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An Outlook of Federal Security System of Republic Nepal & Integration of PLA

Prakash Bom - 6/15/2008

People's elected representatives of Constituent Assembly have declared Nepal a secular federal democratic republic. Of course, political consensus of major political parties and their leaderships have led the people's electoral power to arrive to this historic achievement. But without institutionalizing the power of people's electoral mechanism such a declaration could not have been possible for its legitimacy. If it could have been possible, why could not then SPA have declared it before? Therefore, no political consensus alone can thereafter be legitimate without the electoral consensus of the institution of people's representatives. This is our historically set democratic standard that no political consensus of major political parties can bypass the vote of the institution of people's representatives.



If the main political parties could have fully accepted this historical fact for their full compliance then their leaderships should have by now arrived to a logical conclusion for the modality of the federal security system of federal democratic republic Nepal! Possibly the existing centrally controlled national security system will need transformation in structure and working mechanism. Therefore, if the leaderships cannot really think and visualize the real picture of the federal security system then they can simply neither reject nor accept the integration of People's Liberation Army of former rebel Maoist party without finding a tentative model of the federal security system.



Basically, Maoist party has become one of the major political parties of the mainstream politics of Nepal and by virtue of multiparty democracy it cannot have its own army. Federal democratic solution for PLA is fundamental to its integration if not main political parties and their six-member panels have forgot to take into account the federal security system. Otherwise we can simply doubt the intension of the political parties to continue with the centrally controlled current security system for their vested political interest. I personally question the mindset of political parties and their leaderships that they can unconsciously wish to control people even if they have to make people go blind legislatively, particularly the Nepali Congress party. If not they are simply ignorant of the federal security system for the federal democratic republic. It is bizarre that they did not thought about it even the nation has been declared federal democratic republic. I still think the declaration has not yet become real for all political parties and their leaderships and cadres.



Under the federal national security system only Nepal Army can be under the control of the central government as its commander in chief the president of federal democratic republic Nepal. Rest of the security systems are managed by the states and local governments. Basically, states have their state troops to patrol state security, for example to manage highway security, bridges, mines, water, power plants such as nuclear plant, hydro-electricity, and so on.



The police force as law enforcement agencies are divided into two independently managed body of agencies under the national security network system in which the federal or central government manages the federal or central investigation agency and under the local governments – city and county or village municipalities manage the local law enforcement police agencies. The central investigation police employees are appointed by the agency through free competitions. Qualified citizen from any where in the nation can compete.



However, in the local police force of the local level of law enforcement agency the candidates for the positions must be the resident or tax payer of the local constituency. For example, a candidate of Bhaktapur resident cannot be appointed in the local police force of Patan. Even within the large cities the local police are divide into borough or township level of security management. The reason behind of such a local level of management and employment is based on democratic norms and principle to make police officers accountable to their taxpayers or residents of their constituency. Basically, the local residents or electorates of the constituency of the local government are acquainted with the police officers. In many states of the United States of America, for example, the sheriff or DSP is locally elected. This may not be viable at this transition phase of political development of Nepal but the local residency for the local police force is mandatory in the federal law enforcement management system.

Therefore, if the main political party leaderships are not as stubborn as the ousted king with his hard and fast coding of Nepali-feudal-Hindu genes then they must be open to bring change in the national security system. As one of the Maoist leaderships have argued that Armed Police Force must be dissolved because it was established to fight Maoist rebels, the best solution to PLA integration in the national security system would be establishing state security system of the federal democratic republic merging both Armed Police Force and People's Liberation Army. This means each federal state security system will have its state troops to accomplish state security for its highway security, bridges, mines, water, power plants such as nuclear plant, hydro-electricity, and so on.



As local police agency is managed under the local government system the state troop must be managed under the state government system. The state residency for the candidates to get employed in state troop is mandatory. This is a very simple and viable resolution for the ethnicity oriented states. However, the state troop must have communication network in certain level with the national army and local police or law enforcement agencies.



I would recommend party leaders and cadres to study state trooper system of the United States of America and Canada for reference. As I have been pointing it out that we must not copy Indian federal system in any level because it is in principle fundamentally dominated by none-local state controlled mechanism, which excludes direct participations or representations of the local electorates of the local constituencies. Political parties such as Nepali Congress might like it as a pleasant central control but it will again exclude people from their participations in the grass root level such as current community forest development system.



It is the national army which is the most professionally qualified non-political national security system of the secular federal democratic republic system of which commander in chief is the elected president of the people's representatives. Therefore, the president has to be non-political meaning he or she should be devoid of his vested political interest for the certain political party. So it should be the condition of national army. I think Nepal Army has been professional to some extend but it has yet to democratize its internal management as per the norms and principle of the secular federal democratic republic. For example, if it has Hindu temple in its barrack then it should have either gods of all other religions or clean up the feudal religious practice and adapt to the standard of secular professionalism.



If Nepal Army is a non-political, and non-religious secularly motivated professional national military system then with its compliance it cannot integrate members of politically motivated militia no matter how noble job the militia has done in the history of Nepal. We must also set no double standard here that if declaration of secular state does not really mean for the sentiment but for the commitments in the practice then Nepal Army has to relinquish all the dominant Hindu rituals from its professional military practice to establish civil liberty for all army men of all different religion to observe their own ethnicity, culture and religion. If the military professionalism of Nepal Army has been traditionally intermingled with the Hindu rituals and practice then it is not a non-religious secular military system, which can equally be as detrimental as political to the norms and principle of the secular federal democratic republic Nepal.



Therefore, Nepal Army's stand on the basis of qualifications of the candidate is justifiable. It is because Nepal Army has not been fully non-political and non-religious secular professional military system. Hereafter it is reasonable that a professionally qualified PLA candidate can be integrated to Nepal Army. Rest of other PLA members with some professional qualifications should be merged in state troop security system with the Armed Police Force. The Armed Police Force as nationally controlled security system should be transformed into the state controlled state security system. This will be the most viable resolution for the political consensus for major political parties to arrive to a logical conclusion for electing a president of the federal democratic republic Nepal and forming a new government with the leadership of Maoist party.