Election tribunals

Aquarrel is brewing between the government and the Election Commission over the government’s failure to renew the tenure of election tribunals at which election related disputes are still pending. It has been two years since the last general elections, and a number of cases concerning electoral malpractice are still to be resolved. The election commission has already written to the government protesting the latter’s inaction, but to no avail. Although some of the case load at the special tribunals has been cleared, the rest of it remains and includes cases originating in Jhapa, Rupandehi and Rukum districts. Interestingly, the Jhapa case involves Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola who is trying to hold on to a parliamentary seat that he won by a slim majority. Also in Jhapa KP Sharma Oli of the CPN-UML is engaged in a similar struggle for electoral survival. In view of the powerful positions these two leaders enjoy in the present political establishment, one is led to suspect that there may well be a link between that and the government’s failure to respond to the election commission’s concerns. It is only in Dipayal that the tenure of a tribunal hearing an electoral dispute over an Upper House seat has been extended. No major political figure is involved in that particular case. This and the fact that the political parties too have remained apparently unconcerned about the Election Commission’s protests lend credence to the involvement of powerful interests.

The Election Commission is understandably incensed. The government’s disregard has been described as a serious violation of the principle of free and fair elections enshrined in our Constitution. Election Commission officials consider this to be indicative of the government’s clear disregard for such elections and for the Election Commission itself. All this amounts to a serious indictment of those who run the government of this country. It betrays their level of commitment to democracy. These are formative times for Nepalese democracy which our politicians never tire of lauding to the skies in their extensive speech making. The good traditions that we help to establish now will stand our democracy in good stead in the months and years to come. Failure to respond adequately to complaints of electoral irregularity is certainly not one of them. Another point to be borne in mind is that democracy in third world countries such as ours is often seen as being perfunctory. We have yet to develop the fabric and ambiance of democracy that will keep elected leaders to the straight and narrow throughout their tenure of office, and even beyond. We don’t in most instances even have mechanisms in place for the impeachment of high officials for misconduct in office. Third world democracy is said to be limited to the holding of elections periodically. Elected leaders tend to go back to their high handed ways of lording it over the populace once the unavoidable hassles of being voted back into power are over and done with for another four or five years. The onus is therefore on winning those elections by hook or crook. All the more reason therefore to keep our electoral process above reproach and the election tribunals functioning long enough.

Comments on poverty reduction strategy

By Govinda Bahadur Thapa

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently brought out a strategy paper on the basis of which it will provide financial assistance to Nepal for poverty reduction in five years’ time. This also indicates that ADB’s assistance to Nepal will focus only on poverty reduction. Since the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) of the country identified Poverty Reduction as its main objective, ADB’s strategy and assistance to Nepal for poverty alleviation seem quite relevant. However, the paper has raised several issues that confuse conscious readers in respect of past world development strategies. For example, the paper has said that the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was introduced because of the failure of the import substitution regime and it was the natural evolution of the world development strategy (9 page 10, Para, 41). This is a controversial statement because SAP was a compulsive development strategy introduced to face the crises brought about by the oil shocks of 1974 and 1979. And this paper does not mention even a word about the oil shock which in fact changed the model and strategy of development in the world.

In fact, the overstretched government sector both in developing as well as developed countries could not absorb those oil shocks. Simultaneously, the interest rates on international loans surged up significantly, imposing an unbearable debt burden on the developing countries. The prices of raw materials dropped sharply in the international market which reduced the foreign exchange earnings of the raw material exporting developing countries. All these factors pushed almost all the developing countries towards balance of payments crises. To get over these challenges, these countries took recourse to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) and these international financial institutions adopted a development strategy which was named the Structural Adjustment Programme. All the relevant IMF and WB publications have explained these facts in detail. Therefore, it is surprising that ADB experts have brought out a different story in this regard.

Another similarly surprising statement in the strategy paper is that the import substitution regime of the past was the planned and predesigned development strategy of the western world (page 10) and the then socialist economies, led by the former Soviet Union, had nothing to do with the expansion of the government sector. However, the fact which everyone knows is that the initial success story of the Soviet model of development made a significant contribution to the expansion of the government sector in the newly independent countries in particular, and the developing countries in general. Similarly, the cold war between the two superpowers also had an important bearing on the expansion of the government sector. Therefore, such incomplete and one-sided inferences mentioned in such an important official document of an institution of the ADB's stature is indeed surprising.

Another debatable or even misunderstood aspect of the paper is its conceptual foundation. Its concept of poverty reduction is based on the writings of Ronald Duncan and Stephen Pollard and HD Soto who have argued that "lack of well-defined property rights and impartially enforced contracts" are the root causes of the poverty in poverty-ridden countries. This may be right in the case of other countries but not in the case of Nepal. Because an overwhelming majority of the Nepali have some land, though very small in size, and such land is registered at the Land Revenue Office. The land owners have ownership of their land this is duly certified by government authority. And they can use that land as collateral, if they wish to do so. Thousands of such farmers have taken loans from the Agriculture Development Bank (ADB/N), offering their land in collateral. The conclusion of the paper does not represent the reality in Nepal.

But the synthesis made in the paper about the present status of the poverty situation in Nepal is candid and commendable. It states that the absolute number of people living in poverty in Nepal has doubled over the past two decades (page 8 ). The paper states that the share in total income of the bottom 40 percent of the population decreased from 23 percent in 1984/85 to 11 percent in 1995/96, whereas the share in total income of the wealthiest 10 percent of the population increased from 23 percent to 52 percent during the same period, indicating the worsening situation of income distribution in Nepal (page 7). The paper also conclusively states that unless this trend is reversed, Nepal’s poverty situation will worsen over time.

The paper has presented a glimpse of previous studies carried out by various institutions, in which it is shown that the mountain region, followed by the hilly and the Terai region are poorer in a descending order. It also summarises the level of poverty among disadvantaged groups and Dalits. The lower caste groups are poorer than the upper caste, while ethnic communities like Limbus, Tamangs, Magars, Tharus, Mushars and indigenous groups like Chepang and Raute are really very poor. Newars and Brahmins are less poor due to ‘urban contacts.’

The social discrimination system is one of the principal reasons pushing the low caste towards abysmal poverty as they have been deprived of education, public resources and employment opportunities. Since they are branded as "untouchables", they even lack assets.

Only 15.4 percent of the Dalits produce enough foodgrain for one year while they constitute 15 percent of the country’s population with a literacy rate less than 15 percent. The paper has also mentioned the historically poverty-stricken groups: Dalits, Janajatis, Sukumbasis and Kamaiyas.

This paper makes it clear that though Nepal’s efforts towards poverty reduction during the last 15 years have failed miserably in terms of reducing the magnitude of the population living below the poverty line, they have been successful in locating and identifying pockets of poverty. It has now been easier to hit the target in poverty reduction, given effective and practical programmes and commitment. The paper has also very rightly pointed out that the government’s redistributive capacity has become extremely weak. Therefore, it has emphasized the "land reform" programme. The paper’s emphasis on good governance, decentralization and the elimination of corruption as prerequisites for poverty reduction is equally commendable.

After reviewing the experience of the past poverty reduction programmes of Nepal, the paper has identified the strategies to be followed by ADB in future, focusing on poverty reduction. In this context, the paper has identified agriculture, irrigation, roads, power, finance, education, environment, water and sanitation as the main sectors for investment that would directly involve the poor for enhanced economic growth and human development through good governance.

In such ways, the analysis of the present status of poverty, its causes, previous efforts and failure, and the strategies to be followed in future seems to be quite realistic. However, there appears to be a big gap while coming to the selection of the sectors. There has been a big jump from investment policy to the selection of the economic sectors. It gives the impression that the authors were in a great hurry to finish the paper. In other words, the paper does not give any indication about how pro-poor economic growth can be achieved. How can corruption be controlled and good governance achieved? How is equity improving growth strategy? The paper fails to satisfy readers who have been impatient to know about the tricks for solving all these challenges confronting the country. The paper does not say anything about programmes and unless the investment programmes are clearly mentioned one cannot be sure whether the policy can be effectively implemented.

Not so ‘ordinary’

By Hitesh Karki

When i woke up one fine morning, I heard the news about our footballers' statement. To be honest, it was really very disheartening ( in case you are a real football fanatic) to hear them unfolding their dilemma. I could clearly see, hear, feel them finding themselves in a catch-22 situation . I guess economists would term this an opportunity cost. If they took sides with the Ganesh Thapa led ANFA (TANFA would be a more appropriate name, I should add) then only would they be able to participate in the FIFA organized matches. But then the opportunity cost of it was sure to come in the form of threats from Gita Rana's ANFA (RANFA), the one recognised by the Ministry of Sports and I wonder weather the Minister really cares about what's going in our sports world! In case he were in the habit of reading English language newspapers, I would have certainly urged him to bar Nepal from participating in any matches so that these idiots come to their senses. Coach dear, you did a great job by resigning for it's not the game of football that they want to promote here. It’s the dirty game of money and politics they are interested in! Or else, why would the opposition be stalling the proceedings of parliament for Lauda but not uttering even a single word when the chance of cheering our National team on our own homeground has been snatched away?

On the same day, on my way to office, I happened to bump into one of the MPs. Now don’t ask me who he was because it does not make any sense. Even if he is a minister, it makes no difference at all. In spite of knowing all this, I could not resist asking him as to why he was not in the House for the Winter Session. And there came the expected reply.

"Well, I have already signed for today, and secondly it makes no point sitting there for all they do is nothing. Moreover, who would want to put himself at risk of being punched or hit? And by the way, I have really developed a sore throat shouting all the time..... Talk about the return of the festive season of bandhs .

"Well, thank you sir, but unlike you, I do have to work, or else.... I don’t get paid just by signing the attendance register," I replied.

When I reached my office, I was summoned by my boss and was asked to take an immediate flight to Nepalgunj for official work. "Well, ...fine sir", and headed straight to TIA. At an airport where even Their Majesties weren’t spared and were made to wait, how could an ordinary mortal like me expect that the plane would take off without making us wait for at least two hours. By the time the plane took off, I had already paid Rupees 25 per cup of coffee ( that too, for small plastic throw away cups) during almost three and half hours. Any access to phone? Nope. And the concerned people from the airline would not give a damn. I guess I wouldn’t be that wrong if I were to say, for the price they charge, Gongabu bus stop is far more convenient. At least, the bus leaves for the destination on time, unlike those domestic carriers that don’t hesitate cancelling a scheduled flight if a group of green bill paying tourists turn up at the airport.

Finally, the eagerly awaited announcement, asking us to board the aircraft, was made. Relieved, I headed towards the plane. On my way, I halted for a while. In fact, others too stopped since a big jumbo had just landed. One, two, three...., five,........ fifteen. Believe it or not, there were just a fistful of people who were coming out of the jumbo jet. Which jet? It hardly calls for any guesswork.

Maoist insurgency from Magar perspective

By B K Rana

It has been five years since the Maoist activities began in Nepal, and they have taken hundreds of lives. Both police and the public are being killed almost every day. The news of such ‘human killings’ used to bring panic earlier, but now it has become ‘a common type of everyday affair’.

The nascent democracy is under serious threat. People are helpless and Maoist activities are increasing by leaps and bounds. It seems as if there is a strong support for Maoists activities from the grassroot level. Why is this so? The question can have several answers which should be found among the Nepalese people. The insurgency has affected people of all walks of life. Academic circles which appear to be more sympathetic towards the Maoists should endeavour to create an atmosphere for dialogue between the government and the Maoists rebels. People are demanding an urgent solution to the problem. They are very sick of this sort of activity going on for so long.

The government has labelled the Maoists as ‘terrorists, but I would prefer not to use this term because the ruling Nepali Congress Party (NC) had also took up arms against the Rana regime some fifty years ago. Many people were killed by the Mukti Sena - Liberation Army - under the command of the NC leaders. Following King Mahendra’s dismissal of the elected government in 1961, Nepal had to embrace the Partyless Panchayat system. The system was also called "partyless democracy" for it used to have a parliament at the national level known as the Rastriya Panchyat. There were adult franchise, elections and different political organizations functioning in accordance with the provisions of the then Constitution. But Panchyat democracy also had some ‘shortcomings’. That's why it also became unpopular among the people. They began speaking against that system.

The Panchyat System remained unchallenged until people took to the streets to overthrow it in 1991. We now have a ‘reinstated sort of democracy’ at the cost of hundreds of lives of Nepalese people whom we regard as our beloved martyrs.

If we compare the current Maoist activities with the above historical facts, we will not dub the Maoists ‘terrorists’. Nevertheless, their activities are creating a nuisance in the country. On the other hand they are also forming a ‘people's government’ in some remote districts in western Nepal where everyone is reported to be happier. They have won the hearts of the people there - they claim. In the same manner, the Maoists are launching their ‘programmes’ to overthrow the current political system which, in their words is a reactionary devilish system which devours its own people.

The Maoist activity grew from Rolpa in western Nepal. It is home to the Magars who claim to be the largest mass in the country - 25 percent of the total population. Magar ancestors were kings and courtiers. They have a glorious a history of shedding blood in the making of Modern Nepal. But they are portrayed as villains in the pages of history and we, their descendants, have remained deprived of all opportunities to serve the country and grossly ill treated right from the beginning of the Rana regime. On being insulted by ‘government officials’, the Magars of Rolpa started a rebellion. Cashing in on the situation the Maoist leaders went to command them. Now, they are ‘using’ the Magars just as King Prithivi Narayan Shah did to unify a number of principalities to form this united nation about 230 years ago. Magars from Gorkha fought in the First and Second World Wars. There were the Gorkhalis. The East India Company also ‘used’ Gorkhalis to protect the frontiers of the then British Empire. There are some Gorkha Magar soldiers in Queen Elizabeth’s household in London today. All This suggests that Magars are indeed lords of war and they have an inborn quality of being ‘fighters for a greater cause and protector of their values’. But, we do not believe in ‘armoured fighting’ for any cause - greater or smaller. Therefore, we are appealing to the government to hold talks with the Maoists immediately. Similarly, we are suggesting to the Maoists to lay down arms at once and come to the table for talks. Dialogue can pave a way to lasting peace, security and prosperity.

Maoist activities are spreading fast in the country and many Magars, including Tharus and Tamangs and a few others, are being killed by the police. We know that the Magars are being suspected by the government quite unnecessarily. The Prime Minister declines invitations to public ceremonies that we organize. But, he has been found going to other similar programs organized by other ethnic groups.

Has the Prime Minister become Magar-phobic, and therefore, sees each Magar as a Maoist rebel? In fact, each Magar is not a born Maoist. We are not Maoists. We are not supporters of the gun-trotting Maoists. But, we do not differ from their opinions when it comes to the plight and miseries of our countrymen.

We believe the problem of the Maoist insurgency in the country can be solved if we are committed to solving it. For this the government should immediately initiate steps to create an atmosphere for ‘meaningful’ dialogue. The use of any kind of ‘force’ would result in more bloodshed, the country would get forced to fall victim of ‘civil war’ and its territorial integrity would be in question. Our motherland is very dear to us.