Dorab R Sopariwala: A prescription for the Presidency

The events of the past few months have left a terrible taste in the mouth. Dorab R Sopariwala comes up with a six-point plan to avoid such blushes in the future.

About three weeks ago, we elected a new President and now we have a new Vice-President. But the past couple of months have seen several events that have left a terrible taste in the mouth. What can we do to ensure that we are saved these embarrassments in the future? The new President and the new Vice-President are now safely ensconced in their kursis, so it is probably the best time to offer suggestions, without inviting accusations of partisanship. Here is one concerned citizen's "six-point plan".

First, let us change the Constitution to declare that no President in the future shall serve more than one term of five years. Mexican presidents can serve only one term of six years. Under the 22nd amendment to the US Constitution, US presidents serve a maximum of two terms of four years each. The Indian Constitution lays down no such term limit, but Rajendra Prasad, our first President, was the only one to get two terms. However, a number of Presidents after Prasad have hankered after a second term and, in the process, have lowered themselves and their office in the eyes of the people of India. Towards the end of their first term, they have pushed "" in some cases, not too subtly "" for a second term. Some political parties have invariably jumped into the fray to score political points and the incumbent has often played along. That is one of the last things that we want our Presidents to be seen doing. These manoeuvres do not inspire the confidence of the people in the impartiality of the President. So, let's amend the Constitution. Just one term for the President. Full Stop.

Second, let the law provide that every candidate for Presidency and Vice-Presidency shall be required to declare his/her assets. If legislators and public servants around the democratic world have to do so, there is no reason why candidates for Presidency and Vice-Presidency should be exempt. In the US, even candidates fighting for the party nomination declare their assets.

Third, let us fix a date and a time for the swearing in of the President. Under the 20th amendment to the US Constitution, the US president is required to be sworn in at noon on January 20th. Some of their presidents also may be superstitious and have their resident astrologers, but if they want to be president badly enough, they ditch the astrologers and roll up on the Capitol sharp at noon on January 20th. Let us put an end to this arcane practice of astrologers deciding the time of the inauguration. Let the date and the time be set by law or by convention, and let it be totally inflexible. The same can also be done for the Vice-President.

Fourth, what about our President and the VP after they end their terms? Well, we know what our first President did. He retired to the Sadaqat Ashram in Patna and lived there until his death. Oh, for those good old days. But now things are somewhat different. There is too frequently an almost indecent scramble for a posh house in a secluded part of Lutyens's Delhi. Over the years, we have heard these ridiculously shameful stories. One of them likes this house but thinks that the garden is too small; the other likes that house but says the 'vaastu' in not right; the third one says that it is smaller than his predecessor's house; the fourth one wants a house with three more bedrooms; the fifth one wants special fittings. This goes on and on, and is played out every five years. Let us put an end to this farce or soon we shall have most of the best houses in Lutyens's Delhi occupied by "yesterday's men" (whether they be ex-Presidents, ex-Vice-Presidents, ex-Prime Ministers, ex-leading netas, spouses of all the above categories and various other ex-hangers on). Let us look around the world. Did Bill Clinton get a house after he retired? Did Jacques Chirac? Did Tony Blair? Did Gerhard Schroeder? Will George Bush? No in every case.

Ok, so we do not wish to be too hard on our ex-Presidents and ex-Vice-Presidents. Let us set aside one house each for the immediate ex-President and the immediate ex-VP. Let these two be fixed, designated houses, like Rashtrapati Bhavan is for the incumbent President. The occupants can stay there for a five-year term, after which it has to be vacated for the next President and VP who retire. Do we want our ex-President and the ex-VP on the streets? Of course not. When they vacate the house of the ex-President and the ex-VP, they can be given a house in the capital of their home state. And where do they stay when they come to Delhi to visit? Well, they can stay in the Bhavans that their states maintain in Delhi. And also let us stop this current practice of the spouse occupying the house once the ex-President or the ex-Vice-President (or ex-whoever else occupying a government house) passes away. There has to be a limit to the exploitation of public property.

Fifth, security. Many of our ex-Presidents and ex-VPs are perfectly harmless persons who are not under any greater threat than the common citizen. Our police and security services are under enormous pressure anyway, so let their security be reviewed frequently and downgraded whenever possible. One is aware that, in India, security is a status symbol as much as anything. Let our ex-Presidents and ex-VPs try and demonstrate the opposite "" that a lower level of security is a sign of greater integrity and lower level of misdeeds in their political lives!

And finally, let us decide that when our Presidents and VPs (and ex-PMs and other netas) depart for the Elysian Fields, there shall be just one designated ground where their last ceremonies take place. We shall weep for them copiously, we shall give them gun carriages, large numbers of troops marching in front and behind the gun carriages and 41-gun salutes and we shall remember them on their birth anniversaries but please, please, no more samadhis and no more memorials and no more patches of greenery taken away for ever.