A Perspective of the New Government of Nepal for Maoists to Lead
Author: Prakash Bom
Politically, it is unethical for Maoist leaderships to lead the government prior to abolishing the institution of the feudal monarchy and declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic to set the guideline for drafting the new constitution of a secular state. If they did then they will be re-enforcing the existing feudal Hindu government system and its rule of law. Current government and its legal system are ingeniously intermingled with the feudal Hindu-legal system known as the national law – Mulki-ain and unaccountably governed by the socio-political mindset of the feudal administrative logistics, which sustain on the feudal style of nepotism and favoritism. Judiciary is traditionally conceptualized with these concepts. Justice therefore is counterproductive to the norms of democracy and its secular law and justice. The new government of Nepal that will be formed by the elected representatives of CA thus needs critically thoughtful political leaderships who will not perpetuate but who can exterminate the feudal government values and practices with their vision and responsibility.
Unfortunately, Nepal has no history of a critically thoughtful statesman who had vision and sense of responsibility to the nation as a whole. Superstitiously, popular history of gossip had always blamed the widow for her curse to the nation which statesmen-generals had killed her husband ruthlessly. But people in 21st century Nepal seriously cannot sustain their life further with such irresponsible, ancestrally feudalistic, ethnically cleansing, inconsiderate, selfish and ambitious statesmanship. People want to witness desperately the eradications of such irrational from their land, which had even in the 21st century worried them to believe in goat sacrifice to get better from their sickness or improve their corporate business or get immune from their corruptions and crimes. People wish the new government would transform the society economically and thus provide cure for socio-psychosomatic diseases.
It is not the time therefore for thinking to make a personal history; nor is it the time for party-politics; nor is it the time for the greater ethnicity of Madhesi-Hindu-Caucasians' one Madhes one Terai to politically gulp down the existence of indigenous ethnic minorities; nor is it the time for amendment of the interim constitution to swap the provision of two-third majority with simple. But it is the time to build a new nation with the new constitution to establish institutions of democracy and it can neither be built by one party nor by a single leadership. It has to be built by the consensus of political leaderships of elected representatives of the major political parties of Constituent Assembly. It is time for major political party leaderships to think critically, particularly the Maoist leaderships as a large political party with the mandate to lead the historic Constituent Assembly and the new government.
No successful democratic nation in the history of democracy had ever been able to build institutions of democracy without the consensus of more than one political party and a single leadership. But the nation that had attempted has become disintegrated either because of one-man dictatorship or one-party or one-ethnicity domination. Therefore, if the political leaderships of major political parties are committed to create a new democratic Nepal then they must think critically in earnest for generations to depend on these institutions of democracy. People will never be free of their suffering nor the nation can ever be prosperous if people have to revolt again for another radical change should political leaderships lack in vision and fail to take their responsibility.
People's mandate cannot be just the wish to give Maoists a chance to lead the government because the NC and UML political leaderships could not by long shot build the nation without corruptions, injustice and inequality. But the mandate has given to Maoist essentially to lead the historic Constituent Assembly as a large political party in order to render the consensus. The foremost responsibility of Maoists at this point in history of Nepal is to lead CA to process unanimous consensus to abolish the institution of the feudal monarchy and establish institutions of the federal democratic republic. Then only thereafter Maoists can form a new coalition government under their leadership.
Maoists should lead the government but not prior to the historical event of the first-meet of Constituent Assembly. The historical event must lay the clear ground for the new government to draw the guideline for drafting new constitution based on the norms and principle of the federal democratic republic secular state without any string-attached to the state values and tradition of the feudal-Hindus legal concepts and structures of the current system of government. Maoists therefore have more serious responsibility than just to lead the government for power. They have to make sure that the constitution clearly represents the norms of secular democracy; establishes the provisions of the institutions of federal democratic republic; and guarantees the viable socio-political and economic federal governance structures in which people have electoral rights to leash the representatives of their constituencies – central, state and local.
Fundamentally, political leaderships do not build the nation but the people. What political leaderships can do to the nation is to establish institutions of democracy that gives people freedom, justice and opportunity; legislations to regulate the law enforcement; and blueprint to build the nation. In order to establish the constitutional democracy that is inclusive in structure the political leaderships have to transcend themselves from party politics and personal fame. This is what people expect from Maoists leaderships with their mandate. Therefore Maoists cannot compromise with the feudal establishment such as by bringing up concept of the cultural-king and other feudal baggage. People do not want Maoists make blunders devoid of reasoning and critical thinking. If they do then they eventually will scatter people's hope for prosperous democratic nation that can give some relief from appalling corruptions, injustice and inequality.
In 21st century Nepal people simply expect political leaderships thoughtful and observant of greater necessity and find solutions that can transform socio-political and economic lives of people. For example, a secular state with the diversity of the multi-ethnic, multi-culture and multi-religion must be addressed sensibly with the proportional representative system of the modern multiparty democracy that make decision on the basis of proportional representations rather than on status qua basis of ruling party and opposition. It is because all elected representatives of people are accountable for people and the nation it is irresponsible to make ruling party scapegoat on failure without opposition's accountability. In democracy, as a matter of fact, every elected representative is accountable.
In a diverse society the proportional representative democratic practice is more workable for political stability and economic development than the democratic practice based on notion of a ruling party and an opposition. This does not mean that there is no opposition. However, the legislation is processed with the proportional consensus of the elected representatives not on the basis of party politics but on the basis of issue whether that is beneficial if not necessary for the people and the nation. Moreover, if representatives fail to make decision on a particular issue then the people's vote is sought in the general elections.
In order to practice proportional representative democratic system the electoral system must be base on 'Open-List'- meaning party candidate's names are declared prior to the general election in an open list for each constituency. This means people know to which candidates of the particular party they are giving votes. Both 'Closed-List PR' and 'The First-Past-the-Post' electoral systems have to be abolished from the practice. Because in 'Closed-List PR' the people know just the party but they do not know which party candidates they vote. In addition to the 'Blank-Candidate-Vote' the candidates of each party have to lobby the party to be in the list after the completion of elections. In regard to 'The First-Past-the-Post' electoral system that the method has tendency to play ruling and opposition party politics in which ruling party is accused generally for failure of the government and opposition party try to be clean without any accountability. The democratic practice is usually defined the way representatives are elected in the system. It is a golden chance for Nepal to surprise the world one again with an example of the practice of a modern democratic culture in the poorest nation of the world.
Similarly, the federal democratic republic secular state must have clear and distinct perceptions on secular norms and values. For example, a secular state cannot carry on with religious rites of a Hindu state for the national pride. It cannot officially celebrate Hindu holidays as national holidays for all diverse culture, religion and ethnicity to observe. At this historical juncture all political leaderships in proportional representation manner must be critically monitoring the draft of the new constitution. Simply, above the constitution of the federal democratic republic secular state there is none and under it all are equal to protect their rights and liberty. Thus it should not be Mahabharata but simple, clear and concise.
Democracy in Nepal at this stage is pollen or micro-gametophytes in the air that is looking for a perceptive tree to bear the fruit. Therefore, the nation's search for critically caring political leaderships, their vision and responsibility is the need of time. Without such critically and analytically thinking political leaderships the barren trees of the soil of Nepal cannot bear the fruit of democracy and thereby it cannot lay the foundation of its institutions for coming generations to reap. Freedom, prosperity and happiness of people of Nepal will depend on how critically political leadership lay the foundation of the federal democratic republic of a secular state.
Prakash Bom
May 3, 2008
|
