UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 2 Q14: model answer

In July 2022 Droupadi Murmu became President after an indirect vote by about 4,800 MPs and MLAs. In April 2022 Emmanuel Macron was re-elected by about 18.8 million French voters in a direct run-off. Same title, very different routes.

India

• Article 54: an electoral college of elected MPs and elected MLAs of States, Delhi and Puducherry; nominated members and Legislative Council members excluded.
• Article 55: proportional representation by single transferable vote, secret ballot.
• Value of votes: an MLA's vote is weighted by his State's 1971 population; MPs' votes together equal all MLAs' votes. This keeps a balance between the Union and States.
• Five-year term, eligible for re-election; disputes go to the Supreme Court (Article 71).

France

• Since a 1962 referendum, direct election by universal suffrage.
• Two-round system: if no candidate wins an absolute majority, the top two meet in a run-off two weeks later.
• Candidates need 500 signatures (parrainages) from elected officials across at least 30 departments.
• Five-year term since the 2000 referendum; maximum two consecutive terms since 2008.
• The Constitutional Council oversees the vote.

Comparison

• Mandate: India's President has an indirect mandate, suited to a nominal head; France's President is the real executive, so a popular mandate gives authority.
• Federal balance: India's college gives States a role; France is unitary.
• Majority: both need an absolute majority, India through transfers, France through a second round.

Critical assessment

• India's method avoids a rival power centre to the Prime Minister, but a ruling coalition usually decides the result in advance.
• France's method gives legitimacy but can produce cohabitation (a President and Prime Minister of opposite camps), as in 1986, 1993 and 1997.

Each system fits its own constitution: India wanted a head of State who symbolises the nation, France a head who governs it.