Whether it is loud thinking by the BJP or the view of an individual leader, BJP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj has sought to kick off a fresh debate on parliamentary versus presidential system of government for the country.
Advocating a presidential form of government for India, she says a leader in the parliamentary system does not strike a direct rapport with the people.
“The time has come when the whole electoral system needs to be reviewed. Parliamentary democracy does have its own demerits. A leader under this system fails to strike a direct rapport with his people,” she wrote in BJP journal Kamal Sandesh. Swaraj told Hindustan Times that she had put her views on the subject and parried a question on whether the issue had been debated with other BJP leaders.
Senior BJP leaders like former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee have always spoken in favour of the parliamentary system, calling it the one that gives voice to many people’s aspirations.
Other BJP leaders refused to comment on Swaraj’s views. She said the present system allows even those “who were incapable of mustering the support of a single Member of Parliament to occupy the office of PM”.
{{/usCountry}}Other BJP leaders refused to comment on Swaraj’s views. She said the present system allows even those “who were incapable of mustering the support of a single Member of Parliament to occupy the office of PM”.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, in the same BJP organ, Vajpayee appeared to suggest that “indolence and overactivism” have to be curbed in the party. “The question where the (new) generation is going keeps perplexing us. Somewhere there is indolence, somewhere overactivism, which is off the mark... Not required,” he said in his address at the launch of party journal’s special issue.
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