Context: Analysing the need to change the parliamentary system in the backdrop of disgraceful political situations in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. 
Background

• The horse-trading of MLAs has led to switch of allegiances for power.
• Pluralist democracy is India’s greatest strength but its current manner of operation is the source of our major weaknesses. 

Issues of parliamentary system

• Unqualified legislators: The system has created them who sought election only in order to wield executive power. 
• Dependence on legislative majority: They are obliged to focus more on politics than on policy or performance. 
• Distorted voting preference of an electorate: They know which individuals it wants to vote but not necessarily which parties. 
• Shifting alliances: The system led to changing sides by selfish individual interests and not guided by vehicles of coherent sets of ideas. 
• Focus to remain in power: It has forced governments to concentrate less on governing and obliged them to cater to the lowest common denominator of their coalitions.
• The parliamentary system devised in Britain: Which is a small island nation with electorates of less than a lakh voters per constituency and is based on traditions which simply do not exist in India.
• Absence of a real party system: In India a party is all-too-often a label of convenience which a politician adopts and changes easily.
• The voter chooses not between parties but between individuals usually on the basis of their caste, their public image or other personal qualities.

Reason for entering Parliament is to attain governmental office creates specific problems

• Limits executive posts to those who are electable than to those who are able: The PM cannot appoint a cabinet of his choice and he has to cater to the wishes of the political leaders of several parties. 
• Talent pool has not been widened: Though he can bring some members in through the Rajya Sabhabut our upper house too has been largely the preserve of full-time politicians. 
• It puts a premium on defections and horse-trading: The anti-defection Act of 1985 has failed to cure the problem.
• The bargaining has shifted to getting enough MLAs to resign to topple a government and promising them offices when they win the subsequent by-elections.

Legislation suffers

• Most laws are drafted by the executive, in practice by the bureaucracy, and parliamentary input into their formulation and passage is minimal.
• Many bills are passed after barely a few minutes of debate. 

MPs blindly vote as their party demands

• The ruling party inevitably issues a whip to its members in order to ensure smooth passage of a bill and since defiance of a whip itself attracts disqualification. 
• Accountability of the government to the people through their elected representatives is weakened.
• Parliament or Assembly serves as a theatre for the demonstration of their power to disrupt: 
• In India’s Parliament, many opposition members feel that the best way to show the strength of their feelings is to disrupt law-making rather than debate the law.

What our present system has not done? 

• To ensure effective performance: India’s many challenges require political arrangements that permit decisive action whereas ours increasingly promotes drift and indecision. 
• Government stability: By holding the executive hostage to the agendas of a few legislators.
• The case for a presidential system has never been clearer.  

Case for Presidential system

• Stability of tenure: A directly elected chief executive in New Delhi and in each state instead of being vulnerable to the shifting coalition support politics. 
• Cabinet of talent: The executive would have stability of tenure free and be able to devote his or her energies to governance and not just to government. 
• Will represent majority of Indians and not of MPs: The Indian voter will be able to vote directly for the individual he or she wants to be ruled. 
• Judging performance: At the end of a fixed period of time, the public would be able to judge the individual rather than on political skill at keeping a government in office.
• Risk of dictatorship: It conjures up the image of an imperious president who is immune to parliamentary defeat and impervious to public opinion. 

Road Ahead

• Democracy is an end in itself: With the needs and challenges of one-sixth of humanity before our leaders, we must have a democracy that delivers progress to our people. Changing to a presidential system is the best way of ensuring a democracy that works.