Introduction
The classical system of Parliamentary and Presidential forms of government have faced difficulties in adaptation of political, sociological and environmental conditions in 21st century. In fact, the pros and cons of presidential and parliamentary system have been debated for about more than 20years. Maurice Duverger was the first to develop fully the concept of semi presidentialism. In 1970 with reference to France he used the word “semi-presidential” for the first time. Since the late 1980s new term semi-presidentialism has come into vogue. Duverger had argued that parliamentary and semi-presidential model is a political solution which adds these two systems into a new greater whole. As of December 2007, there were sixty heterogeneous countries with various forms of semi presidential constitutions. Synonymous to the term “semi-presidential” is the use of “semi-parliamentary”. In this case referring to the centre as a midway, it is best understood as starting from top (the president) and not from the parliamentary base.
The semi-presidential system is a system of government that features both a prime minister and a president who are active participants in the day to day functioning of government. ... For example, in France the president is responsible for foreign policy and the prime minister for domestic policy. Semi-presidentialism is a political system with dual executive branches means executive power is shared between an elected president and an appointed prime minister. Thus, a semi-presidential regime is defined as ‘the situation where a popularly elected fixed-term president exists alongside a prime minister and cabinet who are responsible to parliament’. Several authors oppose viewing semi-presidentialism as a unique form of government. Among these critics is A. Lijphart, who emphasises that ‘most systems that appear semi- presidential can be classified either as mainly presidential or as mainly parliamentary; hence the semi-presidential category becomes a nearly empty cell’. He is echoed by A. Siaroff, who states ‘there is really no such thing as a semi-presidential system when viewed through the prism of presidential powers’
Some particularities of semi-presidential system are:
Ø The head of the state is elected by Popular vote either directly or indirectly for a fixed term of office
Ø The president shares power with the government headed by the Prime Minister with a dual authority mechanism.
Ø The President is independent from parliament. The Prime Minister requires appointment or nomination by the President and expression of confidence by Parliament, Hence, the President’s survival does not depend on Parliament’s confidence in the government (separation of power) and the President has right to dissolve legislature. So, the survival of the parliament depends on the President (modified separation of powers).
Ø Prime Minister and his cabinet are independent from President but dependent upon parliament for Confidence.
Ø Shared accountability- The elected President is accountable with voters and cabinet is accountable to legislature.
Semi-Presidential system includes both characterstics of both which is neither parliamentary nor presidential. The President of France, as head of state and head of the executive, thus carries more power than leaders of most other European countries, where the two functions are separate (for example in the UK, the Monarch and the Prime minister, in Germany the President and the Chancellor.) France has a semi-presidential system of government, with both a President and a Prime Minister, the latter of which is responsible to the French Parliament.
Semi-Presidentialism: Pros and Cons
Givonni Sartori is and advocate of semi-presidentialism who says that mixed system are better than purely Parliamentary and purely Presidential system.
Advantages
Acts as a Third option- As it is conceptually a tertio genus (third variety) which means considered as a option for the world lies conceptually midway between both classical models of Presidentialism and Parliamentarism addressing their faults and inadequacies.
Power Sharing- A dual presidency is set up in semi-presidentialism which is sharing of power between political bodies viz President, Prime minister and Legislature. There exists a combine benefits of Presidentialism and Parliamentarism thro augh power sharing, where a country with intense political competition gets power between competing political bodies.
Political stability- The direct election of President with a fixed term the system can derive stability even if the parliaments are fractionalized and unstable government.
Moderating Dilemma of Winner takes all- since the cabinet survival’s requires continued confidence of parliament, it is not likely to be representative of president’s interests and preference exclusively.
Temporal Rigidity- It solves the temporal rigidity problem of presidential system. Unlike in presidential system in a semi-presidential system the president can dissolve the parliament before its term is completed and call for fresh elections to solve the crisis by appealing to the electorate.
Drawbacks
Problems of Dual Power- There can be a problem of cohabitation in semi-presidential system. As foreign policy is normally run by President and domestic policy by the Prime Minister a structural conflict exist.
Cohabitation- Cohabitation is where the president and prime minister belong to different political forces .When parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum control parliament and the presidency, the power-sharing arrangement is known as cohabitation. Some critics say that power sharing arrangements are akin to marriage of convenience between powerful elites that are unlikely to resolve issues of divided societies in long run.
Directly elected presidents- Lijphart says that semi presidential system may make President more powerful than pure presidentialism, in France “hyper presidentialism” when President and Prime minister were of the same party. There is a tendency of personalization of power and may trespass powers of others by president.
Undue strains- No constitution can codify all situations which offices holders are likely to face which means it will leave some grey areas unspecified. This is a particular problem for country with semi-presidentialism like Pakistan as it is precisely those grey areas in the constitutional anomalies.
Dual nature of executive- The competitive nature of system can cause tussle and intrigues between President and Prime minister. Also ambiguity is created by duality. This may create incentives for military to intervene in bickering democracies.
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