Source: The Hindu
The story so far:
The NDA won the Lok Sabha elections with 293 seats and 43.3% vote share.
The opposition bloc INDIA won 234 seats and 41.6% vote share.
Other parties won 16 seats and 15% vote share.
First Past the Post System (FPTP)
The candidate with the most votes wins in each constituency.
Advantages: Simple and stable government.
Disadvantages: May not accurately reflect vote share.
Proportional Representation (PR)
Seats are awarded based on vote share.
The most commonly used PR system is the ‘party list PR’ where voters vote for the party (and not individual candidates) and then the parties get seats in proportion to their vote share.
Advantages: More representative government.
Disadvantages: May lead to unstable coalitions and proliferation of small parties.
Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMPR)
Combines FPTP and PR systems.
Used in Germany and New Zealand.
Under this system, there is one candidate who is elected through the FPTP system from each territorial constituency. There are also additional seats that are •lled based on various parties’ percentage of votes.
International Practices
PR system is used in some democracies like South Africa and Netherlands.
MMPR system is used in Germany.
Way Forward
Law commission recommended MMPR on an experimental basis.
MMPR could be implemented for a portion of seats in each state.
This would address concerns about representation while maintaining stability.
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