Real power is in the hands your MP not president

A photo of the 12th Parliament in session. [File, Standard]

This election, like the previous two, seems to be missing out on a critical aspect of the Constitution: The central and consequential place of Parliament. Instead, the country seems to only obsess over the presidency when, in constitutional terms, Parliament has more substantive and potent powers than those of the president.

The Constitution Assigns Parliament three substantive powers: Lawmaking, budget allocation and oversight. This largely sounds characteristic of what most parliaments in the world do - but it is not for a number of reasons. First, because of the emphasis in our constitution on the rule of law as a foundational principle of governance; second because of Parliament's significant power over the national purse; and third because Parliament has a quality control function of making sure the executive is properly implementing the law and prudently utilising public resources.