FORUM (Spotlight Weekly)

‘Democracy Gives A Country The Best Opportunity To Solve Its Problems’

— MARK WALLEM, J.D.

Mark Wallem is Nepal Director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). He spoke to SANJAYA DHAKAL about democratic development and the challenges faced by democratic governance in Nepal. Excerpts:

How do you assess the process of democratic development in Nepal?

There are reasons for optimism. I remain hopeful and optimistic about the prospects of democratic development in Nepal. Nepalese citizens are involved in their democracy. Seventy percent of the citizens voted in the last national election -- that is 20 percent higher than the people of my country, the United States, who voted. We ran a women representatives training program in the terai region for over two years, and during that program we had 98 percent participation of the women that we reached out to who wanted to improve their skills in serving their constituents. So what I think is, Nepalese when presented with opportunities -- the opportunity to vote, the opportunity to serve their country and people -- they take it. What remain lacking are the opportunities. My experience is that Nepalese citizens are eager to participate and support their democratic system of governance.

What are the main problems of democratic development in Nepal?

There is a wide variety of challenges. One of the challenges remains corruption and this is an area where we work in. Another key problem is education -- and I mean that in two ways. Clearly, the education system in general must be improved to increase the literacy rate and to educate citizens in general. But I also think there has to be increasing focus to educate young Nepalese about the democratic system of governance. There is a lapse in the school education regarding Nepalís democratic system of governance and democratic institutions around the world. Nepal needs to begin with children so that they become knowledgeable about what their system of governance is, what their rights and responsibilities are. In a democratic society, there are rights but there are also responsibilities. Ultimately, the success of democracy rests on the people.

You mentioned corruption as a major challenge to democracy here. How can corruption be controlled? Do we need more legislative intervention?

Work against corruption has to happen at all levels. Again, I think a lot is concerned with the citizens. Citizens have to take the responsibility for corruption as well. This includes the low-level bribes and incentives given to peons and bureaucrats or police. This may not seem like a lot of money but collectively, it is a great deal of money and it is creating a culture of corruption in the country. Every citizen must take responsibility for stopping corruption. On the governmental level, we are working in a wide variety of areas. We are working to encourage parliament to pass the code of conduct for MPs. This issue has been presented to parliament now for sometime and we are hopeful that in the session starting next February, parliament will vote on this issue and pass it. A code of conduct does a number of things. It governs the amount of gift that a member of parliament can receive, an MPís general behavior in office and also requires financial disclosure, meaning it requires the disclosure of sources of income, sources of gift of an MP and his/her spouse and immediate family. This is important in that it will, over the course of time, show whether the member is receiving income from questionable sources. This also will help in identifying potential conflict of interest, like if a member has in the past or present received income or has any investment in a particular corporation, that member should not be involved in laws that affect the corporation. We are hopeful that this will pass. We think that this will not only substantively make a difference but also send an important message from parliament that it is ready and willing to take a standard of ethical code of conduct which they can then expect from civil servants and citizens.

How do you find the level of commitment among political leaders to curb corruption? And does their action match their words?

Well, there is a great deal of rhetoric and national dialogue on this issue. And this is very encouraging. Some people think that these are empty words. But it is important, at least, to begin a dialogue on this. It is very encouraging to find big political leaders frequently addressing this issue. But, of course, this has to be matched with action, which until now, we certainly have not seen. Now there is a new chief commissioner at the CIAA (Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority). We are glad to see that the CIAA now has the full membership with all the five members. We are hopeful that the new members and the full constitution of the body will now move forward.

A decade after the restoration of multiparty democracy in Nepal, the system is yet to translate into economic development. This could lead to frustration among the people. What do you say?

It is important to remember that democracy cannot solve all problems and cannot solve all problems immediately. But it is very difficult to tell this to a person who is suffering. I think we need to know that democracy gives a country the best opportunity to solve its problems. However, the problems do not get solved overnight. Economic and political freedom gives a country the best opportunity to solve its problems.

What programs does the NDI have in Nepal?

In addition to anti-corruption programs, we have two other programs, including one on civic education where we are working with the local NGOs to develop a curriculum that will come to the plus-two schools. This curriculum, written by Nepalese and for Nepalese, is aimed at teaching plus-two students about the Nepalese constitution, system of governance, human rights conventions, electoral process and all of the democratic institutions that the young people need to know about. We also have a voter education program where we are working closely with the Central Election Commission (CEC). We are reaching out to voters, through written information and extensive radio programming, and educating them on their rights and responsibilities, about registration process and votersí ID. As a partial component of this program, we are also helping build up the capacity of district election commission offices. The CEC has already set up its district offices in 30 districts and plans to cover all the 75 districts by the year 2003.