New Polarization

Nepal 's political situation polarizes between the followers of constituent assembly and those who want to activate the present constitution

By KESHAB POUDEL

With extension of transport and communication networks in Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and commencing of railway service to Lhasa by July 2006, Nepal 's northern neighbor China has already implemented a number of projects in Tibet under its "Go West" policy to achieve higher economic growth in the region. Competing for high economic growth, Nepal 's southern neighbor India is also planning to improve infrastructure and communications networks in Bihar and Utter Pradesh - two relatively backward states of India , aiming to achieve high economic growth.

Political Leaders : In agitational mood

But the question that looms large for Nepalis is: in the context of the fast changing economic growth on the both sides of Nepal , what future the Nepalese people have along with their politicians.

As Nepal 's two neighbors are discussing the ways and means for gearing up high economic growth at this moment, Nepal is in a quagmire of political conflict thanks to political agenda set by political leaders and endorsed by self-declared champions of civil rights and civil societies. For the long-term economic growth, what the country like Nepal requires is political stability but the way politicians and so called civil society members are proposing a solution is definite to push Nepal into a prolonged course of political instability. Supported by a small but a powerful section of Kathmandu based intelligentsia, some mainstream political parties and armed insurgents, the pressure is growing for Constituent Assembly pushing the country towards a prolong political instability.

Ignoring the fact that the transformation in Nepal 's neighborhood will have trickle-down economic effect in the country over the next decade, Nepalese now seem to have only one agenda now -- To continue to quarrel on non-issues like framing a new constitution through Constituent Assembly. They do not know the complications and implications of convening a constituent assembly by discarding the existing constitution.

Without considering what ordinary folks are thinking, they find readymade recruits for agitation from campuses and schools to disrupt the peace of society and block the economic progress. How unfortunate it is that a leader like Girija Prasad Koirala, whose commitments to liberal democracy is unquestionable, declares to oppose the ensuing elections by all means arguing that the elections may legitimize the activities of the King in the recent past.

"We have to oppose tooth-and-nail the proposed elections - which will legitimize King's actions," said Koirala addressing a public rally in Biratnagar. CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal in his recent mass rally in the capital echoed a similar voice.

Could really there be a choice to prove the King wrong by discarding the means of elections or to get elected to public office to assume the helms of affairs? On the one hand, all political parties have a negative program to prove the King wrong and on the other hand, they have an opportunity to get back to power and broaden the area of reconciliation with King.

Unfortunately, they are heading towards the negative program and preparing for an all round confrontations align with any undesirable force to block the elections process. "Our active boycott means to take all necessary measures to block the elections," said CPN-UML leader Bamdev Gautam.

Nepali politicians and intellectuals are always easy prey of confusion and usually follow the wrong track. Political forces are unable to gauge the pulse of political reality.  When leaders of political parties spoke about the need for reconciliation, the King took a harsh step by blocking the road towards national unity. Similarly, when King takes reconciliatory approach, political leaders are in the agitation. Upon his arrival following his three- week-visits to some Asian and African countries, King spoke with reconciliatory tone but the parties are speaking the language of confrontation.

Nepal 's major political forces seem to be playing the game of hide and seek. They have failed to gauge and understand the political language being used by each other.

Constituent Assembly

King Gyanendra :Soft Language

The topic Constituent Assembly at present is hottest and highest in political debate and persons of different disciplines have come out with their own imaginary or idealistic ideas related to it.  When practicing lawyers and retired judges on constitutional expertise are questioning the importance of Constituent Assembly, some of our prominent medicos and engineers see the Constituent Assembly as the only solution to all the political problems facing the country.

Nepalese medicos have a long history of joining politics and taking the plunge. Vice chairman Dr. Tulsi Giri and former chairman of Raj Parishad Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi have their own political history and continue to be in the public forum.

A new generation of medical doctors like cardiologist Dr. Arun Sayami, Dr. Sundar Mani Dixit and Dr. Mathura Prasad Shrestha are now leading the debate and constitutional lawyers are listening their arguments on Constituent Assembly.

"If Constituent Assembly can solve the present political crisis, what is wrong for King to accept it? Not lawyers but people like us will formulate the constitution through constituent assembly," said Dr. Sunder Mani Dixit, in a recent interaction.

Not only medicos but also engineers and other professionals are stressing on the need for constituent assembly. Except lawyers who have affiliations to certain political parties, no lawyer of some standing is found speaking against the present constitution.

For lawyers, constitution is the most essential handbook to maintain their everyday professional services. Medicos and engineers may hardly need to see even a book of constitutional law or constitution. In other countries in South Asia , medicos are not found overtaking lawyers or jurists in the matter of merit and demerit of the constitution. Perhaps due to this, politicians of Nepal in recent days had publicized their faith more on others than their own professionals in the country.

It is strange in Nepal that the professionals trained in other disciplines than law are much in prominence to prescribe the modalities of the constitution and its promulgation. Some other professionals than the lawyers are more confident regarding the contents hoping that the constitution prepared by the Constituent Assembly would be more stable and appropriate than the existing one.

"Our politicians and intellectuals require a new drama to engage and confuse their party people and common people. Following several dramas in the past, now they have invented the point of Constituent Assembly without knowing how it is going to be implemented and how time consuming and costly this exercise is," said former attorney general and advocate Badri Bahadur Karki.  “Actually, their demand is not for `Sambidhan Sabha’ (Constituent Assembly) what they desire is ‘Sambidhan Swaha’ (demise of existing constitution)."

"When the country is unable to preserve and protect the present democratic constitution which was framed and promulgated after paying a huge price by the martyrs, what is the guarantee that the constitution to be made-- if it is drafted at all-- could give the stability."

A New Polarization

Party Workers : Uncertain course

Whether armed forces or unarmed political class, the society is polarized between the followers of constituent Assembly and those who are in favour of the existing constitution. Interestingly, those who framed the present constitution are pressing to abrogate the constitution and call for Constituent Assembly. From CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal , former deputy premier Bharat Mohan Adhikari and former Speaker of House of Representatives Daman Nath Dhungana, member of the cabinet that drafted the present constitution Dr. Devendra Raj Pandey and rights activist Prof. Dr. Mathura Prasad Shrestha, all of them are pressurising for Constituent Assembly.

Interestingly, personalities like vice chairman in the council of minister Kirtinidhi Bista, Minister of Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Niranjan Thapa, Minister of Information and Communication Tanka Dhakal, Minister of Local Development Khadga Bahadur G.C. former chief of the Army staff Satchit Sumsher JB Rana who vehemently opposed the Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal 1990 until sometime back are found defending the document.

Even Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala, who launched the agitation demanding of reinstatement of the House of Representatives to reactivate the present constitution, seems to have changed his earlier stand.

The initial polarization of politics, which killed more than 13000 innocent people, took 13 years to destroy the functional elected parliament and is likely to come to an end with a new theme. No body knows what will be the cost of new polarization and how many years will it take to frame the new document. From formation of the government to proceedings for elections for constituent Assembly, the modality of elections, participations of various groups on the basis of ethnicity, religion and language, it will take years to develop. Assuming that all parties agree on modality of elections and government, how will they conduct elections in a free and fair manner? If the defeated arty rejects the result, how will they respond?

Considering Nepal 's rich social, religious, cultural, ethnic and eographical diversity, the debate over modalities and procedures of Constituent Assembly is going to be a complex issue.

If everything goes smoothly and peacefully, the whole process of onstituent Assembly may at least take a decade to complete. At the time when the draft will be prepared, CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal will be over 60, Nepali Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala will be 93 and other leaders too will be in their sixties. During the process, several Army Chiefs, Police chiefs, chief justices, politicians and many world leaders will have been changed. The population of Nepal in 2016 will be around 40 million.

Even then there is no guarantee that the draft will not be thrown away into the dustbin as was the case in Pakistan in 1958 which had exercised for almost a decade to prepare a draft. If that happens, what would be the outcome. How long this poor country will have to bear? And how much poor people of Nepal will have to wait for all this exercise.

On the political class, there is neither pity for poor nor any body hears the painful sufferings of common people.

"How long the people of Nepal will have to pay for the luxury of debating the constituent assembly? Perhaps this kind of problems somewhere compelled someone to speak that “let fools quarrel on the form of a government. What is governed best is the best," said a political analyst.

"With the extension of transportation network in the bordering areas, China intends not only to enhance its capacity in terms of border defense and internal control but also to create conditions for transforming Tibet into a trading hub in the Himalayan region, which has become one of the objectives of Beijing's bilateral diplomacy towards Nepal, India and Bhutan," writes Thierry Mathou, a French scholar in his article in Asian Survey published by the University of California Berkeley.

When economic agenda is writing the course of politics in the region, how many years should the poor Nepalese have to wait while the unnecessary debate of Constituent Assembly draws on. This kind of debate will prolong political instability pushing the country to a more chaotic situation.