Daily Times

The debate on switching over to the presidential form of government keeps popping up every now and then. After the passage of the electoral reforms bill from the parliament – authorizing the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the elections – the PTI is now campaigning for presidential form of governance under which the head of government or the executive authority is directly elected by the people.

Well-informed sources in the PTI told this correspondent that the party had conveyed its plan to the allied parties and most of them supported the idea. The ruling party is unlikely to face any backlash from the allies but only from the opposition parties.

To allay the concerns of the opposition parties, the sources said, Prime Minister Imran Khan had tasked some party leaders with engaging with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on the matter.

They said the government was in no mood to engage with the PML-N, as the support of PPP will be adequate to get the constitutional amendment on presidential system passed from the parliament.

The PPP has hitherto opposed the idea of presidential form of government. However, sources said since the PPP was going all out to get Bilawal Bhutto Zardari elected as the chief executive of the country, the new system may help it get to the helm.

According to sources, the establishment also supports the presidential form of government.

The 1973 Constitution provides for parliamentary form of government. The change in the system can be brought by passing a constitutional amendment by a two-thirds majority. Another option for the government is to hold a referendum to get public opinion on the change of the system.

It merits a mention that all major powers, including China, the US and Russia have presidential form of government and according to its proponents, this system makes the decision-making process much easy, and that it is more stable and ensures continuity of government policies.

Nonetheless, all the previous efforts to change the parliamentary form of government have failed in the country, and political analysts believe the government’s move is nothing but amounts to opening a new Pandora’s box which will lead nowhere.