NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Politics In Bar

As usual, two politically affiliated groups are contesting the Nepal Bar Association elections

By KESHAB POUDEL

As the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) elections approach, the atmosphere at the bar has heated up. The NBA has now turned into a virtual political battlefield of lawyers associated with the ruling Nepali Congress and different left parties.

Nepal Bar association : Brawl in the bar

Although a group of lawyers filed a complaint at the NBA elections commission seeking to block non-practising lawyers from membership, the demand was turned down.

According this group, among 5,520 voters in the association, more than two thirds are non-practitioners. Kathmandu polling station has the highest number of 2,576 voters but most of them are students of the Law Campus. Biratnagar has the second highest number of 478 voters. As branches of the NBA are scattered all over the country, candidates have to take a national tour.

Interestingly, despite divisions in the leftist camp in national politics, they have maintained unity at the NBA elections. From radical communists to liberals, all are backing a candidate nominated by an umbrella of left groups.

From the CPN-UML to the CPN-ML, all communist groups have rallied behind politician turned senior advocate Sindhunath Pyakurel. The democratic front has nominated advocate Basanta Ram Bhandari as its candidate.

It seems that the NBA elections are going to be a battle between political ideologies rather than between professionals. "At a time when the country is polarized along political ideology, lawyers cannot remain neutral. But in the NBA, we forget all political differences after the elections," said Harihar Dahal, current president of the NBA.

"I have taken many steps to make the NBA an apolitical organization. I feel that during my tenure I have accommodated lawyers of different ideologies in the mainstream of the association," he said. "I expect the democratic front will win over the progressives."

When leaders of a professional organization are chosen on the basis of political affiliation, professionalism often becomes an early casualty. The candidates, too, openly accept that they are supported by political groups.

In that situation, the credibility and acceptability of individuals that win will always be viewed with suspicion. But the situation in the NBA is such that nobody can expect to win elections under an independent or neutral banner.

As nomination of the candidates has been completed, both factions are preparing their agendas for the elections.

"We are yet to finalize our agenda. One of the key pledges is to enhance unity among lawyers and strengthen the judiciary," said Pyakurel. "I want to make the bar a really professional organization. I think politics and the judiciary are separable. So long as I remain a member of the bar, my main objective will be to promote professional organization."

Although Pyakurel is an active member of the legal profession, he was elected as a member of the upper house of parliament through the United People's Forum five years ago. This time, an alliance of all left forces decided to put him up for the NBA elections.

Bhandari, too, pledges that he would work to build professionalism in the bar. "I will make the bar an independent and apolitical entity, if I am elected," said Bhandari, who is known for his gentlemanly behavior in the bar.

As the democratic and leftist fronts are making every effort to win the elections, it is not easy to predict who will actually emerge victorious.

In the last elections, the democratic and left fronts shared major positions in the NBA. If that unity continues, many expect the left front led by Pyakurel will have an upper hand.

Following the restoration of multiparty democracy, all professional organizations have been politicized, with ideology having been established as the primary qualification.

"I have been nominated on the basis of my own capabilities rather than any political affiliation," said Bhandari, who is preparing his election manifesto.

In the last 10 years, Radheshyam Adhikary, Krishna Prasad Panta and Harihar Dahal have headed the NBA.

"It is meaningless to vote in the NBA as the association is too politicized. Less than 10 percent of the members are practitioners, and the remaining are politicians," said advocate Bal Krishna Neupane. "How can I believe that a professional will win the elections at a time when politicians, students, government employees and other non-practitioners are allowed to vote," he said.

"According to Clause 12.5 of the NBA constitution, only practising lawyers can claim membership, but now everyone is a member."

Although some protested against the inclusion of some names in the voters list, the NBA elections commission threw out the complaint. "Our objection was rejected by the NBA on the ground that all politicians are practising lawyers. Most of the candidates in the bar have a political agenda since they are themselves politicians," Neupane said.

"How one can remain apolitical when he or she is elected on the basis of political affiliation?"

Dozens of politicians, including Minister of Law and Justice Mahanta Thakur, MPs Govinda Raj Joshi, Subhas Nembang, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, are listed as voters.

As long as the NBA fails to update its voters list by separating practising and non-practising lawyers, politics will continue to dominate the bar elections.