Sushil-led Government-50: Exclusive Constitution: A Dream Of Outrageous Politicians

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

The high-flyer politicians wanted to promulgate a new exclusive constitution without the voices of the disadvantaged people. They knew that such a constitution would not be acceptable to the Nepalese but still they wanted it. Imposing a new constitution, probably, the current rulers wanted to step back on the footprints left by the monstrous rulers, and ruled over the people indiscriminately as did the past rulers. Perhaps, the current outrageous rulers also believed that the opposition had been weak. So, they could crush its movement against an exclusive constitution. They did not realize that the common folks in general had been the opposition. Some of the current ruling leaders had toned down but not enough to be acceptable to the people. The people would fix the regressive force.

Nothing left to lose for the federalists, ethnic and Madheshi people if they were not to have the federalism, and federal states in a new constitution. The only alternative left to them was to fight to the finish. They had lost everything to the despotic rulers of the past 250 years and the current corrupt rulers. They could not go back to the era of the parliamentary party system not to mention the previous regime of tyrants. They had had enough of injustice inflicted by the self-centered rulers. They wanted the self-rule within the federation nothing less.

Accepting the constitution of the two-thirds-majority-political parties means surrendering everything people had won at the cost of lives of so many brave Nepalese youths starting from the four youths martyred by the Rana regime with the decree of the then King Tribhuvan in 1942. Nepalese had sacrificed hundred if not thousands of lives of youths to tear down the autocratic Rana-family regime only to turn over the power to the regressive ruler Tribhuvan. Despite NC was for defending the monarchy, in 1960 Mahendra usurped even few democratic values left after the fall of tyrannical Ranas in 1951. Mahendra ordered to kill many young NC and communist activists in Nepal and bordering areas in India in sixties to justify his killing of democracy, and introducing the authoritarian panchayat rule. After 30 years of the panchayat rule, again Nepalese youths spilled their blood to reinstate democracy but being very generous to the monarchy they kept it. Instead of institutionalizing the democratic values and norms and strengthening the democratic institutions, the leaders of NC and CPN-UML joined hands with the politicians of the corrupt panchayat regime, and indulged in corrupting the State administration and even the political parties. Again Nepalese youths had to shed blood to terminate the monarchy for setting up the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal with federal States for the underprivileged people. Currently, the NC and CPN-UML leaders have been stepping on the footprints left by the despotic rulers to deny the fundamental rights of the ethnic, Madheshi, and other underprivileged people to decide their own destiny. This time, Nepalese youths would fight against the leaders advocating for no-federalism and no-federal states.

Nepalese would no more trust the ruling politicians with the reputation for the dirty dealing. They had already dirtied the Nepalese politics not honoring the past agreements reached with the UCPN-Maoist, ethnic and Madheshi people. They had been running the CA session keeping the opposition seats open. They had no more rights to stake out they were democratic parties. Their idol had been Chitra Bahadur KC: the antagonist of federalism. He madly wanted to reestablish the unitary system that had denied the Nepalese anything except for hunger, diseases, and immature deaths.

These two-thirds-majority parties had not focused on eliminating the corruption and on building a new Nepal making the underprivileged people privileged rather they had intensified the corruption and tax evasion, and amassed a huge wealth for themselves, for their relatives, and for their party cadres leaving majority of the common folks high and dry. Their pets had been doing everything possible to deny any benefits to the disadvantaged people that had continued to suffer from injustice since the reign of Prithvi Narayan Shah: the perpetrator of injustice.

They had been misusing the people’s mandate they received in the general elections. The mandate was to craft a new constitution acceptable to all the people not to only the two-thirds-majority parties. They needed to compromise with the ethnic and Madheshi people rather than to be adamant that they had the mandate. Nothing was going to be worse than to have a constitution imposed by the two-thirds majority. The mandate had been not for imposing the discretionary rule misusing the people’s power.

The balance of power had tilted to the two-thirds-majority parties, no doubt about that. It does not mean that they could ignore the people and impose injustice on the deprived people promulgating a new constitution without their voice. It also does not mean that the two-thirds-majority parties could promulgate a new exclusive constitution denying the rights to the disadvantaged people. They would be bound to bow to the people’s aspirations for a new constitution for enforcing a just rule. Fight to the finish had been the need of the day. The youths had prepared to fight for their rights to live honorably, and for reasonable livelihood. That would be another people’s movement in the offing.

Underprivileged people needed nothing but self-respect, self-development, and rights to live like equals but the parties in power disregarded them. They wanted to push majority of the people to the fringes again. In the name of promulgating a democratic constitution, they wanted to promulgate a constitution that would favor them the most pushing the country to a political chaos.

The highest degree of corruption in the administration had been no clandestine. The current energy-ministry administration had been shamelessly engaged in corruption. The energy minister: the portfolio held by the CPN-UML had already ordered to give life to the cancelled licenses of the companies that had not taken any initiatives to build power plants. This has to do with the minister collecting unauthorized revenues consequently causing the row between the minister and the secretary to the ministry of energy, as the minister had bypassed the secretary for taking the illegitimate actions through the junior official, according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 12, 2015.

People would no more curse their fate and resort to the fatalism rather they would fight for their rights. The time had come not the government control the people but the people control the government. Their so-called constitutional exercise of crafting a new constitution would be futile if they were to deny the say to the disadvantaged people in a new constitution. Their constitution would be a scrap of paper that would be thrown into a trashcan immediately on promulgation.

The only alternative to the two-thirds-majority parties was to negotiate with the opposition with good intention and sincerity honoring all the previous agreements, and compromising whenever needed to make the provisions in a new constitution for uplifting the people that had suffered from injustice for more than two-and-a-half centuries. They needed to think about that the negotiation with the opposition would be impossible when the opposition reached a point of no return. Compromise and negotiate before the opposition would deploy major resources and before they were sure to win the political game in the streets. It would be unfortunate if it were to reach the point of no return. Now is the time to negotiate and compromise on all the possible matters giving rights to everybody following the democratic values and norms.

The Identify-based Federal Front had set up a 347-memeber Identity-based Youth Force. It has the youths of all seven-party members of the front. It would be used for the protest movement in Kathmandu only, according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 12, 2015. Speaking at the function held to announce the formation of this youth force, and addressing the youths wearing turbans and holding sticks in their hands, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda said, “Looking at you now brings the scenes of the people’s war to my mind. Now, we will win the battle against the people favoring the status quo with sticks; we don’t need guns and bombs.” He also said that a parallel government would be set up to run the country if the Identify-based Federal Front’s movement were to suppress thinking it was weak; we will start the protest movement after the coming 16 Fagun (February 28, 2015), according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 12, 2015.

The ruling political parties had been on their way to craft a new constitution following the so-called constitutional process. Chairman of the Proposal Drafting Committee Kul Bahadur Gurung presented the report prepared by the committee at the CA session held on February 12, 2015. He informed the CA that the report was prepared following the terms of reference; and the committee endorsed it. Gurung also said that the committee prepared questionnaire based on the reports of the committees of the previous CA and the issues raised by the Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC). (Source: “CA endorses Proposal Drafting Committee report,” Setopati.net, February 12, 2015)

Amid the open chairs of the opposition bench, the CA sessions had been a game played without a partner. However, chairman Subhas Nemwang could claim that it was not so; the partner was there, a few CA members belonging to the NWPP (Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party) had been sitting in the opposition; at least a few chairs were filled up in the opposition bench. In fact, Prem Suwal of the NWPP wrote a note of dissent in the report presented to the CA. The opposition parties such as UCPN-Maoist, Madheshi parties and RPP-N boycotted the CA session held on February 12, 2015. Probably, enough of bullying the opposition Mr. Nemwang must have thought and he suspended the CA session indefinitely. It might give a chance to the political parties to hold a dialogue.

Chairman of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar said that chairman of CA Nemwang had rightly call off the CA session indefinitely that had opened door to the ruling and opposition leaders to sit together for crafting a new constitution with a new calendar of CA operation, according to the news posted on Thehimalayantimes.com on February 12, 2015.

“Neither the Proposal Drafting Committee has been scrapped as demanded by the oppositions nor have the ruling parties proceeded with the voting process unilaterally. The deferring of the voting process has opened avenues for consensus,” Gachhadar said while talking to THT at his residence. The parties should now prepare a new calendar of operation of the CA, he said. Prime Minister Koirala should make efforts to win the confidence of the opposition by articulating the ruling parties’ firm commitment to incorporating the spirit of past movements, past agreements, federalism, secularism and inclusiveness in a new constitution through formal and informal talks, he said. “If any attempt is made to promulgate a new constitution without addressing the key concerns of federalism, it will further push the country towards bloodshed and civil war,” he warned. (Source: 'Nembang's move can bring political forces together,’ Thehimalayantimes.com, February 12, 2015.

“It is obvious they have two thirds majority. But they should have gone for voting as a last resort after exploring all avenues to reach a compromise. However, they chose to bring a proposal to begin the voting process, compelling the other parties to form a separate alliance and protest against it. The immaturity shown by the ruling parties created antagonism between the ruling and opposition forces,” Gachhadar said, “This can be corrected only by winning each other’s trust.” (Source: 'Nembang's move can bring political forces together,’ Thehimalayantimes.com, February 12, 2015)

After President Dr Ram Baran Yadav publicly said, “To shut up the mouths of the political leaders indecently speaking to the public,” KP Oli had stopped indecently speaking in public until writing this article (February 13, 2015). We did not know when Oli would burst into blowing up his uncontrollable trumpet. He had sufficient steroids in his veins to keep him ready to fight with any political heavy weights that might challenge him to build a consensus on crafting a new constitution. He simply wanted a new constitution in his own way not in the Nepalese way.

Oli had stood in the way to crafting a new constitution. If the NC leaders had no power or even motive to remove this hurdle, then the opposition would sweep it away from the street movement. The NC and CPN-UML had trespassed on the two-thirds majority in the CA. Oli believed that he could do anything with it. He did not care a fig for the disadvantage people rather wanted to make any bullies ministers. For the information of Oli, our constitution should be inclusive not exclusive as Oli and some NC leaders wanted. A new constitution should be acceptable to the Nepalese.

KP Oli on the right and Mohan Vaidhya on the left had been the political villains that had obstructed to crafting an inclusive constitution that Nepalese had aspired for. Having the two-thirds majority in the CA, KP Oli wanted to ignore disadvantaged people and exclude them for taking benefits from a new people’s constitution. That had been a stumbling block to building a consensus on promulgating a new constitution. Even before the elections to the new CA in November 2013, Vaidhya had vowed to stop holding the elections not to mention his party participating in. Nepalese had seen his ability to do so. His lieutenants and Vaidhya had been making threatening speeches to the CA promulgating a new constitution. His claim that a new constitution could be crafted by the roundtable conference of all political parties had been anecdotal. Then, Vaidhya saw another chance of using the opposition street movement as a Trojan horse to kill the CA after the opposition decided to take the issues of a new constitution to the streets. He wanted other political parties to leave the CA and join him in his campaign against the CA. He had been doing everything in his capacity against legitimately promulgating a new constitutional. KP Oli had been doing almost the same from the opposite side. These two guys had been tending to meet at the same point from the opposite directions.

Chairman of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Nepal Upendra Yadav said that the opposition parties would fix the arrogance of the ruling parties in the decisive street protests. “Constitution cannot be promulgated by sidelining the 30-party alliance,” Yadav said during a press conference held in Janakpur on Friday, February 13, 2015. “Our protest programs will destroy their egos,” he said. “No talks is possible without the dissolution (of the questionnaire committee),” he said. (“Decisive protests on March, April: Yadav,” Ekantipur.com, February 13, 2015)

Apparently, a new Oli had emerged. His statement had nothing new but he had simply toned down, and tried to be civil to the opposition. Addressing the Twelfth International Congress of Trade Union International Public Service in Kathmandu today (February 13, 2015), Oli said the first priority was to bring all political forces, including those outside the CA, together to forge consensus. “If that fails, we will try to forge consensus among the forces represented in the CA. If even that fails, we will try to forge consensus among maximum forces. In case that also fails, we will deliver the new constitution through two-thirds majority,” Oli added. (Source: “Koirala-Dahal meet scheduled‚ cancelled,” Thehimalayantimes.com. February 13, 2015)

February 14, 2015