Presidential form of govt?

Support for the presidential system originates primarily because of the failure of the current form of governance.

Pakistan airwaves are ripe with discussions about possibly changing to a presidential system in place of the current parliamentary form of democracy. The discussion started as a consequence of an article written by Lt Gen (retd) Tariq Khan, a decorated senior officer of the Pakistan Army. In it the general advocated that the National Security Committee (NSC) take over an interim government of technocrats to stabilise various issues faced by the country and put in place a presidential form of government. These discussions have now turned into a controversy. In a rejoinder last week, the general clarified that his suggestion was to initiate discussion and that his intent was that all changes should come through parliament in a democratic manner — assuming that the parliament will realise the gravity of the problems being faced by the country and initiate actions to dissolve itself and the system under which it exists, and subsequently hand over power to the NSC.

Without going into the logic of the parliament delegating power and governance of the country to the NSC, let’s bring to light some relevant facts that the general, and those who support his views, need to ponder over before garnering support for the presidential form of government. But before doing so, it must be acknowledged that Lt Gen (retd) Tariq Khan is one of the most brilliant generals that Pakistan Army has produced. His achievements in South Waziristan against militant forces and as an Inspector General who changed the nature of the Frontier Constabulary to eliminate the TTP from Bajaur will be remembered by the nation for times to come.

Pakistan is a complicated country — comprising a multitude of centuries-old ethnicities, often further divided into tribes — that altogether speak more than 80 different languages. At 75, Pakistan is still young and trying to come to terms with its different identities in order to create a formula for coexistence. Punjabis are by far the majority as they comprise 53% of the population. They are followed by the Pashtuns at 15%, Sindhi at 14%, Mohajirs at 8%, Balochis at 4%, while the rest are among the remaining 6%. The biggest issue with a presidential form of government is that since the Punjabis are in an overwhelming majority, the chances of a candidate from any other ethnicity getting elected as President become extremely remote. As a result, under a presidential system, it will always likely be a Punjabi rising as the democratically-elected president. This, in no way, will be acceptable to other ethnicities and, as a consequence, this issue has never found support in any other province except Punjab. This also is the very reason that the founders of the 1973 constitution opted for a parliamentary form of government that gives equitable representation to different ethnicities, which is then balanced by equal representation in the Senate — 25 members from each province.

That being said, strong support for the presidential form of government originates primarily because of the complete failure of the current parliamentary form of governance to deliver. If that is to be the goal, then it must come through a process rather than an experiment. Here are some suggestions to be considered and debated:

Firstly, the provincial weights need to be balanced. There will be strong opposition if more provinces were to be created only in Punjab. Hence, the process of creating more provinces also needs to be spread equitably such that it is acceptable to all provinces. For this, the most suited idea would be to convert all existing districts into provinces, thereby creating 123 provinces in the country. This will create much-needed smaller provinces, and since the districts already have district headquarters and governance infrastructure, no new buildings/infrastructure will need to be created. Due to the growth in population, the government and decision-making will be shifted closer to the citizens thereby improving essential services. Moreover, a meaningful civil service reform must be implemented through which police and finance are devolved to the new provinces. The national finance commission can also easily be reallocated using the existing formula to distribute resources to the districts.

Secondly, the existing provinces can become ‘Economic Zones’ on the lines of ‘Economic Regions’ in the US. The existing four provinces can become Regional Economic Zones, further divided into sub-economic zones defined by the ‘divisions’. Borrowing from the US’s Economic Regions, the goal of these four economic zones can be “the just, fair, transparent, accessible and moderate economic system and range of economic activity in a regional area of a country”.

Thirdly, a strong local government system needs to be established taking the basic day to day needs of the citizens to their doorstep.

Fourthly, in order to overcome the issue of money and power creeping into politics, the system of proportional representation should be adopted in the general elections whereby the number of seats a party gets in parliament should correspond with the percentage of votes the party gets in a general election — eligibility will be based on receiving a minimum number of votes. This will eliminate the disillusionment of those voters whose candidates are not elected in the current ‘first past the post’ system. This will also give party leaders the flexibility of bringing honourable and educated candidates on their predetermined priority lists that are submitted to the election commission, rather than them being constrained or blackmailed to choose candidates from strong families who continue to switch sides to be in every government irrespective of the outcome. Other practical changes in the electoral process can be made with little to no legislation to bring about a sea change in the positive outcome of elections — but that debate is for a different piece of writing.

With the above changes, the governance system of Pakistan can be completely transformed and hopefully the voices that call for change to a presidential system would be pacified. However, if the above is not found satisfactory, it will at least create a more suitable basis to ask for a presidential form i.e. with 123 provinces, none of the provinces will be in a super majority. Also note that with the creation of 123 provinces, the demands for creation of more provinces will also come to a close. It will also likely put an end to demands of independence from deranged insurgents.

We must not forget the reasons for the division of East and West Pakistan in 1971. The Bengalis who were in the majority at the time were denied their legitimate right to form a government, which resulted in the formation of Bangladesh. Let us not then talk of repeating the idea where, under the current disposition of 53% Punjabis, a democratic process will always likely elect a Punjabi president thereby creating a severe sense of disenfranchisement among other ethnicities. This will indeed create a massive earthquake in a young and fractured society that is already struggling to learn how to coexist.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2022.

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