Is Nepal A Failed State?

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Yes, Nepal has almost reached the status of a failed state, as none of the governments have been able to govern the country properly. Street mobs have been the decisive forces that have been causing anarchy. The youth organizations such as Young Communist League (YCL), Youth Force, and Tarun Dal have been the instruments for causing anarchy. State officials charged with various crimes have continued to work with impunity. The legislature has failed in functioning regularly. Democratic values and ideals have been sidelined. Only hope left for Nepal not being a failed state is that various Constituent Assembly committees formed for preparing concept papers and drafts on a new constitution will complete the writing of a new constitution and then the government holds elections for whatever a new form of an institution for representing people a new constitution will prescribed for.

The coalition of the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) has successfully dismantled the government headed by Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) Prachanda forcing the ceremonial President to overstep the Constitution of Nepal of 2007. So, the President supposed to be safeguarding the Interim Constitution has violated it opening doors to others to make the Constitution not more than ‘a scrap of paper’ as once Adolph Hitler has said.

United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF) has emerged as a force that can make and break a new government. Currently, UDMF is holding a card as did the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has in mid 1990s to play in making and breaking a government almost every three months causing unimaginable political corruption. They have set the tradition of buying and selling members of the parliament for garnering a majority.

Currently, some political leaders have already charged the coalition of NC and CPN-UML leaders of buying and selling members of the legislature to form a new government headed by twice-defeated senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Nepal. Some people believe that Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood has a big hand in making a current new government headed by Madhav Nepal. Some local newspapers have reported that Ambassador Sood has even bullied the leaders of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) to give support for the current government. The reason given by the local newspapers for the Indian Ambassador has been so involved in making and breaking the government is the previous government headed by UCPN-Maoist Chairman Prachanda has about to sign a special treaty with the People’s Republic of China. So, Ambassador Sood has been determined to set up a pro-Indian government in Nepal.

One of the sign of the current government being pro-Indian has been Foreign Minster Sujata Koirala has said that India has not encroached on the Nepalese territory, and the Indian Border Security Force called SSB (Sima Surakska Bal) has done nothing to the Nepalis living in the Nepalese territory on the border areas on June 5, 2009 immediately after meeting Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood. However, it has been proved that India has encroached on the Nepalese territory and the Indian Border Security Force has forced the Nepalis out of their homes living on the Nepalese side of the Nepal-India border.

Some local media have reported that Ambassador Sood has paid a large sum of money to the parliamentary leader of MPRF Bijaya Gacchedar for supporting the NC and CPN-UML coalition. So, Mr. Gacchedar has dared to challenge MPRF Chairman Upendra Yadav buying support of some of the MPRF members of the legislature causing the split of the MPRF into the factions of Upendra Yadav and Bijaya Gacchedar. Chairman Upendra Yadav has already fired Gacchedar and his six colleagues from the party membership and three of them from the membership of the legislature. Chairman Upendra Yadav has announced that his party has pull out the support for the government of Madhav Nepal whereas Bijaya Gacchedar has said that his party has continued the support for the government.

Despite the so much energy and money the Indian diplomat has spent on making a current government, the government has not been able to take a shape. On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal and NC President Girija Prasad Koirala have agreed on sharing in major ministerial portfolios alienating the UDMF leaders. As a result, UDMF leaders openly came out against the distribution of major ministerial portfolios between the NC and the CPN-UML, and have said that the NC and CPN-UML leaders have not done justice to the smaller parties on which they have been attempting to build a new government.

CPN-UML leader KP Oli has gone to India ostensibly for regular health checkup. However, the local newspapers have written that he has gone to India to brief the Indian leaders about the state of affairs of the Nepalese political situation and then consult with them for further actions to continue the government of unelected people in Nepal. Before leaving Kathmandu for New Delhi, KP Oli has met with Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) Surya Bahadur Thapa and NC President Girija Prasad Koirala. On June 15, 2009, Mr. Oli has met with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivashanker Menon, and some other leaders of the Indian Communist Parties and has talked about the bilateral relations according to the ‘Gorkhapatra’ of June 16, 2009.

On Sunday, June 14, 2009, in the separate meetings with Prime Minister Madhav Nepal and NC President Girija Prasad Koirala, MPRF leader Gacchedar has said that he is not going to accept the leftover ministerial portfolios and will come out of the government if his party will not receive the portfolios such as Home, Water Resources and other spicy portfolios he has asked for supporting the coalition of the NC and CPN-UML.

MPRF Chairman Upendra Yadav has said that the current government built on the weak foundation of the simple majority garnered by the foreign diplomat will not be able to last long; so we need to build a national government of all-political parties on the consensus politics, and complete the peace process and the writing of a new constitution. He may be right but who is going to listen to him?

On the other hand Madhav Nepal even having the support of twenty-two political parties have not been able to give a shape to his cabinet after three weeks of taking the oath of office of Prime Minister. The inability of two major political parties such as CPN-UML and NC involved in forming a new government to decide who will get the ministerial portfolios and what portfolios they will receive has contributed to the Cabinet-forming process reaching deadlock. The intra-party dispute over the juicy ministerial portfolios has been the main reasons for not being able to select the candidates of the CPN-UML for joining the government and the inter-parties dispute of the NC and CPN-UML over the claim for various spicy ministerial positions has been the reason for not being able to allocate ministerial portfolios for the respective party for more than three weeks.

The NC and the CPN-UML have been rivals political parties. They have come closer to each other only to defeat the emerging force of the UCPN-Maoist. Now, they have been fighting against each other for the ministerial portfolios. So, the dispute over the sharing in the ministerial portfolio has been a natural phenomenon. Each party wants to have its upper hand in the Cabinet for their own benefits not for the welfare of Nepalis in general. Sidelining senior and dedicated NC leaders and appointing his daughter Sujata Koirala to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Girija Prasad Koirala has proved this notion.

Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has tricked the NC leaders to accept less important portfolios appointing two of his lieutenants to the positions of Defense and Finance Ministers immediately after taking the oath of office of Prime Minister. As the NC has been the important player in tearing down the Maoist-led government, NC leaders have anticipated receiving some of major ministerial portfolios such as Finance, Home and Defense. However, CPN-UML stating the precedent set by the NC leaders to keep these three major portfolios with the leading political party in the coalition government has insisted on keeping the Defense and Finance with them. The NC leaders think that their party is the leading party in the coalition government as they have the second highest majority in the legislature. However, the CPN-UML leaders say that their senior leader is leading the government.

None of the governments has been able to govern the country properly. Street mobs have been the decisive forces that have been causing anarchy. The central government not to mention the local governments has been unable to enforce the rule of law. If something goes wrong to somebody on the road or anywhere then the family members and relatives call for shutdowns of traffic on the road and of the business in the area. It goes on until the local or central government negotiates with the family members on paying compensation for the loss of life and even declaring the deceased the martyr. This has been happening because political parties and their governments have worked for themselves not for the people. For example, a NC member of legislature died in the motorcycle accident in Biratnagar has got declared him the martyr and his family has received a handsome amount of money as a compensation for his death. On June 15, 2009, YCL affiliated to the UCPN-Maoist has shutdown the Kathmandu Valley traffic and business protesting the killing of its leader Rajendra Phuyal.  YCL has charged the Youth Force affiliated to the CPN-UML abducting Mr. Phuyal and then poisoning him.

The youth organizations such as YCL, Youth Force, and Tarun Dal affiliated to the UCPN-Maoist, CPN-UML and NC respectively have been the instruments for causing anarchy. Clashes among the members of these three youth organizations have been regular events sometimes causing the death of one or more of them. They also break each other’s offices. They have the protection of their respective political party. So, they have continued to commit crimes with impunity. Other political parties have emulated to these major political parties in organizing a youth organization. Responsible leader such as Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has publicly encouraged his youth organization members to go on head-on collision with other youths in retaliation for whatever they do to them. What the state police can do when the leader of the political party leading the current government openly incites his youths to violent acts?

Human rights organizations have been urging one government after another to set up a commission on enforced disappearances both by the state and the rebels in the past. Most disappearances are the terrorist activity either by the state or by the rebels. Families and relatives of disappeared people have not known the status of their loved ones whether they are alive or dead. They have not been able to receive compensation for the loss of their loved ones. The reason for not setting up a commission on disappearances is that the same officials and politicians responsible for disappearing the people have been in the army, police and state administration. For example, the Rayamajhi Commission has pointed the finger at Chief of Army Staff Rugmangad Katuwal for attempting to suppress the People’s Movement in April 2006 killing many people and causing disappearances of many more. However, on May 3, 2009, the 22-political parties having their representation in the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature have gone to the ceremonial President requesting for intervening in the decision made by the then government led by Maoist Chairman Prachanda on firing Chief of Army Staff Rukmangad Katuwal, even ignoring the violation of the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007, and the political fallout from such a unconstitutional action of the President fearing the Maoist will capture the state power.

Currently, the UCPN-Maoist has been boycotting the legislature demanding the ceremonial President rectify his unconstitutional act of directly writing a letter to the Chief of Army Staff and ordering him to stay on in the job overruling the government’s decision on firing the Chief of Army Staff following the precedent set by the UDMF, NC and CPN-UML leaders. First, the UDMF members belonging to the legislature have boycotted and then have blocked the sessions of legislature demanding the government enforce the agreement they have signed with the government. Then, the NC leaders have blocked the legislature sessions demanding the return of the property of their leaders seized by the Maoists during the conflict with the state. The CPN-UML members of legislature have boycotted the sessions of the legislature for weeks demanding the arrest of the killer of their cadre called Prachanda Thaiba in Butwal. The blocking of the legislature has been the easiest thing to do and the most effective way to force the government meet their demand. Now, it has been the tools for making every government a failure.

Nepalis have given the political parties the mandate for collectively running the government in the elections for the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature held on April 10, 2008 hoping the political leaders will keep the words they have given to the people that they will no more call the people for ‘people’s movement’ again and will not engage in struggling for power but for the welfare of the people. However, immediately after the elections, the political parties have broken the previous understanding and have ignored the people’s mandate for working collectively. The UCPN-Maoist has declared that it has not been an end of the revolution; they will continue to struggle for ‘People’s Republic’ scaring the parliamentary-party leaders.

Forgetting their commitment to work on the consensus politics, the NC members of the legislature sitting in the opposition bench have adopted the strategy of boycotting and blocking the legislature sessions after failing to get any results from the campaign of creating awareness of the negative political situation among the people. The NC leaders have continued to obstruct the legislature for any conceivable reasons for quite some time to block any attempts of the Maoist-led government to function properly, and ultimately made the government failure.

The worst thing the so-called parliamentary-party leaders have done is to go to the ceremonial President and asking him for reversing the decision of the government on firing the Chief of Army Staff.  They have feared that the Maoists will capture the state power, however, they have not feared violation of the democratic norms and values and putting democracy at risk forcing the ceremonial President to overstep the Constitution. Some political analysts say that the so-called democratic leaders violating democratic norms and values have been creating an environment conducive to the authoritarian rule. Nepalis have been averse to the dirty political games.

Democratic values and ideals have been sidelined from the political life of parties and the state. Political parties instead of institutionalizing democratic institutions in their parties and in the state machinery have engaged in the dirty political games for grabbing power. Elections and elected people’s representatives working for the welfare of the people are the basic values of democracy. However, currently, most of the unelected members of political parties particularly the NC and the CPN-UML have sidelined the elected members and disabled them whereas the unelected members have taken over the party power and even formed the government. For example, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal is defeated in two constituencies; foreign Minster Sujata Koirala and Defense Minister Miss Bidhya Bhandari are both defeated in the elections for the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature held on April 10, 2008. Finally, after fourteen months of the elections for the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature, following the democratic norms, the NC parliamentary party has elected its parliamentary leader on Saturday, June 20, 2009. Girija Prasad Koirala has been claiming to be the self-declared leader of the NC parliamentary party disregarding the democratic values and ideals.

Development projects have suffered from the political instability. The masses of Nepalese youths have been turning to the foreign jobs even putting their lives at risk, and living far away from their loved ones in Nepal, as they do not have job opportunities in the country. The economic growth has been slowed down considerably but the prices of daily consumption goods and services have been doubled in the last two years. It is a miracle how the Nepalis have been surviving in this economic situation.

Some politicians surrendering to the Indian supremacy has invited the Indian encroachment on the Nepalese territory and emboldened the Indian Border Security to harass Nepalis living on the border areas. Nepal has the Foreign Minister that has said India has not encroached on the Nepalese territory and the Indian Border Security has done nothing to the Nepalis living on the border areas when she could have checked going to the border areas before saying such irresponsible things publicly. She has been loyal to Indians than to Nepalis. It is the worst sign of Nepal going to be a failed state.

Nepalis have only one hope that the Constituent Assembly will complete the writing of a new constitution on schedule and then holding the elections for people’s representatives will pave the way for the political party or parties to have mandate from the people for running the government, and then save the country from the current status of a semi-failed state.

June 27, 2009.