Is it time for proportional representation?

CategoryPolity

Last Updated11/06/2024

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won 293 seats with a 43.3% vote share while the Opposition bloc INDIA (including Trinamool Congress) has secured 234 seats with a 41.6% vote share. Other regional parties and independents polled around 15% but ended up with only 16 seats in total.

The First Past the Post System (FPTP) is followed in elections to the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies.
- Under this system, the candidate who receives more votes than any other in a constituency is declared elected.
- This is the system that is followed for elections in democracies like the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.
- The primary advantage of the FPTP system is that it is simple and the most feasible method in a large country like India.
FPTP provides greater stability to the executive in our parliamentary democracy because
- the ruling party/coalition can enjoy a majority in the Lok Sabha/Legislative assembly without obtaining a majority of the votes (more than 50%) across constituencies.
The issue with FPTP is that it may result in over or under representation of political parties when compared to their vote share.
- In the first three elections after independence, the Congress party won close to 75% of seats in the then Lok Sabha with a 45-47% vote share

The Proportional Representation (PR) system ensures representation of all parties based on their vote share.
The most commonly used PR system is where voters vote for the party (and not individual candidates) and then the parties get seats in proportion to their vote share.
There is usually a minimum threshold of 3-5% vote share for a party to be eligible for a seat.
The main criticism against the PR system is that it could potentially result in instability as no party/coalition may obtain a majority to form the government in our democracy.
Further, it may result in the proliferation of political parties based on regional, caste, religious and linguistic considerations that may promote casteist or communal voting patterns.
In order to maintain balance between stability and proportionate representation, the system of Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMPR) can be considered.

Presidential democracies like Brazil and Argentina have the party list PR system.
So do parliamentary democracies like South Africa, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
In Germany, that follows the MMPR system, out of the 598 seats in the Bundestag (their equivalent of our Lok Sabha), 299 seats (50%) are filled from constituencies under the FPTP system.
The voters also provide their preference for a party in the ballots. The balance 299 seats (50%) are filled by apportioning them amongst parties that secure at least 5% votes, based on their percentage of votes.
Similarly, in New Zealand, out of the total 120 seats in the House of Representatives, 72 seats (60%) are filled through the FPTP system from territorial constituencies.
The remaining 48 seats (40%) are allotted to various parties that secure at least 5% votes, based on their vote share.
This system is likely to provide the required stability in a parliamentary democracy like India while also ensuring representation for all parties based on their vote share.

The law commission in its 170th report, ‘Reform of the electoral laws’ (1999), had recommended the introduction of the MMPR system on an experimental basis.
It had suggested that 25% of seats may be filled through a PR system by increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha.
While it had recommended to consider the entire nation as one unit for PR based on vote share, the appropriate approach would be to consider it at every State/UT level considering our federal polity.
It is also pertinent to note that the delimitation exercise for increasing the number of seats is due based on the first Census to be conducted after 2026.
- The population explosion that happened in our country during the last five decades has been uneven among various regions.
- Determining the number of seats in Lok Sabha solely in proportion to population may go against the federal principles of our country and may lead to a feeling of disenchantment in the Southern States
However, in the event of increasing the seats during the delimitation exercise, the MMPR system may be considered for incremental seats or at least 25% of the total seats to be filled from each State/UT.