The current political scenario in the
country is highly polarized. The major political parties, which stood together
at the time of promulgation of the constitution fourteen months back, are now
poles apart at this important juncture of its implementation. The major ruling
parties – the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) – are pushing for
constitution amendment while the main opposition party, the CPN (UML), is balking
at the idea.
The assertion of the two major ruling
parties is that constitution implementation in the true sense would be possible
only when it is made 'inclusive and acceptable' to all sides, which means the
concerns of the Madhes-centric parties are well taken into account. The
Madhes-centric parties are not happy with some provisions of the constitution
and want them to be addressed through amendment to the constitution.
Prime Minister
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on behalf the ruling parties and the government, floated a
constitution amendment proposal which seeks to make amendments to the
provisions in the constitution related to citizenship, the shape of the
National Assembly- the Upper House of Parliament, delineation of the border of
the provinces and national language. The
main opposition party, on the other hand, says constitution amendment is not
the present need while holding the three-tiers of election is the key to
constitution implementation as it is mandatory as per the constitutional provision.
It has alleged
that the constitution amendment proposal has been brought at the behest of some
foreign powers and to appease the vested interests of some leaders of the
Madhes-centric parties. Some UML leaders have also challenged the Madhes-centric
parties to prove the agendas they have raised, their demands included, by
contesting in the election, rather than taking the country on a collision
course.
Although Prime Minister Dahal many times
tried to woo the main opposition party into supporting the constitution
amendment proposal, UML chairman KP Oli is not very convinced and has flatly
rejected Dahal's overtures. He has said that his party would fight tooth and
nail to defeat the proposal. While accepting that it is the government's right to
table such a proposal in the parliament, the UML strongman has threatened that
his party would make all-out efforts to fail the proposal. In fact, the party
has called its cadres to come out in protest against the proposal and its
proposition; and there have been demonstrations in some parts of the country.
The Madhes-centric parties, most of which
support the present coalition government, on their part are pressing for the
constitution amendment. They have even given ultimatum to the government to register
the constitution amendment proposal in parliament by the end of November, lest
face their wrath – in the form of withdrawing support to the government and
virulent protests. So far, this is the political scenario.
Local elections
long overdue
Whatever the controversy over the
constitution amendment, election of the local bodies has been long overdue.
Though the country has moved ahead in practicing the democratic republican
system since the time of the adoption of the Interim Constitution a decade back,
the political parties have missed when it comes to consolidating the democracy
at the grassroots by holding the local body elections.
It is only when the local bodies that are
the foundation of democracy are run with the direct participation of the people
that the people get a sense of ownership over the system. The people want to
see that the development works at the local level are expedited and all the
administrative services are closer to their doorsteps. They want to participate
in local development. This is achieved best through their elected
representatives. So, the holding of the local election is a must for
institutionalizing and strengthening democracy.
However, the sad part of the story in our
case is that the elections to the local bodies have not been held for the last
19 years.
Nothing else but the perennial political
instability during this period, and lack of will power and capacity of the
political parties is to be blamed for this crash of the foundation of
democracy.
The constitution can be best put into
action by holding the local body election as is mandated in the constitution.
The constitution itself will be in question if the elections are not held in
the stipulated time, i.e. by mid-April 2017. If election to the local bodies is
deferred and not held this time, it will invite another constitutional crisis,
further exacerbating the political instability and fluidity. This situation
might lead to political unrest and quagmire, putting the so-called epochal
achievements into peril and a period of misery to the sovereign citizens.
Deepraj Sanyal
Kathmandu
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