It must be a seriously flawed system that leaves important matters of state to the discretion of an individual. The absurdity of the discretionary powers of a governor is an example. But controversies over gubernatorial decisions rarely touch upon this fundamental flaw. Instead, the political parties which gain by the governor?s decision hail it, while the losers cry foul. It has been the same with Mr Buta Singh?s decision to recommend the dissolution of the assembly and fresh elections in Bihar. In this case, however, it was not even quite clear if the National Democratic Alliance would have won the race for power in Patna. None of the contenders had been able to strike up a simple majority in the house and thereby stake its claim to form a government. Questions could still be raised as to why Mr Singh had not made his recommendation earlier. It is possible that the timing of his action had something to do with the NDA?s attempts to lure away the majority of the elected members of Mr Ram Vilas Paswan?s Lok Janshakti Party. Obviously, the governor acted swiftly to prevent the ?horse-trading?; what is not so clear is whether he did so without a political bias. But a worse situation could have been a repeat of what Jharkhand?s governor, Mr Syed Sibtey Razi, had done recently.

It is possible to argue endlessly about the motives behind Mr Singh?s action. There could always be different opinions on the political morality of such actions. What is crucial, though, is to ensure that governors act strictly in accordance with the law. Hence the need for plugging the legal loopholes. Also, it is important to make the law binding on the elected members of an assembly. The anti-defection law still has a few grey areas that allow them enough room for manipulation. Since electoral verdicts are increasingly fractured, the need for proper legal safeguards can hardly be overstated. The government should also look closely at options available with other parliamentary systems. One such option is the German system which makes it obligatory for a parliamentary no-confidence motion to be placed simultaneously with an alternative. This ensures that no-confidence motions do not become playthings in the hands of an irresponsible opposition. Similarly, the government could propose legislation that would enable a single largest party or an alliance to form the government in the event of a hung assembly. The idea should be to let the law, rather the governor, decide things in times of confusion.