The country is abuzz with the talk of a presidential system with all the TV channels and social media tuning to the topic and newspapers churning out articles on the issue. Nothing is wrong or good about the presidential system itself as there are plenty of arguments both for and against the system. But in Pakistan’s context, its historically negative impact haunts us.
Further, it also raises some eyebrows as a presidential system been associated with the four military dictatorships in our country. As it has been clearly stated by the supreme court of Pakistan that parliamentary form is the basic pillar of the constitution and it can only be altered through the two-third majority.
According to some experts, in an ethnically divided country like Pakistan, this presidential system can be a problem as smaller nationalist parties find themselves left out from the legislative process. Some feel that since executive and legislature are independent of each other it can also create a gap that could lead to a clash and further deadlock.
Just like Quaid I Azam and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, our current PM Imran khan is also fond of the presidential system. As it is said that this system easies the decision-making process and gives executive powers to the president. Bhutto enjoyed executive powers when he replaced Yahya Khan, but in 1973 constitutionally he became the PM under the parliamentary system. He then in 1977 planned to change the system into presidential form but couldn’t win the majority seats due to strong opposition. He wanted to wield power without many constitutional checks and balances.
PTI supports the presidential system but it has a thin majority in the national assembly. The debate is still premature as the parliamentary democracy has not yet been given the kind of uninterrupted run that it requires before one can seriously critique it or replace it with a presidential system. The presidential or parliamentary systems are not responsible for the many challenges faced by Pakistan.
These long-standing issues are due to poor governance and economic mismanagement among other reasons. It is high time to eliminate weaknesses, if any, from the existing parliamentary system and to focus on more urgent issues of governance and economy, which matter to the lives of the masses.
The writer hails from Turbat, Balochistan