Why do coalition governments fail

Ultra right and wrong: Women in India face a new threat to their freedom of choice. Nehru, Iqbal, cricket and the question of Muslim identity. Will history say Xi Huzoor? Hate smug liberals? Interested in blogging for timesofindia.

We will be happy to have you on board as a blogger, if you have the knack for writing. Just drop in a mail at toiblogs timesinternet. Accept Reject. Update Consent. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email.

Ashutosh Garg Ashutosh is an executive coach and a storyteller. Federal Structure is compromised : Coalition governments by their very definition is a group of small parties that come together because no single party can form the government. This leads to the major challenge of who will lead.

We have seen chief ministers by rotation so that personal agendas can be met. We must ensure that we do not allow personal regional party agendas to determine the path of our nation. Strong vs Lame Duck Prime Minister : Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had famously remarked when asked about the telecom scams that he headed a coalition government and was, therefore, unable to do anything. The leader has no option but to compromise when faced with a challenge that suits a single party but not the nation.

Areas like GST, Bankruptcy Code, social welfare schemes like Aadhar, Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat, National Health scheme and others have been on the agenda of government for the past 2 decades but could not be implemented because of coalition Governments.

Constitution of India : The Constitution has stipulated that areas can only be decided by Parliament and not by States; These include Defence, Foreign Policy, Common currency, judiciary, federal taxes, airlines and several others.

Coalition governments have vested interests in most of these matters. They need to make a change for their constituencies and they always figure out ways to bypass these areas. Fiscal prudence is compromised : In order to meet the vastly varying financial demands from its coalition partners, governments have been known to compromise of fiscal prudence.

Regional and state requirements take precedence. It is common to see high rates of inflation and high fiscal deficits which lead to serious structural flaws in the national economy. Promises are made with no intention of meeting them : Voters need clear accountability so that they can ask their leaders to deliver on their poll promises.

Coalition partners always have a credible excuse for not delivering on their promises. It was the BJP, which pulled out of the coalition. Ultimately, the BJP felt there was no point in continuing the experiment and quit the Government in June after three years.

Why then do coalition Governments fail? Often, they are not stable because of a lack of a common minimum programme, as suggested by the Second Administrative Commission. Second, defections are encouraged where the role of the Governor is important. The Sarkaria Commission recommendations should be implemented and the office of the Governor must be made free from political hold.

Third, coalition has come to symbolise instability in India because the ruling party has to pander to the needs of the coalition partners.

It depends on the competence of the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister to run the coalition. A coalition Government at the State or federal level will be stable only when national parties lead it.

They will act as a glue and bind them. What is happening is that political parties come together for power and that is the only glue that binds them. There should be a common bond among the partners or else it will be shaky. Sunday, 14 November Home Columnists Analysis. A common bond and not greed for power should be the motto for two political parties coming together Coalition Governments generally do not succeed in India. The writer is a senior political commentator and syndicated columnist.

Trending News. PM Modi pays tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary. Yesterday, Clegg promised to exert his party's independence more within the coalition. If you are a Liberal Democrat voter, you don't like it. I don't like it. I didn't come into politics to kind of announce great cuts and savings. You do it out of necessity.

David Cameron, meanwhile, last night issued a direct challenge to Clegg when he dismissed claims by the Liberal Democrats that they had used their influence to pause the legislation introducing the government's controversial NHS reforms, claiming it was a Tory decision.