Conflicting Comments On Constitution Writing

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Responsible political leaders have been publicly giving conflicting comments on whether the Constituent Assembly would write a constitution on scheduled or not. Writing a constitution and completing the peace process are the two sides of the same coin. Integrating the rebel combatants is the part of the peace process. However, recent conflicting comments of the responsible political leaders on writing a constitution and integrating the rebel combatants have cast doubts in the mind of people that whether these political leaders are really sincere in writing a new constitution.

On Saturday, August 1, 2009, speaking at a program held to commemorate the 12th death anniversary of Communist Leader Tulsi Lal Amatya, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has said that the promulgation of the new constitution would be done only after the integration of Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army; the people have started to doubt whether the new constitution would be drafted in time due mainly to the increasing differences among the political parties; the new candidate for the position of Chairman of the Constitutional Committee will soon be finalized after holding discussion with other parties according to the state-run newspaper “The Rising Nepal” of August 2, 2009.

The position of Chairman of the Constitutional Committee has been vacant since the then Chairman Madhav Nepal quit the position for the position of the Prime Minister. Mr. Madhav Nepal has never been serious to fill the vacant position of the Constitutional Committee causing delay in discussing the concept papers on and drafts of a new constitution.

Mr. Madhav Nepal has been very smart to grab the power but very lousy to run the administration. He has grab the power taking the advantage of the inept Chairman of his Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) Jhalanath Khanal. Chairman Khanal is the winner in the two elections: one for the seat in the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature-parliament and another for the Chair of the CPN-UML whereas Mr. Nepal has lost the elections for the Constituent Assembly in two constituencies. If the CPN-UML has worked democratically then Mr. Khanal would have been the Prime Minister and Nepalis would not need to feel shame on having a Prime Minister rejected by the voters in two constituencies. Despite his power to manipulate his party colleagues, Mr. Nepal has been very incompetent in handling the diarrhea epidemic spreading as a bush fire in the mid-western districts such as Jajarkot, Rukum, Dailekha and Baitadi even after spending millions of rupees on sending prescription drugs and medics to the diarrhea epidemic affected areas. Prime Minister Nepal and his health minister have spent Rs 4 million for riding a helicopter to the diarrhea-affected areas. Then, he sent Health Minister Umakanta Chaudhary to Germany for attending a conference at the cost of the German Agency called GTZ for a week instead of sending him to the epidemic–affected areas of the mid-western Nepal.

His Defense Minister has publicly told that the Indian ministers have agreed to lift the embargo on shipping arms to Nepal provoking the UNMIN and the leaders of the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) to protest the imports of arms before the completion of the peace process in Nepal making Prime Minister Madhav Nepal the need for addressing the parliament and for saying the import of arms from India is not on the agenda of the government on July 28, 2009. Is it not a possible attempt of Defense Mister Bidhya Bhandari to disrupt the peace process and then the writing of a new constitution?

Recently, Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala has said that the government should not integrate the Maoist combatants into the Nepali Army. What has led him to say so, he has not disclosed but in the capacity of the then Prime Minister, he has signed off the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Chairman of the then Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) Prachanda agreeing to integrate the rebel combatants into the Nepal Army. So, Nepalis have started doubting whether Mr. Koirala’s statement on not integrating the rebel combatants into the Nepal is a ploy to disrupt the writing of a new constitution or not.

As the senior most political leader, NC President Koirala needed to embrace all political leaders and lead them to complete the peace process he has started with the leaders of the UCPN-Maoist and accomplish the writing of a new constitution as scheduled. However, in the heat of anger of not being able to be the first President of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, he has been indulging in dirty politics of changing government and making a person of his like a Prime Minister. Thus, the most senior leader Koirala has been contributing to disrupt the writing of a new constitution rather than expediting it.

NC President Koirala would have been a more successful politician if he has let his party colleagues to join the government led by the then CPN-Maoist leaders than indulging in the dirty politics of simply tearing down the government convincing other small political party leaders of the Maoists capturing the state power through a military coupe and so on. Every person having some knowledge of politics or regular reader of political news can safely say that any democratically elected government has difficulty in managing to stay on in power in the third term but most of the governments fall even in their first term and surely after the third term. So, the Maoists are sure to fall from the power but other political leaders particularly the leaders of the NC and the CPN-UML forcing them to quit the government have done harms to the NC and the CPN-UML in the long run. The impact of such not visionary leaders indulging in unscrupulous politics will be seen only after the general elections.

The NC leaders not joining the government led by the Maoists and then engaging in tearing down the Maoist-led government have done more damage to the NC than the Maoists. Surely, the leaders of the major and old leading political party such as NC will have to take the blame for not completing the writing of a new constitution if it does not happen on schedule for any reasons. So, they have to be more serious about writing a new constitution than any leaders of other political parties. However, their activities do not show that they are concerned with the writing of a new constitution very much.

The NC leaders have been very smart to oppose anything the Maoist government has attempted to do something in the national interest even damaging the reputation of their party. For example, the Maoist government has appointed Nepalis to the positions of the priests vacated by the Indian priests at the Pashupati even saying that the Maoist government has appointed the Maoist sympathizers to the positions of the priests.  However, Nepalis having feeling of any proud of being Nepalis have welcomed this decision of the Maoist government on appointing Nepalis to the priests at the Pashupati in Kathmandu. The news published by different newspapers but aired by the state-run Radio Nepal on August 4, 2009 has it that the government is sending a team to south India to recruit priests to the Pashupati shaming on the Nepalis having some nationalistic feelings.

The campaign of the NC leaders for convincing leaders of other political parties that the Maoists have been preparing for capturing the state power has paid off. The campaign has reached the climax when the Maoist government has taken decision on taking the actions against the most indiscipline Chief of Army Staff Rukmangad Katuwal, as he has failed in following the orders of the Defense Minister and even of the Prime Minister. He also has failed in submitting his personal dossier to the Supreme Court of Nepal for finding out whether he has committed a crime in reducing his age by the direct order of the then king Birendra or not.

Then, the most undemocratic thing the NC leaders have done is taking all the political leaders including the leaders of the CPN-UML to the ceremonial President and asking him to take direct actions against the decision of the elected Prime Minister on firing the Chief of Army staff Rukmangad Katuwal for not following the government’s instructions. No politically sensible person will believe in the NC leaders saying the President’s action in saving the job of Mr. Katuwal is constitutional and democratic. Thus, the leaders of ostensibly the most Democratic Party have placed the ceremonial President above the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 violating any norms of democratically functioning state.

Chairman of the CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has his share in materializing the violation of the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007. According to the Maoist leaders and then Home Minister and Leader of CPN-UML Bamdev Gautam, Chairman Khanal has agreed on taking actions against indiscipline Army Chief Rukmangad Katuwal. Accordingly, the government has initiated the actions against the army chief. However, Chairman Khanal has betrayed his colleague and the Maoist government going with the NC leaders to urge the ceremonial President to act against the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 for directly writing a letter to the army chief ordering him to stay on in the job on May 3, 2009 paving the way for Madhav Nepal defeated in the elections for the seat of the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature-parliament in two constituencies to be the Prime Minister. Then, Army Chief Katuwal privately has claimed the unconstitutional action of the President as his victory over the Maoists and even claimed that he has made Madhav Nepal a Prime Minister.

The next thing Chairman Khanal has done is to agree on the appointment of Mr. Madhav Nepal made by NC President Girija Prasad Koirala. Mr. Khanal has the valid claim for the position of Prime Minister as the elected member of the legislature-parliament and the elected Chairman of his party but NC President Koirala has not favored him for the position of Prime minister considering his inclination to the Maoists. However, he has surrendered his political rights to be the Prime Minister to Mr. Madhav Nepal: the appointee of NC President Girija Koirala without fighting for his rights. Thus, Chairman Khanal has been almost like a third gender person.

The Maoist leaders have been charging the leaders of the NC and the CPN-UML of not being serious about writing a new constitution and completing the peace process. The current activities of the NC and CPN-UML leaders have led Nepalis to believe in the charges made by the Maoists against the leaders of the NC and CPN-UML, as they have shown least interest in electing a Chairman of the Constitutional Committee and completing the integration of the Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army as it has been the part of the peace process. NC President Girija Koirala has been even speaking against the integration of the rebel combatants into the Nepal Army. Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has said that the promulgation of a new constitution will be done only after the integration of the Maoist combatants into the Nepal Army at the same time doing nothing for the integration. However, only the Constituent Assembly has the authority to promulgate a new Constitution not the Prime Minister; so saying the promulgation of a new constitution will be done only after the integration of Maoist combatants with the Nepal Army, the Prime Minister has encroached on the rights of the Constituent Assembly and subjected himself to the contempt of the Constituent Assembly.

The Maoist leaders have been charging the leaders of the NC and the CPN-UML of attempting to make the ceremonial President the active President. The Maoists have pointed out their fingers at the Prime Minister appointing a special class official to the office of the President has made a step forward to set up an administrative office at the president’s office parallel to the office of the Prime Minister. The Maoists have said that such a high-ranking civil officer is not necessary at the office of the ceremonial president. The Maoists also have said that the Army Chief meeting the President without informing the Prime Minister has made another attempt to make the President active in the state administration.

All these unhealthy political maneuvers and administrative moves of the NC and CPN-UML leaders have led the Nepalis to believe the Maoists in their saying that the NC and CPN-UML leaders have been engaged in imposing a state of emergency and then the presidential rule in the country; so they have been not serious about the completing of the peace process and the writing of a new constitution, too.

However, the Maoists also have been saying that they will not allow the NC and CPN-UML leaders to impose any sorts of the presidential rule in the country. The Maoists also have said that the NC and CPN-UML leaders have anticipated the Maoists resorting in violence making an excuse for them to impose the presidential rule and then use the army to finish off the rebels. The Maoists say that they are fully committed to the peace process and the peaceful movement to the disappointment of the NC and CPN-UML leaders. Now, they have only one option that is to delay the crafting a new constitution and prolonging the life of the alliance of the NC and the CPN-UML leaders for the misrule in the country.

August 5, 2009.