CJ-led Government-40

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

The current political circus has shown that Nepal has not given birth to a capable leader to lead the country to a definite direction following the people’s mandate. Consequently, the elections to a new CA have created more problems than solved. Immediately after receiving the mandate from the people, both the wining political parties and losing parties started off abusing the mandate. The defeated parties were not for accepting the defeat whereas the winners got lost in their victory. Some of the leaders began thinking how to extract maximum benefits from the election victory. So, they started off talking about the people giving the new mandate not only to form a new CA but also to elect a new president and a vice-president. Within a month of the completion of the elections, the political leaders have been successful to defame themselves by wasting time on the political wrangling.

It has been almost a month since the elections were held, and two weeks after the completion of counting of votes for proportional representation, political parties have not been able to submit the list of the appointees they wanted to be at the CA for the proportional representation. Without declaring the names of the candidates for the proportional representation, a session of the new CA could not be called, as the Election Commission (EC) needed to submit the election results to the President, and the president has to call a first session of the new CA within 21 days from the day of the EC submitted the election results. Forming a new government was not possible without the session of the CA. The CA secretariat has made preparation for the CA sessions but the political leaders have been muddling with power struggle.

One party called RPP-Nepal had submitted a list of nominees but a number of dissident members of the party questioned the validity of the list, and complained to the EC that the chairman of the party had prepared the list not following the rules. So, the EC has asked the party to review the list. If the local media were to believe, chairman of RPP-Nepal Kamal Thapa had auctioned the slots; and he gave the names of the people that had bided the highest amount for the slots. Thus, the slots in the new CA became the tradable commodity. Other political parties also must have adopted the same strategy, as the political leaders have the characters of greedy merchants. Consequently, political parties have not been able to submit the lists of nominees to the EC even after extending the deadline for submitting the lists twice.

NC and CPN-UML leaders have not been able to submit the list of appointees for the proportional representation at the CA. They have submitted a list of names for the proportional representation for the 335 slots but they have not been able to screen off the candidates for preparing a final list. NC has to select 91 out of the 335 names it has submitted to the EC.  Similarly, CPN-UML has not been able to submit a list of appointees for the proportional representations, as claimants have been squabbling over the slots. CPN-UML has 84 slots to fill out but the claimants for the slots have been a number of times larger than what it have the slots. Senior leaders have been for giving the priority to their respective followers rather than to the sincere leaders that have been working honestly for the party.

UCPN-Maoist has not been for submitting a list of appointees to the proportional representation. It has 54 slots. Its leaders have been saying that the flaws in the election process have been the causes of their defeat in the elections. They have been demanding to set up a high-level commission on investigation into the irregularities in the election process. NC and CPN-UML leaders have not been willing to set up a high-level commission on probing into the flaws in the election process but they are wiling to take up the specific cases of irregularities in the election process. They were for taking up individual cases but they did not believe in the flaws in the entire process of the elections. They also pointed to the Election Court for lodging any complaints about the elections with evidences.

Some of the Madhesi and other political parties also going along with the UCPN-Maoist have been demanding a commission on probing into the irregularities in the election process. They have not been for submitting the lists of the appointees to the proportional representation in the CA until they have the satisfactory answers to the flaws in the election process. None of them was willing to go to the Election Court for settlement of the complaints.

Some leaders have been saying that the CA could work without the presence of some representatives in other words they could go ahead without the presence of the UCPN-Maoist and other political parties that have been following the UCPN-Maoist line. Talking to the anchor of the Radio Nepal morning program called ‘antar sambad,’ central committee member of NC Arjun Narsingh KC even said that with the people’s mandate they have recently received they could run the CA sessions, and use the State force to tackle the situation if the UCPN-Maoist and its followers were to disturb the political situation. It might be a quixotic adventure some winning political leaders dreamt of taking up.

CPN-UML leaders have been publicly demanding to share the positions of president, vice-president, prime minister, and chairman of CA between the two winning major political parties: NC and CPN-UML. Current president and vice-president were elected from the quota of the NC and the Madhesi political parties respectively, and the Chairman of the dissolved CA from the quota of the CPN-UML. So, CPN-UML leaders have claimed that they should have either the position of president or prime minister in the changed political context. Some serious NC leaders have been telling the CPN-UML leaders to take it easy and not to discuss the issue in public.

CPN-UML leaders could not directly claim for the position of prime minister, as the NC has the majority in the CA. So, they have been demanding elections to a new president and vice-president. Clearly, CPN-UML could have the position of president while giving the position of vice-president to the NC if elections were to be held. Then, the NC could form a new government taking the position of prime minister while CPN-UML would get the position of Chairman of the new CA.

Concerning the elections to a new president and a vice-president, the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 has no provision for such elections. It says, “President and vice-president would stay on until the CA promulgated a new constitution.”  So, the incumbent president has to issue an ordinance opening the way to the elections to a new president and a vice-president. Surely, none would sign off the document that would be the cause of his/her death.

Replying to the demand for elections to a new president and a vice-president, some of the NC leaders have publicly challenged the leaders of CPN-UML to go for impeaching the incumbent president garnering the two-thirds majority in the CA if they were really for elections to a new president and a vice-resident. Speaking at an interaction event in Kathmandu on December 13, 2013, central committee member Narayan Khadka said that the CPN-UML could impeach the president if its leaders were really for reelecting a president and a vice-president but none of the political parties had said anything about it in their election manifestoes; the people’s mandate was to ensure the much-awaited constitution within a year rather than replacing the President. (Source: nepalnews.com). That was an option to the CPN-UML. Was it a practical alternative?

Two-thirds majority means 401 votes in the CA. NC has earned 196 slots in the 601-slot CA. So, CPN-UML has to get all other political parties including the votes of 26 appointees together to launch the impeachment process. None could believe that the CPN-UML leaders would be capable of doing so, as bringing on board all the political parties for impeaching the incumbent president was next to impossible. However, leaders of the RPP-Nepal having 24 slots in the new CA also have been demanding the elections to a new president and a vice-president. Leaders of other political parties have not bothered to talk about the elections to a new president and a vice-president, yet. The President has to appoint 26 members to the CA on the recommendation of the prime minister. So, garnering the two-thirds majority in the current CA was impossible for the CPN-UML leaders. The conclusion was that the CPN-UML could get just the position of the chairman of the new CA if the NC were to disagree on electing a new president and a vice-president rather ready to face any challenge from anyone.

Why the CPN-UML leaders wanted the position of president. They have been scared of the NC being dictatorial if the president and the prime minister were to be of the NC. They have seen how the president had failed Prime Minster Prachanda and Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai. President Dr Ram Baran Yadav stopped Prime Minister Prachanda from firing the then chief of army staff Rukmangut Katuwal in 2009, and then the president did not issued a number of ordinances proposed by Prime minister Dr Bhattarai making him failed in a number of issues including the general elections Dr Bhattarai had called for in 2012. Thus, the president became the most powerful person, and acted as the cadre of the NC than the president of the country. The CPN-UML leaders did not want to see the repetition of the history, and openly came out to share the power.

NC leaders did not want to surrender the presidential position to the CPN-UML. Some of the NC leaders have said that if the CPN-UML were to form a new government let it do so, they would sit in the opposition but they were not for going to elect a new president. Speaking to the anchor of the Radio Nepal morning program called ‘antar sambad’, central committee member of NC Dr Ram Sharan Mahat said that if the CPN-UML were to form a new government let it do so, the NC would sit in the opposition. CPN-UML leaders knew that they were to go to such an extreme of electing a new president, as not only the NC but also the president would not let the CPM-UML work properly. The president had been instrumental in making anybody sitting as a prime minister a failure. They also knew that the NC sitting in the opposition in 2009 had made Prime Minister Prachanda the most impotent executive. So, the CPN-UML leaders were sure that the NC leaders would not let them work without going together with them. However, they wanted the share in the power brought by the elections results.

Senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Nepal has said that his party was ready to sit in the opposition bench if the NC were not to offer an honorable position to his party in the government; his party has the second position in the CA; the NC has been ignoring the political status of the CPN-UML. (Source: Radio Nepal morning news of December 20, 2013). The statement of the senior leader of the CPN-UML indicated that the power struggle between the NC and the CPN-UML has been intensified. Both the parties have been for extracting maximum benefits from the changed political situation. Both of them have ignored the crafting of a new constitution rather engaged in the power struggle that would lead them to ruin, as the UCPN-Maoist has been.

Struggle for power between the NC and the CPN-UML might go for a number of weeks if not months in the coming days delaying the crating of a new constitution. Nepalis have been disgusted with the politicians particularly the NC and the CPN-UML squabbling over the power. Nepalis had hoped that these winners in the elections would act fast and craft a new constitution within a year as they had committed to the voters. However, the current political wrangling has shown that a constitution might not be crafted in years to come. Political leaders have forgotten their commitments made to the public during the election campaigns. Currently, they have the mandate. They have been looking for extracting the maximum benefits from the mandate people have given them rather than working on crafting a new constitution.

The CPN-Maoist had already made a conclusion that a newly elected CA would not be able to craft a new conclusion. The conclusion might not be very far from the truth if the current squabbling of the political leaders over the power were to continue. The current activities of the NC and the CPN-UML have clearly indicated that they have already forgotten their duty of crafting a new constitution, and they are for grabbing power by hook or crook.

These winning political guys would have a concrete excuse for not crafting a new constitution but hanging on to power for a number of years if the Maoists and the Madhesis were not to sit at the CA, and the CPN-Maoist were to launch a movement against a new CA. Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya said that his party would launch a street movement if an all-party roundtable conference were not to be held for building a consensus on all political issues, and then crafting a new constitution, as his party did not believe in the elected new CA crafting a constitution.

UCPN-Maoist and Madhesi political leaders have been making a stand for not taking part in the CA if a high-level commission on investigation into the irregularities in the election process were not to be set up. They also have said that they would not recognize the new CA without the probe into the flaws in the election process rather they would launch a movement.

NC and CPN-UML on one side and the UCPN-Maoist and Madhesis on the other side are heading to a political showdown while the CPN-Maoist might sit on the fence. The election defeat of the UCPN-Maoist and the Madhesis had been a great gain for the CPN-Maoist leaders. They also believed that they were right not participating in the elections, as the parliamentary political parties were crook and they would do anything to win the elections. The CPN-Maoist would launch a street movement if an all-party roundtable conference were not to be called whereas UCPN-Maoist and Madhesis would take the issue of setting up a high level probe commission on irregularities in the election process to the streets.

Leaders of the major political parties have started off talking at the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPC). It had been a playground of the so-called top leaders. HLPC had been a culprit. It had been the mechanism that had failed in crafting a new constitution. It had created an interim election council of ministers that had held the elections that had created a number of problems than solved, and had almost led to the uncertainty of crafting a new constitution. HLPC had been an instrument that the political leaders could play for their benefits. HLPC had ignored the CPN-Maoist, and pushed it out of the elections to a new CA. Keeping the CPN-Maoist out of the elections had been the great mistake in the political history of Nepal.

Talks have been going on to continue the current HLPC or to create a new one. However, political leaders needed to learn a lesson from the immediate past that any HLPC could not be successful if it were not to include all political parties. So, political leaders should bring on board the CPN-Maoist and other minor political parties to sort out the problems of crafting a new constitution. If the HLPC had listened to the CPN-Maoist and had talked to its leaders, they would not have the current political problems. Currently, NC and CPN-UML have been checkmated despite the so-called election victory and defeat of others.

President Dr Ram Baran Yadav had called on all political leaders to build a consensus on crafting a new constitution following the current political context. President Yadav had been an obstacle to crafting a new constitution in the past, and he might be an obstacle again to craft a new constitution if the CPN-UML leaders were to insist on electing a new president. If the president were sincere to the welfare of the country and he was really willing the political parties build a consensus on the disputed issues then the president would be well off to quit the office paving the way for electing a new president as the CPN-UML and other political party leaders wanted.

Winner political leaders have been meddling with the list of appointees to the proportional representation in the CA. The EC has extended the deadline twice for submitting the lists of the names taking the names of nominees out of the previously submitted lists to the proportional representation. Each political party should have prepared a list of candidates for proportional representation and submit it to the EC on the agreement on the names in order that would get the priority in getting the appointment to the slots in the CA. Such a provision would have avoided the hassle of preparing a final list of appointees to the slots for the proportional representation but leaders themselves did not want to do so, as they would not have an opportunity to appoint their near and dear ones to the slots for the proportional representation in the CA.

Immediately after the counting of votes, leaders should have started off working on the strategy of making appointments to the slots for the proportional representation in the CA, forming a new government, and on crafting a new constitution but they wasted time in days and weeks simply waiting until everything was done concerning the elections. Then, they forgot what they had to do first but focused on how to grab the power and put the followers in the key positions of administration, and how to amass a large amount of money for the future elections. So, immediately, they have the problems of submitting the lists of appointees to the slots for the proportional representation, of calling the first session of the CA, forming a new government, electing a new president and a vice-president, and building a consensus on crafting a new consensus.

NC and CPN-UML together have got the majority in the newly elected CA; so, they could easily form a new government, and call a session of the new CA. However, they could not move forward even an inch in calling the first session of the CA. They have not been able to build a consensus on going together to craft a new constitution. They have been squabbling over the elections to a new president and a new vice-president. They have not thought about the task of building a consensus of all political parties on crafting a new constitution but some of the so-called leaders have been talking about the two-thirds majority but they could not move an inch to this end, too.

Speaking to the reporters in New Delhi, India on Monday, December 16, 2013, Minister for Foreign Affairs of India has said that all political parties should craft a new constitution; so, none of the political parties should remain out of the CA; the elections to a new CA have been the democratic exercises; then, the political leaders need to go together to craft an inclusive constitution; the mixed electoral system has given the opportunity to the smaller parties to be in the CA. (Source: gorkhapatra of December 17, 2013)

Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya said that his party was ready to join the government if a roundtable conference were to be held, and build a consensus on crafting a new constitution. The central committee of the CPN-Maoist concluded that the newly elected CA would not be able to craft a new constitution. CPN-UML leaders would launch a movement if the CA were to craft a new constitution following the two-thirds majority. They have invited the UCPN-Maoist leaders to join the street movement quitting the CA. (Source: xinhua news of December 16, 2013)

On Monday, December 16, 2013, speaking to the reporters to inform on the decisions made by the central committee of his party during the weeklong central committee meeting, chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya said that his party had stayed away from the elections to the CA; and his party revoked all agreements including the 12-point understanding and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. "The country can find an outlet only through an all-party political conference," said Vaidhya at the press conference held in Kathmandu. He claimed that only such a conference could solve all sorts of misunderstandings and conflicts among the parties. "The party had kept open the door for dialogue with all sides. Let's talk about peace and statute making by holding the all-party meeting. We are ready to collaborate," he said. Chairman Vaidhya said that although there was a chance of crafting a new constitution but it would not be different from the constitution of 1990, and it would not address the issues of nationality, democracy and livelihood of the people, as the NC and CPN-UML had almost two-thirds majority in the new CA. He also said that his party could have a working alliance with the UCPN-Maoist and other parties if they were to join the street protests following the CPN-Maoist-led alliance. (Source: gorkhapatraonline.com, December 17, 2013)

The high-level political delegation led by Vice-minister of International Department of Communist Party of China (CPC) Ai Ping currently in Nepal separately met with the leaders of the CPN-Maoist and the UCPN-Maoist, and leaders of other political parties. The delegates met with Chairman of UCPN-Maoist at his Lazimpat residence, and leaders of the CPN-Maoist at a restaurant on December 18, 2013. The Chinese delegates suggested that the Nepalese Maoists should seriously work together with other political parties in the changed political context after the elections, and should craft a new constitution. (Source: gorkhapatra of December 19, 2013)

Obviously, the northern and the southern neighbors did not want any political deadlock not to mention the political chaos in Nepal, as Nepal would be the land of the opportunity for the political dissidents to work against the Chinese rule in Tibet, and terrorists would use Nepal as a conduit to pass to India and launch terrorist assaults in India if political instability were to continue in Nepal.

The Nepalese media including the state-run Radio Nepal have been exaggerating the status of the RPP-Nepal that has received 24 slots in the newly elected CA through the votes done for the proportional representation stating it became the fourth largest power in the CA. How could the RPP-Nepal be the fourth largest power in the CA when it has less than five percent votes in the 601-member CA? Anybody could say that it has the fourth largest number of slots in the CA. Stating the RPP-Nepal the fourth largest power in the CA was absolutely wrong. Even the UCPN-Maoist having 80 slots could not play a significant role in the CA without the support of other political parties. So, UCPN-Maoist was not the third power in the current CA. UCPN-Maoist has the third position in the CA counting the number of slots it has in the CA.

The winner leaders of NC and CPN-UML should make decisions on electing a new president or a vice-president or not, calling a new session of the CA, forming a new government, and moving fast ahead in crafting a new constitution without delay. They have already damaged their reputation squabbling over the power sharing, and achieving the political checkmate despite the majority they have in the CA. These leaders could not change themselves not to mention others maintaining the never changing habit of grabbing power and stealing everything possible from the State treasury and from the people’s pockets. Nepalis have been disgusted with the political leaders with low moral values and principles. Once they were elected they would go to any extent to be ministers and steal whatever possible from the people’s pockets and the State treasury. This is a deadly disease the Nepalese politicians have been suffering from.

Nepalese political leaders could make Nepal a failed State if they were not to craft a new constitution within a year. Every political leader needed to discard the habit of thinking s/he was right to make a stand for his/her belief not others. Every political party needed to sacrifice something to make a new constitution a reality. If the political leaders were to use the language of threat, and they continued to meddle with the people’s mandate, they would surely make Nepal a failed state. So, starting from the largest party to the smallest political party, every party needed to sit together and ascertain how they could contribute to craft a new constitution. Every party needed to think how it could step back from a stand made for its cause, and make a compromise on all matters for building a consensus on crafting a new constitution. Using the current people’s mandate, the so-called largest political parties could run the country with a stick in their hands without meeting the demands of the Madhesis, ethnic people, and underprivileged people for some time but such an administration would lead the country to disintegration. Today is the 21^st century; Nepalis are not willing to go back to the administration of the twentieth century, and live under the repression without having all sorts of human rights. Nepalis would seek the rights to choose their destiny without going away from the mother country.

December 20, 2013