Transition Time

If you have been following the recently concluded US President election then you must be aware of the term “Transition Time” where the President elect has enough time to form his cabinet while the incumbent President still is the real President who takes decisions though in consultation with the President-elect.

However, in India, once the results for General Election is out there is hardly any time for transition between incumbent and the elected team. Most of the time after the result is declared goes in horse trading but that’s an altogether separate issue that I don’t want to concentrate right now.

Why can’t we in India also imbibe some form of “Transition Time” so that the leader of the Party-elect can take time to slowly get initiated in the nitty gritty of forming the cabinet and then planning policies that it want to implement when they eventually run the show. Most of the time we see that the President in India after getting the notification of the election results asks the incumbent Govt. to continue working as caretaker Govt. with only notional authority. While there is no concept of briefing the new leadership team on important security & national / international issues and considering them on the same footing as the ruling leadership team; on the other hand the ruling leadership is only a titular head. This creates a leadership vacuum during the transition of power in India.

The Presidential and the Prime ministerial form of democracy that exists in US and in India have their own nuances that may or may not allow the “Transition Time” in India that we see in US but it’s worth considering to follow this important concept in some shape or form suitable for democracy in India.

To me it’s following one of the best practices while not making structural changes.