Recent Political Development in Nepal

Recent Political Development in Nepal

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

The coalition of Prachanda and Sher Bahadur Deuba has been smoothing the rough political situation, and taking the country to the local government election doing whatever possible to make every major political actor happy. However, CPN-UML leaders have been unhappy both with the constitution amendment bill and the budget coming in between the two phases of local election. Manifestoes of the political parties have high-sounding promises even though their performances had been much to be desired in the past.

Prachanda and Deuba have been the master negotiators and have been successful to bring on board the Madheshi leaders meeting their demands for amending the constitution to suit their needs. If anybody takes a look at the proposed amendments to the constitution published in the state-run newspaper “gorkhapatra” in the Nepalese language on April 25, 2017, finds the amendments very reasonable and rational. The amendments will help to unite the Nepalese of different background to a single nation. The constitution is an uniting document.

However, CPN-UML that claims to be a nationalist party and that goes with the idea of Prithvi Narayan Shah for keeping the people under their thumb forcefully in the name of unification does not want to vote for the proposed amendments to the constitution. It even takes some other minor political parties with for not voting for the amendments. Is this CPN-UML a nationalist? Certainly, it is not because it wants to use the force to keep the people together, which is not possible in the 21^st century.

On Tuesday, April 25, 2017, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Nepalese counterpart Prachanda and assured him of the Indian support for holding the local election efficiently, the press statement of the Nepalese prime minister’s office stated. It indicates that the Madheshi leaders’ satisfaction is the Mdoi’s demand for making the constitution inclusive. The Madheshi leaders believed that their demands would be met when the amendments to the constitution submitted to the parliament, were passed.

The State-run newspaper “gorkhapatra” published the constitution amendment bill submitted at the parliament on April 25, 2017. The translation of the proposed amendments from the Nepali to the English is in the annex of this article.

Senior leader of CPN-UML Subhash Nemwang said that the amendments to the constitution were anti-people but he did not specific which amendments went against the people. Mr. Nemwang as the person of an ethnic origin was natural to be the vehicle to carry the heavy load of the CPN-UML’s anti-people strategy as in the past Shah-Rana rule, has seen the amendments as the anti-people without having respect for his ethnic people.

Mr. Nemwang needed to say whether the electric power the CPN-UML government had diverted to a few large industries making the short supply to the common folks and causing the untold damages to small and medium industries and business was the pro-people activity or not.

If Mr. Nemwang has read the proposed amendments published in the State-run newspaper “gorkhapatra” on April 25, 2017 he would not probably label it as the anti-people because the proposed amendments were not what he said they were in view of the following main amendments translated from the Nepali to the English.

The amendment to the Article 6 stated, “The government will include all mother tongues in the annex of the constitution following the recommendation of the Language Commission” would be added to the end of the Article 6.

If Mr. Nemwang speaks his mother tongue then the language as one of the mother tongues would be included in the annex of the constitution, he would probably not say publicly that it went against the people. He was blindly following the anti-people agenda of the CPN-UML stating this amendment goes against the people. Mr. Nemwang needed to be awakened to the fact that suppressing other languages had been the agenda of the dynastic Shah-Rana rule that the CPN-UML simply wanted to continue even in the 21^st century.

Then the amendment to Article 11 stated that the Article 11 (6) is replaced with the following “Article 11 (6) If a foreign woman married to a Nepalese citizen desires to have the Nepalese citizenship could have the matrimonial naturalized citizenship after initiating the process for relinquishing her country’s citizenship as provided for in the Federal law.”

Mr. Nemwang could tell the world this article goes against any person or it is the anti-people amendment but any woman married to the Nepalese citizenship should have the right to be a Nepalese citizen. It is a universal human right. If he did not want any foreign woman marrying a Nepalese citizen to be a Nepalese citizen; then surely, he could say it went against the people.

The Amendment to Article 86 stated that the Article 86 (2) (a) is replaced with the following “Article 86 (2) (a): fifty six elected members consisting of at least one women, one Dalit and one from persons with disabilities or minorities altogether three to include in the 21 elected by an electoral college comprising the State Assembly members, and 35 elected in proportion to the concerned State population in every State as provided for in the Federal law; however, 14 women needed to be represented in the 35 elected in proportion to the population. (The 0riginal text of this Article is in italics. Article 86 (2)(a) fifty six elected members consisting of at least three women, one Dalit and one from persons with disabilities or minorities, from each State by an electoral college composed of members of the State Assembly, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the Village Bodies, and Mayors and Deputy-Mayors of the Municipalities, with different weightage of vote by members of the State Assembly, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the Village Bodies, and Mayors and Deputy-Mayors of the Municipalities, as provided for in the Federal law,)

The proposed amendment removed the elected officials of the local government from the Electoral College made up for electing State representatives to the federal parliament. The amendment goes against the elected officials of the local government but it surely does not go against the people.

The Amendment to the Article 296 stated that the Article 296 clause (4) is replaced with the following clause (4): “(4) until a State Assembly is not constituted pursuant to this constitution, the Legislature-Parliament pursuant to the clause (1) can use the power of a State Assembly.”

Is the Legislature-Parliament using the power of any State Assembly in its absence the anti-people? Every logical-thinking person would say it was not. However, Mr. Nemwang under the heavy influence of the CPN-UML said that it was against the people.

And Mr. Nemwang or anybody could check all the proposed amendments given in the annex of this article and see what amendments go against the people. His party CPN-UML along with other nine fringe political parties has decided to block the amendment bill in the parliament. This statement of the CPN-UML certainly goes against the people’s aspirations for taking the country to the Federal Democratic Republic.

Now, the manifestoes of political parties made public for attracting the voters to vote them in the local election to be held on May 14, and June 14, 2017.

First the manifesto of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), the cover page of the manifesto has the portrait of the monstrous ruler called Prithvi Narayan Shah with his second finger raised as a warning to the people that he could cut noses and ears of the people and kill women, children and old people if they did not follow his order that all people needed to speak his language, follow his religion, and serve him as slaves.

Even looking at the cover page of the manifesto of the RPP, sincere and rational-thinking voters would simply trash it, as it reminded the more than two-and-a-half-century Shah-Rana dynastic rule that had kept the people in the dire destitute, and the hangover of that rule has been the continuation of the current poverty.

Other large political parties the promises they have put in their manifestoes have been just like committing the voters to send men to the moon in other words they have been saying to make Nepalese prosperous that would highly unlikely to happen in view of what they had done in the past 25 years of their reign.

Probably, these political parties have forgotten that people are voting for the local governments. So, they have taken up the national issues. Voters would be interested in what would be happening in their villages rather than how prosperous the nation would be after five years.

Annex

The original articles of the constitution are in italics.

2. Amendment to Article 6: “The government will include all mother tongues in the annex of the constitution following the recommendation of the Language Commission” will be added to the end of the Article 6. (Article 6. Languages of the nation: All languages spoken as the mother tongues in Nepal are the languages of the nation.)

3. Amendment to Article 7 (2): “7 (2) (a) Following the recommendation of the Language Commission, the government of Nepal will include the languages decided as the official languages for the State official work in the annex of the constitution” will be added to the Article 7 (2)

4. Amendment to Article 11: Article 11 (6) is replaced with the following “Article 11 (6) If a foreign woman married to a Nepalese citizen desires to have the Nepalese citizenship could have the matrimonial naturalized citizenship after initiating the process for relinquishing her country’s citizenship as provided for in the Federal law.” (Article 11 (6) A foreign woman who has a matrimonial relationship with a citizen of Nepal may, if she so wishes, acquire the naturalized citizenship of Nepal as provided for in the Federal law.)

5. Amendment to Article 86: Article 86 (2) (a) is replaced with the following “Article 86 (2) (a): fifty six elected members consisting of at least one women, one Dalit and one from persons with disabilities or minorities altogether three to include in the 21 elected by an electoral college comprising the State Assembly members, and 35 elected in proportion to the concerned State population in every State as provided for in the Federal law; however, 14 women needed to be represented in the 35 elected in proportion to the population. (Article 86 (2)(a) fifty six elected members consisting of at least three women, one Dalit and one from persons with disabilities or minorities, from each State by an electoral college composed of members of the State Assembly, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the Village Bodies, and Mayors and Deputy-Mayors of the Municipalities, with different weightage of vote by members of the State Assembly, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the Village Bodies, and Mayors and Deputy-Mayors of the Municipalities, as provided for in the Federal law,)

6. Amendment to Article 215 (9): the clause (7) mentioned in the Article 215 (9) is replaced with the “clause (8)”. (The Article 215 (9) If the seat falls vacant under clause (7) while the term of office of the Chairperson or Vice- Chairperson still remains for more than one year, the vacancy shall be filled through by-election for the remainder of term.)

7. Amendment to:

(1) The Article 274 (4) is replaced with the following “Article 274 (4) If a Bill introduced pursuant to the clause (2) is related with the following subjects the Speaker or the Chairperson of the concerned House must send that Bill to the following State Assemblies for their consent within thirty days after its introduction in the Federal Parliament alteration: (a) if it is related with the alteration in the borders of States to all the concerned State Assemblies (b) matters set forth in Schedule-6 to all State Assemblies.” (Article (4) If a Bill introduced pursuant to clause (2) is related with the alteration in the borders of any State or matters set forth in Schedule-6, the Speaker or the Chairperson of the concerned House must send that Bill to the State Assembly for its consent, within thirty days after its introduction in the Federal Parliament.)

(2) Federal parliament in the clause (5) is replaced with the concerned house of the Federal parliament

(3) After the word “within period” in the clause (7) “any one concerned State Assembly under the (4) (a) and following the (4) (b)” are added.

(4) The “under clause (5)” mentioned in the clause (8) is replaced with “all concerned State Assemblies related with the clause (4) (a).”

(5) After the clause (8) following clause (8) (a) is added. “Clause (8) (a) Notwithstanding anything stated in this Article, for the time the State Assembly is not set up, the federal parliament could pass the bill concerning the clause (4) (b) without the consent of the State Assembly.”

(6) After the clause (8) mentioned in the clause (9), “or Clause 8 (a)” are added.

8. Amendment to 287: the following clause (a) (1) is added to the Article 287 (6) (a). “(a) (1) to submit to the government of Nepal after preparing a list of all mother tongies spoken in Nepal.”

9. Adding Article 287 (a): the “Article 287 (a) formation of A Federal Commission: (1) the government of Nepal can form a Federal Commission for making recommendations on changing the number of States and the boundaries of States” will be added after the Article 287.

(2) “The terms of reference and the work period of the commission formed pursuant to the clause (1) would be as prescribed by the government of Nepal when the commission is set up.”

10. Amendment to the Article 295:

(1) The word “federal” is deleted from the Article title.

(2) The clause (1) is deleted.

 (The deleted clause: (1) The Government of Nepal may constitute a Federal Commission for making suggestions on matters relating to the boundaries of States.)

11. Amendment to the Article 296:

(1) The Article 296 clause (4) is replaced with the following clause (4): “(4) until a State Assembly is not constituted pursuant to this constitution, the Legislature-Parliament pursuant to the clause (1) can use the power of a State Assembly.”

((4) The legislative power of the State Assembly with respect of matters set forth in Schedule-6 shall, upon the commencement of this Constitution, be vested in the Legislature-Parliament set forth in clause (1) until the State Assembly is formed. Any law so made shall be inoperative in relation to that State after one year of the date of formation of the State Assembly set forth in this Constitution.)

(2) The following clause (4) (a) is added after the clause (4): “(4) (a) laws constituted using the authority pursuant to the clause (4) will be automatically inoperative for the State after a year from the day of constituting a State Assembly.”

Manoharprasad Bhattarai

General Secretary

 Legislature-Parliament

April 28, 2017