 |
Kathmandu Tuesday November 21, 2000 Mangshir 06, 2057.
|
Is Constitutional amendment
necessary?
It’s sad to see how politicians' speech
and character don’t match each other every now
and then. The most recent instance can be attributed to the CPN-UML General
Secretary’s stand on Constitutional amendment. I think before making such an
ambiguous statement our politicians must do a little bit of introspection and soul
searching. Is the constitution the sole factor for the prevailing rampant corruption, land
management issues and unfair representation of all ethnic groups in mainstream politics as
indicated by Mr Nepal?
I would like to put forward a few queries
regarding his view on Constitutional amendment. Why is it that being one of the draftees
of constitution, that Mr Nepal couldn’t create a clear provision in the constitution
to punish corrupt bureaucrats and politicians. Why were the corrupt politicians of the
Panchayat era set free with out any legal action? Mr Nepal was once deputy prime minister
too, but why couldn’t he crack down on all the previous leader who were involved in
wrong deeds? We would have appreciated his gesture had he even tried to implement what he
is preaching now.
As far as election irregularities is
concerned, all parties are involved in it and CPN-UML is no exception. The main reason
behind our land management problem is lack of government policy to stop rapid soil
erosion, salinity and rapid land fragmentation. It can be solved by proper government
policy and for that we don’t need constitutional amendment. We don’t have land
distribution problems like in Zimbabwe or South Africa. As far as proper representation of
ethnic groups is concerned, why can’t Mr Nepal set an example by providing election
tickets to people from all ethnic groups in his party? By any means, if by his statement
he meant reservation for ethnic groups then that would be the greatest constitutional
blunder. Our society and ethnic groups require opportunity but not reservation. Proper
representation of ethnic groups can be simply achieved by proper understanding between
different political parties and for that we don’t need constitutional reforms.
Today, what we need is politicians with good
moral values who will serve the country sincerely. We now expect politicians who preach
less and practise more. Politicians must stop indulging in unnecessary debate like
constitutional reforms. I think the present constitution is fairly democratic and good
enough to protect our nation’s interest. What we need now are faithful politicians
who abide by the constitution and work for the well being of the nation.
Hari Bansha Dulal
Germany |
