All Party Government

Letter to Editor

All Party Government

2014 General Elections is likely to throw a situation where no political party or Group gets a clear majority. Unlike in the states, President rule cannot be imposed at centre. This will lead to unholy and unprincipled alliances between political parties which are at loggerheads and having heterogeneous and divergent views with the sole aim of sharing power. Alliances made with foundation of distrust will fall like castles in the air leading to political turmoil again. Switching of allegiance between parties and alliances and horse trading (horses many kindly excuse) will become the order of the day. (Night also). Political parties will transport the ‘honourable’ elected representatives like herds and hide them at unknown places to avoid jumping the bandwagon. Politics will regain the dubious distinction of a synonym of all dirty tricks and a profession unfit for men of principles. The largest democracy of the world may become a mockery in the eyes of the world. This is a dangerous situation which will have far reaching consequences. A state of non government will lead to anarchy followed by many cascading effects like sky rocketing of prices, shortage of essential commodities, demotivation and demoralization of public servants including security and Defence forces, spurt in criminal and anti social activities etc, who will ultimately take the centre stage. Under such a political scenario riddled with chaos and confusion, military mutiny or an external aggression also cannot be ruled out. I am not a pessimist predicting bad omen. But forecasting the future possibilities and taking appropriate action or at least making an action plan will help to salvage the situation to some extent.

In the circumstances, it will be worthwhile to consider the formation of an All Party Government. Under this System, the elected members of Parliament can elect the Prime Minister and other Ministers based on proportional representation. This will facilitate the formation a team of talented ministers. Since the powers, duties and responsibilities of the Prime Minister and other Ministers are clearly defined, there should not be any reason for any confrontation or confusion. In order to maintain the continuity of the Ministry, no-confidence motion may be restricted against a Minister, Ministers or even the Prime Minister. In other words, if a no-confidence motion is passed against the Prime Minister, the Ministry will remain but the Prime Minister will have to be changed. Since the pay and perks of the ministers are paid from the exchequer, they should not participate in any party forum so long as they are ministers and should quit the party post. Since even the lowest paid Government employee cannot participate in party politics, this suggestion does not seems to be very harsh.    

Notwithstanding the fact that the system under reference is prevalent in all other organisations where also various groups and sub groups exist, the suggestion to adopt this system in the formation of Government deserves consideration. All the political parties may ponder over the issue and arrive at a consensus in the larger national interest. Otherwise New Delhi will become a stage for enacting petty political dramas as was witnessed several times earlier.

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E M Adithyan

25^th December 2013

Elangalloor Mana

Elangalloor Mana

Edapal-679576 Kerala