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CA Legislators’ Apt to Democracy in Nepal

Prakash Bom - 9/1/2009

It is an ethical question for the elected representatives in Democracy to enforce with their piece of legislation the true administration of justice which is the firmest pillar of good government all beyond their party-line-politics. This means supporting that bill whichever political party endorses it for the true administration of justice.

Therefore, it is fundamental to legislators to see the significance of true administration of justice without which the independence of judiciary cannot be established in Democracy. That is to say there can be none above the law to claim immunity - or in other words, neither the head of the state can in the pretext of political tradition nor can any creed, caste, race, color and gender resist the true administration of justice.

For example, the verdict of Supreme Court on vice president to retake oath in Nepali is based on the provision of Interim Constitution, which ought to be transformed to deliver the true administration of justice. The status quo cannot deliver justice at this point where multi-ethnic and multi-linguistic elements of society have become national agenda for change.

Yet vice president Paramanand Jha’s oral oath in Hindi has impressed a politics of Indian domination that Nepal resents. The best for the nation at this point could be for vice president to retake oath in Maithali as linguistic rights have suggested. It would be most sensible for the Supreme Court also to respect the changes that are occurring through out the nation to re-order vice president for retaking his oral oath in Maithali or any indigenous languages other than vernacular Hindi.

CA legislators have to be absolutely clear that ‘Hindi’ cannot be the common language of entire Terai based on the current history of Nepal and the use of Nepali as an official language. However, all ethnic languages of Nepal – Newari, Bhojpuri, Maithali, Tharu, Kirat, Limbu and so on under Federal Democratic Republic system ought to play cultural role in their corresponding state and local government. Therefore, bill of oath must be inclusive of all ethnic languages of Nepal.

So far towards drafting a new constitution of the nation for establishing the true administration of justice has been the approval of provision by Constitution Assembly’s Committee on Determining the Judicial System which abolishes the status quo of appointing justices by Judicial Council. The Parliamentary appointment of the justices is the way of true administration of justice that most of the developed nations’ democratic system is based on.

The tradition of party-politics based on seniority and hierarchy must come to an end. The true administration of justice must be established with the free and fair competitions. The politics of double-standard – lecturing people one thing and doing something for politics must be marginalized through the true democratic processes.

For example, the attitude of Sujata Koirala, as a foreign minister was based on such politics that she adapted inflexibly from her family hierarchy in Nepali Congress. As a hierarchical member of NC she has demonstrated the power that has overruled the protocols of international relations. Basically, for the true administration of justice she is not qualified to be a foreign minister of a nation other than in the current politics of Nepal.

That’s why it is crucial for CA legislators to endorse bills that can lay cornerstones of true administration of justice for good governance for establishing supremacy of Parliament over current tradition of party-politics and intra-party hierarchy that has undermined fair democratic processes.

The provision for appointment and dismissal of justices through Parliamentary processes in the new constitution is more democratic than Judiciary Council appointing them on the basis of superiority of judge (s) in service along the line of hierarchy of court tradition.

If the experts claim that such a democratic process violates the concept of separation of power because it puts the independence of judiciary under political control, then obviously unelected representatives of Judiciary Council overrule the duty of elected legislators of the Parliament.

It is the elected legislators of the Parliament in Democracy who are accountable for each bill if it contradicts the concept of separation of power. It is very important therefore for CA legislators to accomplish such a duty to abolish the status quo that insists on power of unelected representatives of the government to avoid chance for fair competition.

If CA legislators can honestly try to understand the current UN report on national growth under Human Development Index, for example, then they must face for themselves the fundamental legislative question that why Nepal has had no effective government system in its entire history. It is obvious that Nepal had no effective elected legislative body responsible for legislating effective government system.

The report has suggested that absence of war alone will not assure a lasting peace for human development and prosperity. This means Nepal utterly lacks the legislation that can institutionalize the true administration of justice for good government. For example, in order to enforce effective traffic rules in this technological time the traffic police simply cannot take fine in cash from traffic rule violator. There must be a system to collect fines through a control-mechanism so that both traffic officer and the traffic rule violator can be tracked in the process.

So far since nation has mandated federal system of government it should make life of legislators’ easy if the federal government has directly elected Prime Minister or President as an executive head of the nation – such as UML has proposed with fully elected Parliament – both upper and lower house. And provincial states and local government with all directly elected governor, mayor and assembly.

No matter what rhetoric the political party leaders toss with their sound-bite, for example Maoist chairman Prachanda calling for China-India-Nepal power against America, Nepal will not be able to emerge from its “Human Underdevelopment Index” – illiteracy and poverty unless CA legislators can pass bills for new constitution to establish effective democratic system with the true administration of justice for good governance.

On the other hand, how much money India or China or other donor-nations pour in without legislating true administration of justice under new constitution for good government it will be sucked into the vacuum of corruption as in all past and current governments which have embraced the tradition of impunity. It is hard for status quo to see money matters less than a system of true administration of justice for good governance in Democracy.