পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (দ্বিতীয় খণ্ড).pdf/১২১

এই পাতাটির মুদ্রণ সংশোধন করা প্রয়োজন।

94 বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্রঃ দ্বিতীয় খন্ড office on the very next day without justification, if something untoward happens and the majority of his party withdraws support over-night. It was this compelling necessity of keeping the majority of his party satisfied that made many a minister in the past depart from the straight path. We think that many of the ministers, who held office during the period under review, would have acted on the right lines if they were not so utterly dependent on their supporters. Further, under the presidential form, administrators can be selected from amongst the ablest of men available and not necessarily from amongst the members of the Parliament, while the Prime Minister under the parliamentary form may not be a man of great merit, nor can he, in his turn, select his ministers only on merit. There the criterion would be the support one gets from the party. But it must not be overlooked that the President under the presidential form cannot ignore the members of the legislature. On the other hand, he must have influence in the House sufficient to afford facilities required for the purposes of legislation, especially the passing of the appropriation bill. In the nature of things, he will be the leader of a party and he must also carry the other representatives of the people with him, as he is both the Head of the State and Prime Minister rolled into one. A very heavy responsibility, therefore, rests on him. Franklin D. Roosevelt” is reported to have stated before his first election: "The presidency is not merely an administrative office. That is the least of it........ It is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership. All our great Presidents were leaders of thought at times when certain historic ideas in the life of the nation had to be clarified......... without leadership, alert and sensitive to change, we are all bogged up or lose our way". It is, therefore, necessary for the President, under the presidential form, not only to lead the people but also to be led by them by responding to public opinion. These heavy responsibilities, we think, can be discharged only when the President is capable of acting with both courage and humility. As far as the administration goes, he is the government and is responsible for the acts of its ministers. It becomes his duty to see that his ministers do not, as did the ministers in the past, lose themselves in administrative detail instead of giving prominence to policy which is their principal domain. Having regard to the extent of responsibility that rests on the shoulders of the President, we feel that it is essential that he should have a Vice-President, with definite duties, to relieve him. We, therefore, consider that there should be a VicePresident to whom the President can delegate some of his functions. 50. The role which the legislature, under the presidential form, has to play is no less in importance as it controls the purse, legislates for the country and can criticize the administration. These duties of the members of the legislature should discharge with a sense of responsibility. Many of the parliamentarians examined before us laid stress on the possibility of deadlocks arising between the President and the legislature under the presidential system. They went to the extent of characterizing this possibility as more disastrous than the instability of government under the parliamentary form. The presidentialists on the other hand, were quite hopeful that, with a system of checks and balances, smooth government would be possible. As shall be seen in the chapter dealing

  • "President and Congress: The Conflict of Powers" by Joan Coyne Maclean. P-18.