DEMERITS OF COALITION GOVERNMENT‌

The various disadvantages or weaknesses of the coalition governments are as follows:

1. They are unstable or prone to instability. The difference of opinion among the coalition partners on policy issues leads to the collapse of the government.

2. Leadership of the Prime Minister is a principle of parliamentary form of government. This principle is curtailed in a coalition government as the Prime Minister is required to consult the coalition partners before taking any major decision. The critics have called them as 'Super Prime Ministers’ or 'Ultra Prime Ministers’.

3. The Steering Committee or the Co-ordination Committee of the coalition partners acts as the 'Super-Cabinet’, and thereby it undermines the role and position of the cabinet in the functioning of the governmental machinery.

4. There is a possibility of the smaller constituents of the coalition government playing the role of a 'King-maker’. They demand more than their strength in the Parliament.

5. The leaders of regional parties bring in the regional factors in the national decision-making. They pressurise the central executive to act on their lines; otherwise, they would threaten to withdraw from the coalition.

6. The size of the Council of Ministers in a coalition government is generally quite large. This is because the ministry has to reflect all the constituents of the coalition. For example, the A.B. Vajpayee ministry of 1999 had 70-plus ministers and it was called as 'Jumbo Ministry’. This creates the problem of distribution of portfolios as well as the proper coordination among the members.

7. The members of coalition governments do not assume responsibility for the administrative failures and lapses. They play blame games and thereby escape from both collective responsibility as well as individual responsibility.