An Informal Presidential System Without Requisite Checks and Balances

Whenever a strong leader makes it to the top, her / his followers raise a demand for the Presidential system of Government.  It happened in Indira Gandhi's time and we have heard the voices in the current times too.

What has happened in reality is that we are already into a semi-Presidential system.  Do you say how?  Well, now every political party requires not only a symbol but also a face, a face for the topmost position if it gets a majority.  It is this face that does most of the campaigning, the actual candidates from different constituencies being of little consequence.  If there is resentment in a some constituencies agaist the local candidate on account of his being corrupt or a known criminal, the voters are plainly told that you are NOT voting for that candidate but for "the face:"  That the candidates are merely hands, mere instruments, in the hands of the face which is the seat of the brain too that commands these mere limbs.

A reaffirmation of faith in the true democratic principles is heard only when the face is uncertain of attracting the masses at the state or national level, as the case may be.  In such a case the concerned party will say that a person will be chosen for the top position in a democratic manner by the elected representatives and that the electorate should vote on the basis of policies and the manifesto and not personalities.  Otherwise as we said, they plead for one country one leader or somethig to the same effect.

In this day of strong leaders, the semi-presidential system is doing harm to the system which was not designed for this form of government.  As most of the legislators owe their victory to a single person and hence have little voice of their own, the whole system becomes a hostage to the strong leader.  This further fuels this person's ambitions for consolidating his hold and this leads to a corrosive approach to the other counterbalancing players and institutions in the system such as judiciary or media etc.  This would not happen if the person at the top felt that he didn't own the legislators but owed his position to them.  And in this case, the legislators will exercise the first level of control on the ambitions of the person at the top and keep it from trying to subjugate all checks and balances.

If we see merit in having a strong leader then we should also consider suitably modifying the Constitution to implement checks and balances that meet the requirements of a Presidential form of government.  Else we might end up having worst of both the worlds.

Governance and Rocket Science

Tweet by Narendra Modi on 07-Sep-2015 - "Space science has a vital role in achieving good governance...."

Our Pradhan Sevak (PS) has finally endorsed what we, the masters, knew all along.  Governance, after all, is rocket science and space scientists (SS) must lend a hand to the government in achieving it.  This, naturally, makes one wonder if the poor state of good governance (GG) thus far has been on account of lack of close coordination between government and the SS.  The PS, having made it to the highest position in the country, is now convinced that there is a need to move further up to find the possible originating place for GG.  His advisers seem to have convinced him that the ultimate source of GG is the Lord who is up there in the heavens.  With the present advanced state of space technology, SS seem to be the only people who can possibly take us close to Him for a consultation and then, hopefully, bring us back for implementation. Hence the tweet?

While the SS are busy finding ways to facilitate the meeting, they have, in the mean time, been tasked with alerting train drivers of unmanned crossing close to them on their route and alerting Durga Shaktis of the government of illegal mining taking place in their jurisdiction.

Don't despair fellow countrymen.  We will soon be in touch with the Gangotri of GG (3G!)

Showing Off His Stripes

The simplicity of Prime Minister Modi's tastes as revealed by deliberately cutting the lower half of sleeves off his kurtas, is much talked about.  Again, one of the many aspects of Narendra Modi's life that have left deep impression on peoples' mind is his claim of having walked away from the hubbub of normal life and having spent two years in isolation in Himalayas.  Saints are said to do so with the intention of ridding themselves of their egos and worldly attachments.  People with such inclinations wear clothes merely to cover their bodies and not to adorn them.  Some of them don't wear clothes at all.  Some wear clothes with God's names printed all over it.

Thus It would seem that a person like Modi would be very unlikely to behave like Hosni Mubarak who used to have his name form the stripes on his suits.  But news channels are showing closeups to support the claim that he did.

Now, I don't know who made the suiting for our dear Namo.  I would like to hazard a guess that it might have been made by Vimal, Reliance's fabric division.  It is also possible that the cloth was made for devotees to wear like a Ramnami cloth but somehow made its way to NaMo's wardrobe.

Whatever be the case it has gained huge popularity.  Reliance will do well to encash this publicity.  They may do so by weaving such legends in their pinstripes as "I Love Namo!", "A Silly Citizen", "Citizens for NaMo" etcetera etcetera.  You may suggest more such legends directly to Reliance.  The best suggestion might win a pinstriped 'legendary' suit.