Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Stays On-Part XI

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

May 27 is coming soon, the term of Constituent Assembly runs out on this day, it needs to promulgate a new constitution before its term runs out. The Constituent Assembly acting as the parliament has passed the bill on the 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 for shortening the provision made for procedures of completing the writing of a new constitution. The chance of the Constituent Assembly might be able to promulgate a new constitution on or before May 27, 2012 has increased. However, on the one hand the political storm has been taking up on the other hand Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has been expanding his cabinet to making it as many-party as possible. Finally, as anticipated, the political leaders have worked on extending the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) for another three months defying the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on this matter. Thus, the political fervor caused by the approaching deadline for promulgating a new constitution might be cooled down to certain extent. However, what the political turn takes remains to be seen.

Following the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007, the Constituent Assembly needs to promulgate a new constitution on or before May 27, 2012, and then the Constituent Assembly dies automatically keeping the government in place for holding elections following a new constitution promulgated by the Constituent Assembly. The government headed by Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai (if he stays on) holds elections for a new president, and a parliament means the House of Representatives, and the National Assembly reportedly the political parties have agreed on; then the parliament elects a new prime minister and so on.

The good sign of the Constituent Assembly promulgating a new constitution on or before May 27 is that the parliament has passed the bill on the 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 for removing all the long procedures of completing a new constitution. On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the parliament has passed the bill on the 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 by the overwhelming votes of the lawmakers. Out of 595 lawmakers, 533 lawmakers voted for the amendment and three lawmakers voted against it. Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Posta Bahadur Bogati presented the bill to the parliament. House Speaker Subhas Nemwang put it to vote after none of lawmakers had any doubt about it. In fact, once the major political-party leaders agreed on it, any questions concerning the bill would be only a formality. So, lawmakers did not waste time on discussing the bill clause wise. Only the lawmakers belonging to the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal voted against the bill on the 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution.

Lawmaker belonging to Rastriya Janashakti Party Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani has said that the parliament passing the bill on the 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution curtails the rights of the Nepalis to drafting a new constitution. Following the provision made in the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007, the parliamentarians have to take the draft of a new constitution to the people for feedback, and lawmakers have to hold clause wise discussion of the draft of a new constitution before passing it. The 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution has removed all these provisions made in the Interim Constitution.

Lawmaker Sunil Prajapati belonging to Nepal Workers and Peasants Party has said that the tendency of the four power centers such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF concluding a new constitution is not a good sign but his party won’t oppose such a tendency in view of the time constraint, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 20, 2012 writes. So, lawmakers belonging to his party voted for the bill on the 12th amendment to the Interim Constitution.

In a press conference held in Kathmandu on Saturday, May 19, 2012, representing 19 small parties, Chairman of Rastriya Janamorcha Chitra Bahadur KC has said that the top Nepalese political leaders should be aware of India in the name of federalizing Nepal has been actually leading the country to disintegration breaking up the ethnic harmony among the Nepalis, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 20, 2012 writes. Mr. KC has been trying to swim against the waves of the federalism the Nepalis have fought for. He has been one of the symbols of the regressive forces. The 19 political parties have insignificant representation in the Constituent Assembly, and surely in the parliament, too. So, they don’t have the people’s mandate for going against the federalism. The regressive forces must have provided this guy called Chitra Bahadur KC with much needed funding for running a campaign against federalism. He has called for a shutdown of Nepal in protest against federalism. These guys representing 19 so-called fringe parties instigated by the regressive forces do not want to understand that only the federalism can save the country from the political chaos.

On Saturday, May 19, 2012, the Parliament unanimously passed the proposal for the suspension of the Rule 67 of the Constituent Assembly cum Parliament Business Operation Regulations of 2065 (2008) following the Rule 157 of the same Regulations for the time being, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 20, 2012 writes. The proposal for suspending the Rule 67 has been necessary, as the 72 hours required for a lawmaker to notice whether s/he wishes to make any amendment to a bill after concluding general discussions on it in the parliament could not be sustained after the 12th Amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal. Chief Whip of UCPN-Maoist Dev Prasad Gurung presented the proposal to the parliament for suspending the Rule while Lawmaker Jayaram Yadav belonging to the Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Nepal seconded the proposal.

The faction of the NC led by senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and the third faction of NC other than the factions led by President Sushil Koirala and senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba have demanded the party leadership to pull the NC ministers out of the government immediately, as the decision on joining the government has been made without any discussion on it at the central working committee of the party; the decision on joining the government was personal, Chief Whip of the party Laxman Ghimire, said, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 20, 2012 writes. Chief Whip Ghimire accused the party leadership of acting going beyond the party’s policies and principles joined the Bhattarai government; in addition, he has charged the party leadership of becoming the tail of UCPN-Maoist and knowingly or unknowingly following the issue of ethnicity. Mr. Ghimire had served the government of the Panchayat regime as a consultant, and after the successful people’s movement of 1990 against the Panchayat regime, he became the NC activist. Another NC leader Govinda Raj Joshi has blamed the party leadership for abandoning the collective leadership, and joining the government following some individuals’ vested interest. A corruption case filed by the Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against Govinda Raj Joshi has been at the Special Court for hearing. If Mr. Joshi is convicted he might need to serve a jail term and pay fines as his colleague Chirangivi Wagle did. Another NC cadre Sunil Bhandari has accused the party leadership of accepting the criminal activities of the UCPN-Maoist by joining the government led by Vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist Dr. Baburam Bhattarai.

Some 41 NC lawmakers of the Terai-Madhesh origin have called on the party leadership to make five provinces such as Koch-Birat, Mithila, Bhojpuriya-Simraungadh, Awadhi-Lumbini and Tharuhat out of the Terai-Madhesh region. They want the NC party enforce the eight-point deal on the concept of Autonomous Terai-Madhes Province former NC President Girija Prasad Koirala as the Interim Prime Minister had reached with the UDMF in 2008.

Kumar Belbase of CPN-ML, Yadu Bansa Jha of CPN-ML (Socialist) and Badri Neupane of Chure Bhavar Ekata Party have taken the oath of office and secrecy from Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai in presence of President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav on Sunday, May 20, 2012 thus bringing more political parties to the coalition government. Belbase has received the portfolio of Minister for Labor and Employment, Jha the portfolio of Minister for Forest and Soil conservation, and Neupane the portfolio of Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare. The size of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has grown to 23 members; thus, Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai has built up a majority.

Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has invited the leaders of NEFIN to a negotiating table for talks after the members of the regressive forces infiltrating into the enforcers of a shutdown called by the NEFIN protesting against the three-party deal on 11 provinces without names and geographical boundaries, and broke down and burned down some vehicles belonging to the reporters and even thrashed the reporters, and made the peaceful demonstration the most violent one according to the president of NEFIN Raj Kumar Lekhi. The police did not act immediately to stop the perpetrators of violence and bring them to justice indicating the police also have worked in the interest of the regressive forces, President Lekhi has said. Correctly, the prime minister has assured the reporters of the government paying them the compensation for the damages done to their vehicles, and also apologized to the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) for the assaults on the reporters and damages done to their vehicles during the call of a shutdown of Nepal, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 21, 2012 writes.

A week ago, the Bahun-chettri group had launched a shutdown of Nepal demanding the government include it on the list of the indigenous people, and set up a province with its identity; the government has reached a deal with the group on their demands. However, on May 21, 2012, the NC and CPN-UML leaders have flatly rejected the proposal for 10 provinces with some ethnic names jointly submitted by the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF at the four-party meeting for discussion. The NC and CPN-UML leaders are not for even a single province with an ethnic name. These NC and CPN-UML guys are just one step behind the Chairman of Rastriya Janamorcha Party Chitra Bahadur KC that has been campaigning against the federalism serving the regressive forces. Thus, the controversy over the number of provinces and their names has effectively ended the chance of promulgating a new constitution on or before May 27, 2012.

By reaching a deal with as many groups of the protestors as possible, the Bhattarai administration has been putting off one fire after another flared up by strikes and shutdowns that have been cropping up spontaneously or incited by the regressive forces elsewhere in Nepal, as the deadline for promulgating a new constitution is fast approaching. Pro-and-against federalism groups have enforced a shutdown of regions or the whole Nepal demanding no federalism or separate provinces by their names. Thus, political fervor has heated up elsewhere in Nepal in anticipation of promulgation of a new constitution that might go against their interest. Some regressive forces endemic in the NC and CPN-UML have infiltrated into the groups going against federalism. NC and CPN-UML leaders have openly came out against the provinces with ethnic names. They have gone so far that they point-blank rejected even a single province with the ethnic name. Why they have been so allergic to the ethnic names is not know. They pretend that the ethnic names might cause the disintegration of Nepal. They could not change their mindset built in the 18th century that Nepal was united suppressing the entire ethnic groups at the gunpoint. Today is the 21st century; surely the same modus operandi of unification of Nepal would not work. So, their mindset has been obsolete; either they need to change their mindset to suit the 21st century politics or let their political career come to an end.

The NC and CPN-UML leaders need to compromise their stand on not accepting provinces named by the ethnic names otherwise the country would lead to political chaos if not disintegration contrary to their thinking of keeping it united. In the 21st century Nepal, none of the people belonging to the ethnic groups including the Bahun-Chettri would like to live under the repression of any political parties. So, the NC and CPN-UML leaders would save the country from the political chaos perhaps even from the disintegration compromising their political stand and then making room for all Nepalis to live together in harmony otherwise every ethnic group will rise up for a province called by the ethnic name. If the ethnic people don’t get it then they might resort to demanding a homeland for each ethnic group. They might follow the ‘do or die’. Then, could the NC and CPN-UML save the country from political chaos or even from disintegration?

The government headed by Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has decided to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA), as the term of CA is running out on May 27, 2012. The CA is supposed to promulgate a new constitution on or before May 27, 2012. However, the major political forces such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, and CPN-UML, and the Madheshi alliance UDMF have been muddling up a new constitution not completing it, and arguing the federal provinces and their names relentlessly. The three parties: UCPN-Maoist, NC, and CPN-UML agreed on 11 provinces without names and geographical boundaries provoking strong opposition from the ethnic groups including the Madheshi. Then the UCPN-Maoist stepped back from the May-15 agreement on 11 provinces and went to the UDMF on making a deal on 10 provinces with some ethnic names but the NC, and CPN-UML flatly rejected it stating not even a single province with the ethnic name is acceptable to them. Ethnic-origin lawmakers belonging to the NC and CPN-UML favor provinces with ethnic names but the NC and CPN-UML leaders have intimidated the ethnic-origin lawmakers if they vote for provinces with ethnic names the concerned party would take strong actions against them making the democracy in the NC and CPN-UML style clear very much.

Promulgation of a new constitution has been almost impossible within the May-27 deadline, as the UCPN-Maoist and UDMF could not ignore the issue of provinces with the ethnic names, and hence, decided to confront it firmly whereas the NC and CPN-UML rejected even a single province with the ethnic name leading to a head-on collision between the two major political forces. Leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF sat together on Tuesday evening, May 22, 2012 to figure out what would be the best way to follow. They came up with the proposal for extending the term of the CA for three months. Deputy Prime Minister holding the portfolio of Minister for Law, Justice, Constituent Assembly and Federal Affairs Krishna Prasad Sitaula registered the bill on the 13th amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 at the secretariat of the parliament on behalf of the government. NC General Secretary Sitaula has joined the Bhattarai government only a few days ago. He had played a crucial role in reaching a deal on comprehensive Peace Agreement with the then CPN-Maoist in 2006 ending the 10-year old war.

"We have agreed to register the bill despite our reservation over the move. We consented to the Prime Minister’s proposal for considering the possible dangers that may emerge if we failed to deliver the constitution by May 27 and the CA is dissolved," said NC General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi after the meeting at the office of the Prime Minister in Singha Durbar according to the news posted on ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 23, 2012. "Even if we resolve all the contentious issues by Wednesday (May 23), we will not be able to finalize the constitution writing in the remaining time," said Deputy Prime Minister and Vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist Narayan Kaji Shrestha; "Technically speaking, the drafting of a constitution in the remaining days is not possible even if the parties resolve all the issues," said Nilambar Acharya, Chairman of the CA Constitutional Committee according to the news posted on myrepunlica.com.

Immediately after Deputy Prime Minister Sitaula registered the bill on the 13th amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 for extending the term of the CA for three months on Tuesday evening, May 22, 2012, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai made a visit to the presidential residence to inform President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav about the decision of the government on extending the term of the CA. At that time, President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has reportedly advised Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai to honor the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on this matter and respect the people’s aspirations for democratic norms, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of May 23, 2012 writes. We hope that President Dr. Yadav would not bring another political crisis this time as he did writing a letter directly to the then Chief of Army Staffs in 2009 bringing down the Prachanda government. Following the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007, the president has the mandate to protect the constitution nothing else. So, the president has to follow the recommendations of the prime minister for everything he does.

On May 23, 2012, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda went to see President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav at the presidential residence to inform him about the needs for extending the term of the CA for three months, as the promulgation of a new constitution became impossible even though the UCPN-Maoist tried its best to promulgate a new constitution within the May-27 deadline building a consensus on it among the parties according to the news posted on nepalnews.com.

On November 26, 2011, the Supreme Court of Nepal hearing on the writ petition filed demanding not to let the parliament extend the term of the CA anymore had ruled that the parliament could extend the term of the CA for six months at the maximum for the last time. Then, the term of the CA was extended for six months until May 27, 2012. The ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on the extension of the term of the CA had caused a lot of controversy in the Nepalese media at that time. Some legal experts believed that the parliament has the right to amend any Article of the constitution at any time quoting the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 in its Article 64 ‘extend its term for an additional period not exceeding six months’ and does not say ‘only one term to extend.’ Article 64 states ‘Provided that if the making of constitution cannot be completed by the reason of the proclamation of as a sate of emergency in the country, the Constituent Assembly may, by a resolution to that effect, extend its term for an additional period not exceeding six months’. As recently as May 13, 2012, Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Nepal Anup Raj Sharma said that the parliament could extend the term of the CA, in fact, should extend it ignoring the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal on this matter, as the Supreme Court made a mistake taking up the issue of the political nature. Some legal experts have said that the parliament is a law-making body and it has the rights to amend any Article of the Constitution; the Supreme Court has the rights to interpret the laws and show the conflict if any in the laws.

President of NC Sushil Koirala and CPN-UML leaders have opposed the proposal of the government for the extension of the term of the CA, and have insisted on completing the promulgation of a new constitution within the deadline of May 27, 2012. One of the lawmakers belonging to NC, Radheshyam Adhikari resigned from the office protesting against the proposal for extending the term of the CA according to the local media reports. These NC and CPN-UML guys don’t want to compromise their stand on the number and names of the federal provinces then how they could finished up the promulgation of a new constitution within the deadline: the so short time available to build a consensus on these crucial matters when UDMF leaders also don’t want to compromise their stand on the ethnic names for the federal provinces. However, not only the NC and CPN-UML guys are against the extension of the term of the CA but some guys of the Vaidya faction of UCPN-Maoist are also against it. In a statement issued by the Vaidya faction of UCPN-Maoist, the Vaidya guys have strongly opposed the proposal for extending the term of the CA, and even hinted a conspiracy behind it. One thing, the Vaidya guys have correctly said is that the leaders of the major political parties have failed in crafting a new constitution.

On May 23, 2012, the central working committee decided to pull out of the Bhattarai government protesting against the proposal for extending the term of the CA for three months. Following this decision, Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula and his colleague Minister Surya Man Gurung quit the offices. Their term of offices might be the shortest one in the history of the Nepalese government. They have been in the government only a few weeks.

The CPN-UML has not called back their ministers, yet. The CPN-UML has seconded two ministers: one has the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister and another has a ministerial portfolio. They have not quit the office voluntarily, yet. They are very much the part of making a decision on the proposal for extending the term of CA for six months although later on their party has protested against the proposal for extending the term of the CA.

NC and CPN-UML leaders have demanded Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai to quit the office following the five-point deal they have reached paving the way for the NC to build a new government. What these guys really want is very hard to guess. They signed off a five-point deal on May 03, 2012 agreeing on joining the government. Thereafter, two NC leaders: General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula, and Lawmaker Surya Man Gurung joined the government just to quit on May 23, 2012. Then, after a week or so, the two CPN-UML leaders joined the government. Now, they want to tear down the Bhattarai government rather than promulgating a new constitution. Initially both the NC and CPN-UML agree on extending the term of the CA for three months; then they came out against it.

In response to the demand of the NC and CPN-UML leaders for quitting the government, and or for honoring the May-15 deal on 11 federal provinces, the four political forces such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, and CPN-UML have reached, the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF have reconfirmed their commitment to remain together until a new constitution is promulgated. The NC and CPN-UML cannot force out the Bhattarai government until the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF remain together, as they have the majority in the parliament. So, even if the term of the CA is not extended, and the CA goes down in the history, then, the coalition government of the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF remains. So, it is hard to make out what actually the NC and CPN-UML leaders want keeping the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF in power and not cooperating on promulgating a new constitution.

Despite the repeated public statement of Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda and the UDMF leaders going to put the contentious issues at the parliament to vote, they have not been able to do so. Most probably, they are under pressure of the Indian leaders for building a consensus on the contested issues rather than putting those issues to vote at the parliament. On May 22, 2012, returning from India to Kathmandu after the consultation with the Indian leaders about the crafting of a new constitution of Nepal, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad drove straight from the airport to the residence of Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda and delivered the message of the Indian leaders’ opinion on building a consensus of the political parties on crafting a new constitution of Nepal, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of today writes.

On Friday morning, May 25, 2012, the three major political forces such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have built a consensus on promulgating a new constitution leaving the contentious issues as they are, and then to be resolved by the parliament that would continue after the dissolution of the CA. They also have agreed on resolving the contested issues of names and the number of federal provinces before promulgation of a new constitution, as the UDMF leaders have remained adamant that they would not accept a constitution without the number and the names of provinces.

On May 26, 2012, the four political forces could not reach a deal on the names and the number of federal provinces. So, they have the option for declaring a new constitution or extending the term of the CA ignoring the Supreme Court’s orders on the midnight of May 27, 2012: the last day of the CA. Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun has stated that the Nepalese political leaders have the habit of making a decision at the last moment; so, he is confident in the CA promulgating a new constitution on the midnight of May 27, 2012.

The Supreme Court of Nepal and the government headed by Prime Minister Dr. Bhattarai are heading to a showdown. On May 24, 2012, the Supreme Court of Nepal issued an order forbidding the government to move ahead with the proposal for extending the term of the CA registered at the parliament, and instructed Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and his deputy Krishna Prasad Sitaula to be present in person at the Supreme Court for defending the case filed against them on extending the term of the CA. Recently, in Pakistan, too, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had issued an order to the Prime Minister to present the president of Pakistan to the Supreme Court for hearing on the corruption case against the president but the Prime Minister of Pakistan has ignored the order of the Supreme Court so far. In 1995 the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal had cut the prerogative of Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikari reinstating the parliament dissolved by the prime minister. This time, too whether the ruling of the Supreme Court of Nepal would curtail the prerogative of the parliament remains to the seen.

To be continued…