National 1 (Spotlight Weekly)

Undesirable Consequences

The aftermath of Koirala’s rash remarks exposes how far the two political forces of the country still are

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Koirala : Reckless remarks?

Even though Nepali Congress (NC) president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala clarified that his remarks were not targeted at the Supreme Court (SC) but the King, the damage had been done.

The knee-jerk reflex like remarks he made taunting the apex court – which is constitutionally authorized even to define the constitutional provisions – was taken with a pinch of salt even by his own party colleagues.

But more than that, it also exposed another – if not more important – problem nagging the country at this juncture. It showed that two forces representing the two pillars of Nepali nationhood were drifting further apart.

The King, who represents the traditional monarchy, and Koirala, whose party NC represents liberal democratic force, have not been able to patch up their differences, which could imperil the whole nation at this critical juncture when not only the internal but even friendly external forces are advocating that all the constitutional forces must come together to overcome the Maoist menace.

Based on their utility both monarchy and liberal democratic forces are of vital importance to the country. But last week’s hotheaded reaction by Koirala revealed that the two forces are nowhere close. The aftermath of the controversy brought to the fore the deep-rooted crisis of confidence.

Moreover, Koirala has already drawn the daggers by emphasizing that the anti-regression agitation will be against the ‘tyrannical rule’ of the King. The four party-brigade led by Koirala restarted their agitation this week.

Even as he might have acted out of his political conviction when he made the derogatory remarks against the SC where he charged that the apex court had lost the sense of justice and was under the influence of the King, most of the legal experts agree that the remarks were unwarranted. “It did him no good. And it did his party no good, as well,” said a lawyer.

The SC had, earlier, rejected the petition by Koirala in which he had claimed that the actions by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) against him based on the secret Judicial Investigation of Property Commission (JIPC) report was illegal. The apex court upheld the action of the CIAA against Koirala and other former ministers and high-ranking officials including former ministers Gobinda Raj Joshi and Rabindra Nath Sharma.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Gobinda Bahadur Shrestha and justice Hari Prasad Sharma, passed the verdict stating that the CIAA reserves authority under the existing constitution and the CIAA Act 1991 and its amendment in 2002 to take actions against any person who has held public office.

Koirala had knocked the doors of the apex court one and a half years ago in response to the summon by the CIAA stating that it was acting with malafide intention.

Former justice of SC Krishna Jung Rayamajhi said that since nobody is big or small before the court, Koirala must respect and honor the SC verdict. “If one is to follow the rule of law, one must not take the decision of the court negatively,” he said. “Perhaps the politicians would give varying reactions to the verdict. But on legal and constitutional basis, the SC has come with appropriate decision,” Rayamajhi added.

Many legal professionals also worry that such reaction from a senior political leader, who had become the prime minister many times, could show the apex court in poor light and belittle it in the eyes of the common people.

The impetuous remarks also led Koirala to face the contempt of court petition. And in response to the contempt of court case filed against him, the SC has already ordered him to personally appear before it within seven days along with written replies on what he has to say about the charges.