Formation of cabinet: It has been often said that the parliament, in the parliamentary system of government, has four major functions: (1) Providing the cabinet and holding them responsible, (2) making laws, (3) controlling national expenditure and taxation and (4) criticism of national policy, scrutiny of central administration and procuring and redressing individual grievances. It is a shame that our parliament failed to elect a new prime minister even in the ninth round of voting. The country is being governed by a caretaker government since over three months.
Peace process: The inclusive institutional pillars of peace stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) such as the High-Level Peace Commission, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Commission on Disappearances have yet to be set-up to achieve the objective of a peaceful society. The dismantling of the Young Communist League´s para-military structure, returning seized property by the Maoists, and democratic control of Nepal Army are other key issues connected to the establishment of peace. Very little progress has been achieved so far to bring Maoist combatants under the control of the Special Committee. The tenure of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has been extended for the last time by another four months with the assumption that the integration process of combatants will be accomplished in this timeframe. This is good opportunity for both the government and the Maoists to resolve the combatants’ issues within the extended mandate of the UN body.
Federalism: The committee on state restructuring has proposed 14 units of the federal system mainly on the basis of ethnic composition and geography. However, the proposed provisions in this connection have attracted a lot of controversy. Ordinary people, tribal communities and even the political parties who are a part of the Constituent Assembly (CA) are divided on the issue. Serious concerns have been raised regarding the country’s unity and harmony among/between the people if the proposed federal states based on ethnicity is implemented. In my analysis, the main reason of the failure of CA to promulgate the constitution within the stipulated period of time was the issue of federalism. Frankly speaking, our political parties have hardly any competence to write a federal constitution and implement it properly. The problem will remain the same even in the days to come unless the political parties reach a consensus or make compromises for the sake of the common good of the people.
Any critical problem can be solved through the legal process. If the provisions embodied in the CPA and interim constitution had been duly complied, we would not have confronted a lot of obstacles. There are solid reasons as to why our state actors have time and again failed to address the problem on time and take the country forward.
We have clear cut agreements, most importantly the CPA and the interim constitution. These documents have clearly established a framework for constitutional and political changes and enshrined the guiding principles in the forms of preamble and directive principles agreed in earlier negotiations. Political actors should understand that without recognizing the role of law and without sufficient respect for the rule of law, no dispute can be settled. We should know that Nepal is not just a democracy but a constitutional democracy. We just do not have a government; it is a constitutional government. That means we have constitutional supremacy in which all organs of state, including their actors, are subordinate to the constitution. Unless the political actors realize this essence of rule of law, our problems will remain as it is.
The CA election established the primacy of participatory politics, unveiled the mandate for peaceful change, strengthened the social base of political power and compelled all political parties to pursue a politics of compromise and foster social democratization. The distribution of votes among the parties has given a mandate for building a shared future to be institutionalized through a new constitution, to abolish the disease of its authoritarian political culture, to engage the political actors into a politics of compromise to make a political transition from authoritarianism to constitutional democracy and to institutionalize responsive governance. Peace-building is connected to addressing the conflict residues, improving the human rights situation, eliminating conflict-producing causes such as inequalities, poverty, unemployment, unbalanced regional development and social and political exclusion and drafting a rational social contract that guarantees the rule of law.
For this, political actors should have sufficient consensus and judiciously compromise among themselves to accomplish the aforementioned mandate of the people and the constitution. The willingness of key political actors to recognize and learn from past errors is, thus, the need of the hour. The country will be able to take the peace process to a logical end and promulgate a new constitution within the extended mandate of CA if political actors show total sincerity toward the rule of law and past commitments. Pragmatic approach and ideas are equally important to take the process to a logical conclusion.
(Writer is a constitutional lawyer)
bhimarjun@gmail.com
Related story
Royal baby Archie: Prince Harry and Meghan name their 'bundle o...
