"HOD, but we have already concluded on what we want." One professor said that very calmly, but everyone who was present at that table already knew that the meeting was finished. We were discussing some things in the department, and after nearly an hour of discussion and arguments, the lecturers have already concluded on what to do. Then, the HOD of the whole department shock his head. "I have listened to what everyone has said. But my decision is final."
I could remember how someone quietly folded the paper in front of him and how he asked me to see him in his office in the next twenty minutes. Nobody argued again. It was a small departmental meeting, not government, but that moment helped me to understand why unchecked power makes me so uncomfortable. Because why call a meeting when you have already made a conclusion within you?
Having a veto power is different from just being a simple leader with authority. It can make just a single person to stop a decision that the rest has already agreed on. And over time, I have gotten to realize why such power can exist. As a leader, there might be an urgent need to stop or block a harmful decision and safeguard a very important interest, or act when the other members are taking a discussion that won't favor the rest. And on the other hand, such power can become very dangerous when there is no more meaningful way to reverse it or question it.
From what I have seen, the issue might not be that the leader is wrong. Everyone and anyone can be wrong... but what I see to be the issue is what happens now to turn out to make their position make being wrong expensive for everyone else.
The HOD was a very good man. He actually concluded the meeting on a good note and told each staff member to get home safely. Yet, after he made that sentence that his decision was being final looks somehow which I might not forget easily. Because at that moment, I realized that good intentions cannot replace checks and balances. The person we call our leader today might be the wisest man, and tomorrow, he might make some mistakes. And if anyone cannot correct such mistakes, then the quality of such a leader will be a thing of concern even more than the strength of the whole system.
So, to answer the question of if just one person should carry a Veto power. I would say maybe in a very limited situation, perhaps. But what I would never be comfortable with is that just a single person should wield all the power that leaves the the rest of the people with silence. Because I still remember the look of the people's faces in that room. The meeting lasted for an hour or more, but nobody's decision had really been heard, which made it look like they just wasted their precious time.
Thank you for reading.
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