Political parties' power over Parliament

What is continuously reported as blatant, and many times subtle, government abuse is the consequence of our political structure as established by the Constitution. On the premise that governing a state requires a certain degree of power, an important doctrine of a democratic system is the concept of separation of powers, in order to limit the powers of the governing institutions, avoid abuse and protect the people from rulers who put their own interest above those of the subjected citizens.

However, our constitutional order provides for a parliamentary system of government in which the executive branch of the state (Prime Minister and Cabinet) is integrated with the legislative branch (Parliament) clearly violating the concept of separation of powers, and result in scenarios that today dominate the news reported in the local media. Our system of government is constituted by a collegial Cabinet, which emanates from a cohesive disciplined political party that controls our Parliament and uses the tools of the legislative assembly to accommodate its own agenda.

We continuously read how our Parliament has become a rubber stamp of the government, and has lost its political faculty to represent the public for serious policy debate and government control. Members of Parliament are members of the party and not members of the people, and our system is a mockery of the true sense of representative democracy.

This state of affairs has existed since our state and its Constitution were established back in the 1960s, and the dangers reach their peak during the weeks preceding the general election where members of the government could capitalise on their control over government departments to render "favours" to the electorate, with the perspective that constituents have the power to return them to the House of Representatives. Examples that come to mind are the Armier squatters, Mepa permits and dishing out of jobs in the public sector.

The only remedy to this pitiful situation is a shift to a presidential system of government, in which the Head of State is elected by the people and runs the Executive with his/her own selected people that do not form part of either the legislative or judiciary branches of the state.

Parliament will be restored as the place for debating and enacting laws initiated by elected members with or without the co-operation of the President in policy formulation, and a truly independent means to effectively scrutinise the presidential government.

Such a system would surely weaken the powerful establishment of the political parties, and thus would not be brought forward unless there is a strong drive from the public. Had I the resources to conduct a strong and organised crusade, I would start a campaign for a referendum to change our Constitution from a parliamentary to a presidential system of government.