Shift to the Parliamentary System

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Turn Parliamentary: $hicken or the Egg: $ulture $hange or ,ystem $hange: Lynching Laurel $onstitutional $hange
No ! Tale of To $ountries Making the economic comeback ? higher private F<I Tables and Ladders @E7posing Esposo=
Part AB It1s all about $ompetition It1s the Economy= ,tudent> C,ensya na po= ,irD1 Let1s Talk &asketball ; by Figo
$antos ,enE Enrile ,olidly ,upports Parliamentarism $rucifying $ruF The $o..E$TG Three Point !genda The
Parliamentary ,ystem: "ould it produce better leaders: Problems of Presidentialism 0 the +, E7ception ! -ood $onstitution
Must .educe the Impact of a &ad Leader ,enE $laro ME .ecto on the Presidential ,ystem Philippine Progress: ,hift in ,ports= ,hift
in ,ystem E7posing Esposo A Filipinos: ! Football Legend 0 ! ,panish Prime Minister The Parliamentary ,ystem Fits the
Philippines ,enE Pangilinan 0 the Parliamentary ,ystem
Platforms & Competence: True leadership, not popularity politics.
The current Presidential System as defined in the 1987 Constitution is unfortunately a very unwieldy system whose electoral
exercises have often turned out to be nationwide popularity contests. orse! the current Philippine Presidential System"s
inherent features have been found to be the cause of a lot of political instability as found in the research of numerous scholars
such as #r. $u%o &asuya '(Presidential )andwa*on+ Parties , Party Systems in the Phlippines(- and #r. Clarita Carlos and
#ennis .alata '(#emocratic #eficits in the Philippines+ hat is to be done/(-.
Instead of alloing for a competent leader to easily emerge on top of the government1s
hierarchy= the current Presidential ,ystem in the Philippines features a personality#based popularity contest= often causing candidates ith
little real track#record or competence to emerge victoriousE
,o much international research points to the superiority of the Parliamentary ,ystem of government hen compared against the Presidential
,ystemE 8n practically all indices= be it -<P per $apita= %uman <evelopment Inde7= $orruption Perceptions Inde7= the Economic Freedom
Inde7= the <emocracy Inde7= and many others= the top H9 countries turn out to be dominated by countries using Parliamentary ,ystemsE It is
thus advisable that any e7ercise in correcting the errors of the 2345 $onstitution ill also tackle the need to shift from the unstable=
popularity#driven= infle7ible= and inefficient nature of the current Philippine Presidential ,ystem and thus adopt the internationally#proven=
more stable= more efficient= more accountable= and more competence#based Parliamentary ,ystemE
The Prime Minister is the First Among Equals in governmentE %e leads the e7ecutive branch hich is knon as the $abinet of Ministers=
ho are responsible for setting the direction of each of the MinistriesE %e ascends to such office by virtue of being the leader of the ma)ority
bloc in Parliament= either as the leader of the party that ins the ma)ority= or the leader of the largest party ithin a coalition of different
parties that forms a ma)ority bloc ithin parliamentE
This e7plains hy leadership Iuality in Parliamentary ,ystems is superior to the Iuality of leaders in Presidential ,ystems
!s it turns out= ithin the different political parties= party members ill compete against each other on the basis of their individual
competence= leadership abilities= and track record= causing some of the best= most competent= and most seasoned party members to emerge on
the top ranks as members of the front bench @poised to become $abinet MinistersB and the best of them all to emerge as the leader of the
party= poised to become the Prime Minister in the event that the party ins a parliamentary ma)orityE The electoral contest= on the other hand=
becomes a contest beteen partiesE <ifferent parties ill thus compete against each other by shoing that their Manifestos @called
(Platforms* in the PhilippinesB are relevant to the needs of the People and ill bring about a positive change in their livesE This has thus
resulted in Parliamentary ,ystems having more policy and issue#driven politics here elections talk more about programs of government=
plans and pro)ects and *platforms*= rather than the individual personalities of the candidates runningE
https:??correctphilippinesEorg?parliamentaryJshift?
A Parliamentary System for the Philippines: Oversold and Underwhelming
Parliamentary systems are a sophisticated form of democracyE
!s if there ere not enough pointless diversions in the apparently endless impeachment trial and an airport bral among a bunch of entitled
douchebags= it ould seem that e1ve been given one more thing to distract us all from actual important issues this eek ith an une7pected
rise in the noise level coming from the pro#Parliamentary advocacy= ho are apparently claiming to have converted former $ongressmen and
no respected political commentator Teddy Locsin= KrE to their causeE
I don1t kno MrE Locsin personally= but he seems like a smart guyL I find his commentaries intelligent and thought#provoking regardless of
hether or not I agree ith them= and hen he as in $ongress= he as one of the fe legislators ho I thought handled himself like a
professionalE In other ords= he doesn1t strike me as the sort ho ould dra a conclusion about a significant concept solely on the basis of
the prattling of an advocacy group that is the political eIuivalent of those annoying middle#aged omen in the mall ho hand out brochures
for crappy= inconveniently#located subdivisionsE
That ould be the same advocacy group hose seminal argument in favor of adopting a Parliamentary form of government in the Philippines
goes something like this:
Filipinos like basketballE &ut Filipinos are short= so basketball doesn1t suit themE Filipinos also like the Presidential ,ystem= but that
obviously doesn1t suit them= eitherE <iego Maradona is short= and he as an e7cellent soccer playerE Filipinos should try playing soccer
instead of basketballE !lso= Parliamentary systems are superior to Presidential systemsE
To be fair= the advocacy also has to other goals ; a Federal system of administration= and liberaliFation of the economy @iEeE= removing
restrictions on foreign onership and investmentB ; that make perfect sense= and are ell orth pursuingE ! Federal system or a similar form
of decentraliFation is needed to better distribute development throughout the hole country= and is probably the only ay to keep the
&angsamoro as part of the PhilippinesE LiberaliFing the economy makes sense= because there is plenty of ob)ective evidence that it
encourages both foreign and domestic investment and economic grothE +nfortunately= these goals are not pursued ith nearly the same
vigor as the Parliamentary aspiration= hich ; despite claims to the contrary ; is at least implicitly presented as a holistic cure for the
country1s ills= the further implication being that the other to initiatives ould be easier to achieve if a Parliamentary system as put in
placeE !fter all= the argument is= most democratic countries in the orld have Parliamentary systems= and )ust about all of them are more
stable and performing better than the PhilippinesE
That is a standard e7ample of confusing correlation ith causationL if that ere not a logical fla= I could easily make the argument that
Parliamentary systems are inferior= because chronic underachievers like -reece= Italy= and Ireland have ParliamentsE The to countries that
are probably most similar to the Philippines= Indonesia and Malaysia= both outperform the Philippines in basic indicators such as per capita
-<P and -NI= -<P groth= net F<I inflos= tourist arrivals= and unemployment ratesE Indonesia is a unitary government ith a modified
Presidential system= Malaysia has a Federal Parliamentary systemE "hile it1s true Malaysia outperforms the to Presidential systems= it does
not necessarily follo that the Parliamentary form of government is responsible for all of thatE !nd there are signs that Malaysia may be
headed for some political and economic complications for some of the very reasons a Parliamentary system is supposed to prevent:
personality politics= and politically#motivated subsidiFation of the largest voting classesE From an even larger perspective= there is good
reason to believe that the effectiveness of any democratic system= regardless of its form= is unavoidably limited to something short of the best
possible ob)ective result= simply because humans are mentally incapable of picking the most effective leadersE
!ll of this may be academic= of courseL the Philippines under the current regime seems to have a hard enough time shoing up for a regular
day1s ork that hoping it can tackle a significant change in the ay it does business seems pretty unrealisticE !s does the prospect of
changing the status Iuo= so long as the initiative to do so is left in the hands of advocates hose concept of substantial action is using caps
lock and lots of e7clamation pointsE
http:??eatheronneptuneEordpressEcom?A92A?9M?29?a#parliamentary#system#for#the#philippines#oversold#and#underhelming?
! parliamentary system is a system of democratic governance of a state in hich the e7ecutive branch derives its democratic legitimacy
from= and is held accountable to= the legislature @parliamentBL the e7ecutive and legislative branches are thus interconnectedE In a
parliamentary system= the head of state is normally a different person from the head of governmentE This is in contrast to a presidential
system in a democracy= here the head of state often is also the head of government= and most importantly: the e7ecutive branch does not
derive its democratic legitimacy from the legislatureE
$ountries ith parliamentary systems may be constitutional monarchies= here a monarch is the ceremonial head of state hile the head of
government is almost alays a member of the legislature @such as +nited 6ingdom= ,eden and KapanB= or parliamentary republics= here a
mostly ceremonial president is the head of state hile the head of government is regularly from the legislature @such as Ireland= -ermany=
Pakistan= India and ItalyBE In a fe parliamentary republics= such as ,outh !frica and &otsana= the head of government is also head of state=
but is elected by and is anserable to the legislatureE
History
The modern concept of prime ministerial government originated ith the 6ingdom of -reat &ritain @2595;2499B and its contemporary= the
Parliamentary ,ystem in ,eden @25A2;255ABE
In 252N= Prince Elector -eorge Ludig of %anover= -ermany= acceded to the throne of -reat &ritain after his cousin Oueen !nne died ith
no heirs of her bodyE !s 6ing -eorge I he chaired the cabinet and chose ministers of the governmentL hoever= he initially spoke no EnglishE
This shifted the balance of poer toards the leading minister= or first minister= ho de facto chaired the cabinetE <uring his reign=
ParliamentPs role in controlling government and in deciding ho the king could ask to form a government gradually increasedE Toards the
end of his reign= actual poer as held by ,ir .obert "alpole= ho evolved as &ritainPs first prime minister over the years from 25A2 to
25H9E Later= the -reat .eform !ct of 24HA broadened the franchise and as accompanied by increasing parliamentary dominance= ith
Parliament alays deciding ho as primeE
! parliamentary system may be a bicameral system ith to chambers of parliament @or housesB: an elected loer house= and an upper house
or ,enate hich may be appointed or elected by a different mechanism from the loer houseE !nother possibility is a unicameral system ith
)ust one parliamentary chamberE
,cholars of democracy such as !rend Li)phart distinguish to types of parliamentary democracies: the "estminster and $onsensus systemsE
Q2R
The Palace of Westminster in London, United Kingdom. The Westminster system originates from the British Houses of
Parliament.
The Westminster system is usually found in the Commonwealth of Nations. These arliaments tend to ha!e a more
ad!ersarial style of de"ate and the lenary session of arliament is more imortant than committees. #ome arliaments
in this model are elected using a lurality !oting system $first ast the ost%, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and
&ndia, while others use roortional reresentation, such as &reland and New 'ealand. The (ustralian House of
)eresentati!es is elected using instant*runoff !oting, while the #enate is elected using roortional reresentation
through single transfera"le !ote. )egardless of which system is used, the !oting systems tend to allow the !oter to !ote
for a named candidate rather than a closed list.
The Western +uroean arliamentary model $e.g. #ain, ,ermany% tends to ha!e a more consensual de"ating system,
and usually has semi*circular de"ating cham"ers. Consensus systems ha!e more of a tendency to use roortional
reresentation with oen arty lists than the Westminster -odel legislatures. The committees of these Parliaments tend
to "e more imortant than the lenary cham"er. #ome West +uroean countries. arliaments $e.g. in the Netherlands
and #weden% imlement the rincile of dualism as a form of searation of owers. &n countries using this system,
-em"ers of Parliament ha!e to resign their lace in Parliament uon "eing aointed $or elected% minister. -inisters in
those countries usually acti!ely articiate in arliamentary de"ates, "ut are not entitled to !ote.
Implementations of the parliamentary system can also differ on the manner of ho the prime minister and government are appointed and as to
hether the government needs the e7plicit approval of the parliament= rather than )ust the absence of its disapprovalE ,ome countries as India
also reIuire the prime minister to be a member of the legislature= though in other countries this only e7ists as a conventionE
By appointment by the head of state, without reference to parliament/ While in ractice most rime ministers under
the Westminster system $including (ustralia, Canada, New 'ealand, &ndia and the United Kingdom% are the leaders of
the largest arty in arliament, technically the aointment of the rime minister is a royal rerogati!e e0ercised "y the
monarch or the go!ernor*general. No arliamentary !ote ta1es lace on who is forming a go!ernment, "ut since
arliament can immediately defeat the go!ernment with a motion of no confidence, the head of state is limited "y
con!ention to choosing a candidate who can command the confidence of arliament and has little or no influence in the
decision.
Appointment by the head of state after parliament nominates a candidate: +0amle/ The )eu"lic of &reland where
the President of &reland aoints the Taoiseach on the nomination of the 23il 4ireann.
The head of state nominates a candidate for prime minister who is then submitted to parliament for approval
before appointment as prime minister: +0amle/ #ain, where the King sends a nomination to arliament for
aro!al. (lso ,ermany where under the ,erman Basic Law $constitution% the Bundestag !otes on a candidate
nominated "y the federal resident. &n these cases, arliament can choose another candidate who then would "e
aointed "y the head of state.
The head of state appoints a prime minister who has a set timescale within which s/he must gain a vote of
confidence: $+0amle/ &taly, Thailand%
The head of state appoints the leader of the largest or second-largest political party in the Parliament as Prime
Minister: $+0amle/ ,reece%
irect election by parliament: $+0amle/ 5aan, Paua New ,uinea, Pa1istan. &n #weden, the Prime -inister is
aointed "y the #ea1er of the )i1sdag.%
irect election by popular vote: $+0amle/ &srael, 67789:;;6, where the rime minister was elected in a general
election, with no regard to olitical affiliation.%
Furthermore= there are variations as to hat conditions e7ist @if anyB for the government to have the right to dissolve the parliamentE
&n some countries li1e 2enmar1, -alaysia, (ustralia and New 'ealand, the rime minister has the de facto ower to call
an election at will. This was also the case in the United Kingdom until the assage of the <i0ed*term Parliaments (ct
:;66.
&n &srael, arliament may !ote in order to call an election or ass a !ote of no confidence against the go!ernment.
=ther countries only ermit an election to "e called in the e!ent of a !ote of no confidence against the go!ernment, a
suerma>ority !ote in fa!our of an early election or rolonged deadloc1 in arliament. These re?uirements can still "e
circum!ented. <or e0amle, in ,ermany in :;;@, ,erhard #chrAder deli"erately allowed his go!ernment to lose a
confidence motion, in order to call an early election.
&n #weden, the go!ernment may call a sna election at will, "ut the newly elected )i1sdag is only elected fill out the
re!ious )i1sdag.s term. The last time this otion was used was in 67@B.
Norway is uni?ue among arliamentary systems in that the #torting always ser!es the whole of its four*year term.
The Parliamentary system can be contrasted ith a presidential system hich operates under a stricter separation of poers= hereby the
e7ecutive does not form part of= nor is appointed by= the parliamentary or legislative bodyE In such a system= congresses do not select or
dismiss heads of governments= and governments cannot reIuest an early dissolution as may be the case for parliamentsE There also e7ists the
semi#presidential system that dras on both presidential systems and parliamentary systems by combining a poerful president ith an
e7ecutive responsible to parliament= as for e7ample the French Fifth .epublicE
Parliamentarianism may also apply to local governmentsE !n e7ample is the city of 8slo= hich has an e7ecutive council @&yrSdB as a part of
the parliamentary systemE
Advantages and disadvantages of parliamentary systems
8ne of the commonly attributed advantages to parliamentary systems is that it is faster and easier to pass legislation=
QAR
as the e7ecutive branch
is dependent on the direct or indirect support of the legislative branch and often includes members of the legislatureE Thus the e7ecutive @as
the ma)ority party or coalition of parties in the legislatureB has a ma)ority of the votes= enabling them to pass legislationE In a presidential
system= the e7ecutive is often chosen independently from the legislatureE If the e7ecutive and the ma)ority of the legislature are from different
political parties= then stalemate can occurE Thus the e7ecutive might not be able to implement their legislative proposalsE !n e7ecutive in any
system @be it parliamentary= presidential or semi#presidentialB is chiefly voted into office on the basis of his or her partyPs platform?manifesto=
and the same is also true of the legislative branchE
In addition to Iuicker legislative action= Parliamentarianism has attractive features for nations that are ethnically= racially= or ideologically
dividedE In a presidential system= all e7ecutive poer is vested in one person: the presidentE In a parliamentary system= ith a collegial
e7ecutive= poer is more dividedE In the 2343 Lebanese Taif !greement= in order to give Muslims greater political poer= Lebanon moved
from a semi#presidential system ith a strong president to a system more structurally similar to classical parliamentarianismE IraI similarly
disdained a presidential system out of fears that such a system ould be tantamount to ,hiite dominationL !fghanistanPs minorities refused to
go along ith a presidency as strong as the Pashtuns desiredE
Qcitation neededR
It can also be argued that poer is more evenly spread out in the poer structure of parliamentarianismE
Qcitation neededR
The prime minister is
seldom as important as a ruling president= and there tends to be a higher focus on voting for a party and its political ideas than voting for an
actual personE
Qcitation neededR
In his 24T5 book The English Constitution= "alter &agehot praised parliamentarianism for producing serious debates= for alloing change in
poer ithout an election= and for alloing elections at any timeE
Qcitation neededR
&agehot considered the four#year election rule of the +nited
,tates to be unnaturalE
Qcitation neededR
,ome scholars like Kuan LinF= Fred .iggs= &ruce !ckerman= and .obert <ahl claim that parliamentarianism is less prone to authoritarian
collapseE
Qcitation neededR
These scholars point out that since "orld "ar II= to#thirds of Third "orld countries establishing parliamentary
governments successfully made the transition to democracyE
Qcitation neededR
&y contrast= no Third "orld presidential system successfully made the
transition to democracy ithout e7periencing coups and other constitutional breakdonsE
Qcitation neededR
! recent "orld &ank study found that parliamentary systems are associated ith less corruptionE
QHR
,ome constituencies may have a popular local candidate under an unpopular leader @or the reverseB= forcing a difficult choice on the
electorateE Mi7ed#member proportional representation @here voters cast to ballotsB can make this choice easier by alloing voters to cast
one vote for the local candidate but also cast a second vote for another partyE
!lthough "alter &agehot praised parliamentarianism for alloing an election to take place at any time= the lack of a definite election
calendar can be abusedE Previously under some systems= such as the &ritish= a ruling party could schedule elections hen it felt that it as
likely to retain poer= and so avoid elections at times of unpopularity ; E Election timing in the +6= hoever= is no partly fi7ed under the
Fi7ed#term Parliaments !ct A922E Thus= by ise timing of elections= in a parliamentary system a party can e7tend its rule for longer than is
feasible in a functioning presidential systemE This problem can be alleviated somehat by setting fi7ed dates for parliamentary elections= as is
the case in several of !ustraliaPs state parliamentsE In other systems= such as the <utch and the &elgian= the ruling party or coalition has some
fle7ibility in determining the election dateE $onversely= fle7ibility in the timing of parliamentary elections can avoid periods of legislative
gridlock that can occur in a fi7ed period presidential systemE
$ritics of the "estminster parliamentary system point out that people ith significant popular support in the community are prevented from
becoming prime minister if they cannot get elected to parliament since there is no option to Urun for prime ministerU as one can run for
president under a presidential systemE !dditionally= prime ministers may lose their positions if they lose their seats in parliament= even though
they may still be popular nationallyE ,upporters of parliamentarianism respond by saying that as members of parliament= prime ministers are
elected first to represent their electoral constituents and if they lose their support then conseIuently they are no longer entitled to be prime
ministerE
Qcitation neededR
This is= hoever= a moot point if proportional representation is usedE
htt/CCen.wi1iedia.orgCwi1iCParliamentaryDsystem
What are the features of the Parliamentary Form of Government?
#amir
8n the basis of the relationship beteen the e7ecutive and the legislature= governments have been divided into to types= namely= the
parliamentary form of government and the presidential form of governmentE &eteen the to= the former is olderE In the parliamentary form
of government= the e7ecutive is responsible to the legislature= but in the presidential type= the e7ecutive is not responsible to the legislatureE
Parliamentary form of Government
In the Parliamentary form of government= the Parliament is supreme= and the governments= comprised of some members of the Parliament=
are accountable to itE ,ome of the best e7amples of Parliamentary government are the governments in &ritain= India= !ustralia and $anadaE
Features of Parliamentary Government
1. Nominal or Titular Head:
In a Parliamentary form of government= there to heads= namely= nominal and realE The nominal head is one ho= though head of the state= is
not head of governmentE %is poers are more apparent than realE %e may be hereditary or electedE
The &ritish Oueen is not electedE ,he got the throne on the heredityE &ut the President of India ho is also a nominal head has been el
Parliamentary#government the real poers are e7ercised by a $ouncil of Ministers by a Prime MinisterE
2. olle!tive "esponsi#ility and $ndividual "esponsi#ility:
The $ Ministers is collectively responsible to the loer house of the legislatureE It policy decisions collectively and it collectively goes out of
office hen it loses thee of the loer house of the legislatureE ! minister may e7press his disagreement policy hen it is discussed in the
cabinet meeting= but he has to defend and support the cabinet takes the decisionE ! minister is also individually responsible to the P for the
acts of omission and commission of his departmentE
%. Politi!al Homo&eneity:
The ministers= normally being members of political party= share the same ideology and approachE Even hen there is a c government= the
ministers are committed to a common minimum programmeE & single party government and a coalition government= there is a fair amount of
h and cooperation among the ministersE %oever= a single party government is homogeneous than a multy#party coalition government=
'. Harmony #et(een )*e!utive and +e&islature:
In a Parliamentary government the ministers are dran from the legislatureE !s ministers= they are part of the e7ecutiveE They also remain
members of the legislatureE Thus the dual identity of ministers con to a harmonious relationship beteen the e7ecutive and the legislatureE
,. "i&idity of Party -is!ipline:
In a Parliamentary government= the party discipline is rigidE The members of a political party hether in poer or in opposition are reIuired
to defend and support the stand of their party on any issue both in the legislature and outsideE
.. +eadership of the Prime /inister:
The Prime Minister is the leader of the $ of MinistersE 8n his advice= the ministers are appointed and droppedE They stay in during his
pleasureE %e presides over the meetings of the cabinetE %e e7ercises preponderant influence in domestic policy as ell as foreign policyE
%e is more poerful and important than any other member of the cabinetE It has been rightly observed that Uhe @Prime Mi is central to its
@ministryPsB birth= central to its life and central to its deathEU
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