While the presidential form of government is criticized by our politicians and intellectuals as autocratic, the three full terms of parliamentary form of administration from 1991 through 2006, duly elected by more-or-less free and fair elections with massive voter turnouts, have been no less dictatorial than the presidential form of administration in true measures of effective democracy.

The root cause of that dictatorship, be it in parliamentary or presidential form of government, is the one-man (or one-woman) party leadership with no accountability whatsoever to their respective parties, to the parliament, or to the people who elected them.

The party chief as the head of government acted like a king or a queen with absolute power and authority similar to a medieval monarch. Other leaders in the party, ministers, and MPs were serving their party chiefs to satisfy their personal wishes, desires, and interests. In that situation, it would be naive to expect pro-people administration with good governance, rule of law, democratic values and national interest at the top of its agenda.

Much has been said about the intra-party democratic reforms to eliminate dictatorships and dynastical influences within the political parties, and the Election Commission has already proposed some reform ideas for the parties to follow. What the Election Commission has most importantly proposed and almost everybody more or less agrees is that the formation of all party committees and leadership at all levels of political parties be done by secret ballots of all members, which is good. But nothing has been said yet as to by whom and what mechanism the removal of these leaders from their positions might happen, and this is something very important to address for the following reasons.

What we need is true and lasting democratic reforms, not cosmetics or temporary bandages. If the party chief can fire at will other politicians from their positions like they are doing now, then the party chief's dictatorship will not change a bit, since the existence of others in the party will continue to be at the mercy of one person. There must be some mandatory provisions in the party constitution to the effect that the elected party leaders and committee members can be removed from their positions only by a vote of two-thirds of the committee members so that leadership at all levels of a party can use democracy in decision making, without resorting to sycophancy for their own survival.

Moreover, the nominations for MPs, city council and municipal commissioners, and upazila and union council members must come from grass-root levels through secret ballots of nomination committee members at the respective electoral districts, and not from the party headquarters.

If the above mechanism is adopted for selection and election of leaders, then and only then, the democratic practices and fair play will take root in the political parties.

However, even if all the above stated democratic reforms within the political parties are implemented, still there is no guaranty for the elimination of dictatorship at the government level once one major party comes to power, unless fundamental reforms are done for an effective balance of power among the various branches of government.

Shared governance: In order to prevent dictatorship by the head of government and encourage democratic practices in the administration, it is necessary to create laws to make a balance of power between the prime minister, president, cabinet, and the parliament. A parliamentary form of government, with the following formula for essential checks and balances in order to make democracy functional and relieve the administration of dictatorial rule by the all-powerful prime minister, is the best solution we can hope for good governance in our nation.

President: Selection and appointment of the president shall follow the current system. In addition to all other incumbent duties and responsibilities, the president, by constitutional provision, shall hold the portfolio of Defense Ministry, assisted by a state minister to be chosen by the president, and be the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and chancellor of all public universities, in order to protect these vital national institutions from the influences of party politics. The president is impeachable by a vote of two-thirds of the parliament in the event of breach of the Constitution or serious violation of law.

Prime Minister: Selection and appointment of the prime minister and parliamentary majority/minority shall be carried out by the current mechanism. The prime minister shall be the head of the cabinet, and carry out all responsibilities incumbent upon the premier, with the following limitations.

Cabinet: The prime minister shall nominate two names for each port-folio for the positions of cabinet minister, state minister, and/or deputy minister, and the president may select one of the two persons for each port-folio or may choose to select a person from outside the premier's nominations, but not to exceed one-third of the total cabinet appointments by the president from outside the premier's nominations. Up to a maximum of twenty percent of the cabinet positions may be filled by competent individuals who are not elected MPs by the above stated mechanism of joint decision by the premier and the president. The appointments of all ministers shall be confirmed in the parliament by a vote of minimum of fifty percent of MPs. If a minister does not get the required votes for confirmation in the parliament, the nomination process shall start all over again -- from the premier to the president to the parliament as described above.

The minister in charge of each port-folio shall routinely submit to the parliament a quarterly report, not to exceed twenty pages, outlining the progress on various projects and the future initiatives.

Parliament: The EC shall determine appropriate qualification requirements and other eligibility criteria for the nominations and elections of MPs in order to ensure that the MPs become competent lawmakers and guardians of democratic governance. The parliament shall be in session throughout the whole year, except for three weeks of summer vacation, three weeks of winter vacation and declared public holidays. Moreover, an MP can have a maximum of two weeks of paid sick leave per year. There must be a method of secured electronic monitoring of the attendance of each MP in the parliament, with consequences for unauthorized absence. The attendance of all MPs must be made public records open to all citizens, and should be part of their records to be placed before the voters during the following election, along with their voting records on different issues for the sake of accountability and transparency on the part of elected representatives. The current undemocratic law punishing MPs with the loss of their seat in the parliament for voting against their parties must be abolished.

The parliament shall form committees, with appropriate representation from the majority and minority parties, for each department/division and ministries of the government. The parliamentary committees shall have the subpoena power to summon ministers, including the prime minister, secretaries, chiefs of armed forces, chairs of EC, ACC, PSC, and the heads or other officials of any organization, public, private or autonomous, to testify before it. The parliamentary hearings, similar to the United States congressional hearings, shall be televised live so that the citizens can have a first hand knowledge of the inner workings of the ministries and parliament. After such hearings, the parliamentary committee may send recommendations to any office for mandatory follow-up actions that must be reported back to the parliamentary committee in a fixed period of time.

Firing of a minister: The prime minister may recommend the name(s) of minister, State Minister or Deputy minister to the president to relieve them of their responsibilities. If the president agrees with the premier's recommendations, then the firing of a minister is final; however, if the president disagrees, then the case shall be referred to the parliament. If a vote of sixty percent of the MPs favours the premier's recommendations, then the minister loses the job; otherwise he/she continues in the position. Similarly, the president may initiate a recommendation to the premier for firing a minister and if the premier agrees, the minister leaves his/her position, but not the post of MP, if elected. But, if the premier does not agree, then again the case shall be referred to the parliament, and a vote of sixty percent of the MPs will decide whether the minister stays or leaves. Likewise, the parliament by a vote of two-thirds may recommend for termination of the job of a minister. If either the president or the prime minister agrees with the parliament's recommendations, then the minister loses the job; otherwise, he/she stays.

The above stated power-sharing mechanism in government at least takes away the much talked-about dictatorship and abuse of power by one individual, the prime minister, and provides for a system of verifiable accountability and transparency on the part of all branches of government and elected officials. The nation cannot afford any more to give free rides to our all-knowing, all-powerful politicians and elected representatives. It is high time for our leaders and officials to serve and treat the people with honesty, integrity, respect, dignity and fairness, and stop acting like their masters.

Dr. Matiur Rahman is a freelence contributor to The Daily Star.