The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 244
228 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN do the same. If something of that kind could be agreed to, there would be more time for work, for necessary rest, for reflection, etc. It is true that sometimes you can transact a little business also during these receptions and dinners, but the time consumed is out of proportion to any business that one transacts. There is another matter on which I felt very strongly. I think the time has come when the various groups in the Assembly should agree upon a pattern for the rotation of the Presidency among groups. For instance, the Afro-Asians - they have the voting power to bring this about anyhow and could claim the Presidency every alternate year. Smaller groups could have it every third year or once in four years. I think if some pattern were set, say a cycle of ten years or twelve years, and then each sizable group would know they would have it once or more during those years, they could produce a candidate that would be acceptable to all. In that connection, I do wish to say, and I think it is one of those things that really ought to be mended, that so far the Eastern Europeans have never held the Presidency. Now, I do not know any reason why that should have been so. Every year they have one chairman of committee and they have generally produced very capable chairmen. Why they cannot have the Presidency, I am unable to understand. After all, the President cannot, as it were, take the bit between his teeth and run away with the Assembly. I grant that there are occasions when the President can shift the burden of proof, as it were; there are ways of doing it: he can put a question in such a way that one side would need a majority to win the point rather than the other side. But, a President who is worth being elected does not have recourse to that kind of trick. In electing the President, you should make sure that you know the person and that you can rely on him. In every group there are always plenty of people who are expected to be and would be impartial when holding that high office, both as due to the office and as due to the individual himself. That is one of the legitimate grievances that the Eastern Europeans have, and nobody has an answer to that. That is only one instance but once a pattern were agreed upon, almost every year the President could be elected unanimously; though there should be a certain amount of consultation behind the scenes whether the individual the group intends to put forward would be generally acceptable.