And horror of horrors, MPs convicted for serious crimes were asked to vote! But when convicted MPs voted in the presidential election was that acceptable? Political parties and individual MPs sold loyalty and policy as brazenly as harlots in a red light district. This too had happened before. So why were the public’s disgust and the intellectual’s disquiet aroused this time around? Because all this happened simultaneously. The sheer volume of misdemeanors was mind boggling. Didn’t Marx say that beyond a point quantity creates qualitative change? The conduct of its political class has jolted India.
There is data being widely circulated on the Internet. It appears to be researched and accurate. It indicates what more and more young people complacent till the other day are beginning to perceive about the politicians who rule them. There are 543 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Of them 117 have been charged and are being investigated for murder, rape, assault, extortion and robbery.[When the current Lok Sabha was constituted, Outlookhad listed as many as 100 way back in 2004 --Ed] Nineteen MPs have more than three criminal cases pending against them. Twenty-nine have been accused of spouse abuse. Seven have been arrested for fraud. Seventy-one cannot get credit or loans due to bad credit histories. Twenty-one are current defendants in various lawsuits. Eighty-four were involved in offences and made to pay fines. These are the people who make our laws. They are the people who rule us.
Never mind the merits or demerits of the Indo-US nuclear deal. On any assessment can this ragamuffin bunch be trusted to render sober judgment on any issue of national importance? MPs demonstrated in the recent debate that overwhelmingly their prime concern was narrow personal gain bereft of national interest. The truth is that our political system is flawed because the Constitution was subverted from the day it was adopted by parliament. It is an explicit written Constitution. It does not replicate the Westminster model. Our Constitution is presidential. This view was repeatedly voiced by this scribe for years. MPs have legislative responsibility and should have no executive responsibility. Former President Kalam said as much. In fact MPs are empowered to spend crores for development in their constituencies.
On July 11, 2007 this scribe after quoting relevant clauses of the Constitution wrote:"If the Constitution is read as originally written, India’s parliamentary system would become presidential." Further in the same article it was proposed how the President could obtain a direct popular mandate after minor Constitutional amendments that would not infringe on its basic structure: "Electoral changes that do not alter the structure of the Constitution are required. The terms of Parliament, State Assemblies and President need to be fixed and made coterminous. Nominations to them might be phased. Candidates for the presidency would be nominated by the outgoing legislators. The Presidential candidates might then campaign for the legislature candidates. Once elected after such a campaign, the newly elected legislators would elect the President. That would give the President a fully representativemandate."
These views were scoffed at or ignored for the most part. The recent debate seems to have altered perceptions. Apart from reputed columnists suggesting a review of the prevalent political system, even the staid Times of India editorially commented: "Has the time come to think beyond the Westminster model that India has followed since independence? India should seriously consider a presidential system ofgovernment." Jurists as yet are not admitting that our original written Constitution was in fact presidential. If a national debate on this subject leads to a reappraisal of the Constitution by uncluttered minds, they might also start saying that.