd to have a Prime Minister who cannot vote on behalf of his Government in the Lok Sabha?

In the preface to his book, which is a collection of his speeches, Mr Sangma dwells on the decline of institutions. He says, “Our institutions are in a state of decay. I am particularly worried about the institution of Prime Minister. I strongly feel that the Prime Minister being subjugated by an extra-constitutional ‘super’ authority is a dangerous precedent. Without any personal bias, I also feel that since India is the largest democracy, it would be in the fitness of things if the Prime Minister is elected by the House from members of the Lok Sabha. We should also start thinking and debating the desirability and possibility of electing the Prime Minister directly by the people. With a population of more than 1.2 billion people, India is capable enough of producing an able Prime Minister”.

Mr Sangma elaborated on this theme later in his lecture. Over the last 16 years, there have been several instances when the Lok Sabha has failed to throw up a Prime Minister. In 1996, a Chief Minister (HD Deve Gowda) was chosen for that office. In 1997, he was a member of the Upper House (IK Gujral). Again from 2004 onwards, (Mr Manmohan Singh) he has been a Rajya Sabha member. During these periods, no member of the Lok Sabha was considered to be qualified for the job. He feels so strongly about it that he says the Constitution should be amended to achieve this objective.

As regards no-confidence motions, Mr Sangma suggests that we adopt the German system of a constructive vote of no-confidence, meaning that the Lok Sabha can vote out a Prime Minister only when it has a successor in place. The survival of coalitions depends on the “management of contradictions”. This is feasible only if a coordination mechanism is perfected and made functional within a ruling coalition.

Following the recent election to five State Assemblies, which saw a further fall in the vote-share of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the regional parties have been further emboldened. The mushroom growth of regional parties has hurt governance and encouraged the politics of blackmail. How does one resolve this? Mr Sangma says that the idea that only national political parties should be allowed to contest parliamentary elections could be explored.

Even more significant is his view on what the national parties should do in the present circumstances. The biggest problem right now is that there is a crisis of leadership. India no longer has an acceptable national leader and the two main national parties are on the decline.

The plight of the Congress and the BJP is a matter of concern from a national point of view, he says and hopes that they will become stronger. Meanwhile, there could be a “temporary solution” — the Congress and the BJP agreeing to share power in a National Government.

The former Speaker also focusses on two other issues which are generic in nature. In many instances, because of the multiplicity of parties and low voting, candidates who have polled the highest votes but have lost their deposits are declared elected. Therefore, the first-past-the-post system needs a fresh look. Compulsory voting may resolve this problem, but this must be implemented alongside the demand that voters have the right to reject all candidates if they wish to.

Mr Sangma has come up with a clutch of bold ideas. Any takers?

Source : The Pioneer