Why does it feel like Mr. Tharoor is fed up of surfeit of democracy? Surely a scholar of his caliber should know that solution to the ills of democracy lies in more democracy, not less. I would vehemently argue that the central premise of his logic is fatally flawed. It depends entirely on the personality of the CEO of democracy (PM in our case) as to how much he wants to get involved in the matters of step down democratic process. The degree of involvement changes with every new PM and will continue to be so.



On the other hand, the dangers of concentrating more power in hands of an individual could not be more pressing than it is currently. This is more so true in a still-to-be developed democracy like India with a serious shortage of empowered independent institutions. It should not escape the keen eyes of Mr. Tharoor that Presidential system of governance has only been successful in countries with powerful independent institutions.



On that count, it seems all the more amusing when he proffers the example of Latin American countries. They are ironically examples of horrendous horrors of presidential style of governance. They come in bewildering shades but most excruciating and most recent example is that of Venezuela. An electorally empowered president went on to systematically undermine democracy in the very name of democracy and look where that country is today despite an oil windfall of $1 trillion in population of 3 crores. First he did away with term limits, jailed his opponents who opposed it, made the supreme court subservient so that they could not go to help his political opponents, disemboweled legislature now commanded by opposition, defanged election commission, and with their help delayed & cancelled local elections. The list of excesses go on. And this movie has been repeated number of times in various presidential democracies with weak institutions. And there is no reason to believe that it would not happen in India as well where so called independent pillars crawl when asked to bend.



It may just be coincidence that the incumbent PM in India has also elicited similar opinions that to Mr. Tharoor. The former talks of simultaneous elections in India. It would be as close to presidential style as it can in current form of constitution. But it is not a coincidence that this idea was first mooted by the original ‘loh purush’ Mr. Advani. It is certainly not a coincidence that all the people with authoritarian streaks would approve of such an arrangement. Why are you falling in that trap Mr. Tharoor? If anything, your mighty pen, sharp wit, and diplomatic tongue should tirelessly endeavor to empower our hopelessly anemic institutions. That will be a great service to our country while this article will only go to embolden people carrying fantasies of mythical yore. I beseech you to rethink your position on this issue.

Yours sincerely

