New Delhi: Pointing to "serious advantages" in parliamentary democracy, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said time has come to revive the debate on adopting the "Presidential kind system" in India wherein people would directly elect their executives.
Tharoor, a former UN diplomat and former Union minister of state for external affairs, said there were "serious disadvantages" in parliamentary democracy adopted by India after it attained independence in 1947.
"I think it is now time to revive the debate on adopting a presidential kind of system where people directly elect their representatives not only in Delhi but everywhere," he said.
He was speaking after releasing a book 'India Since 1950' edited by French political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot who specialises in South Asia affairs.
Tharoor said the country needed strong executives not just at the Centre but in every state as well as at panchayat level.
"Chief Ministers should be elected directly by the people and also mayors. Even panchayat leaders should be directly elected by the people," he said.
He said even "autocratic" systems like China have direct elections where mayors are directly elected by the people.
Tharoor said democracy is vital in a country like India and it cannot be challenged.
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