Common Minimum Program of Maoist Nepal for a Consensus Government
THT Online
What is common minimum program of Maoist Nepal? Does it play a significant role in drafting a new constitution of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal? Could it accomplish the fundamental objective of Constituent Assembly and its government? We must question and reason rather than make immediate judgments. We have to find out whether fifty-point common minimum program of the major political party of Constituent Assembly can lead the nation to democracy and peace; can it further strengthen the national integrity without violating norms and principle of democracy.
For example, it is undemocratic for a major political party of Constituent Assembly to put forward conditions for two years of its government's ruling stability without simple majority at this point in the contemporary politics of Nepal. No other minority political parties can guarantee Maoist led government such stability, particularly at this transition period without national consensus.
A common minimum program is essential for accomplishing the fundamental objective of Constituent Assembly but it cannot be set alone by Maoist without national consensus of all political parties. In this direction, Maoist party has raised the right issue at the right time in order to build a ground for the consensus government. The guideline for CMP must be based on norms and principle of democracy for peace that can further strengthen national integrity.
Neither democracy nor peace nor national integrity can be jeopardized for any political party's vested interest for its ideological agenda or motives for the ethical homogeneity. The basic for national consensus is to prolong democracy, peace and national integrity. Maoist party's pledge to establish competitive democratic and prosperous Nepal is a hope that Maoist as major political party of Constituent Assembly is capable of understanding democracy without which communism cannot put people first in order to deliver justice and to provide equal opportunity for their well-being.
Despite successful Maoist revolution in China in the name of peasants the most deprived population of China today are farmers. For example, in Sinchuan province of South West China there have been red clay waste disposal in the rivers from government mines since early 1970s, which has jeopardized the entire farming and health of farmers with epidemic of skin cancer yet people are ignored. Recently, the environment Chinese lawyers have filed the case in the Supreme People's Court in Beijing.
Since China does not have universal health care system it has become very expensive in big cities for poor people to get proper medical care. There is still a large population of poor people with minimal education, for instance, as many working in farms that many looking for factory jobs in urban areas. Yet those who are well educated their lives are booming under the mixed economic system of contemporary China. The bribery and corruption among government official is unavoidable for individual Chinese to do private business.
This does not mean to discourage Maoists of Nepal but it is to let them know the fact that the communism can be better off in serving people with justice and provide equal opportunity under the competitive (electoral) democracy in a poor nation like Nepal. Therefore, Maoist party of Nepal can set the historical example if they can seriously build national consensus to establish the institutions of electoral democracy from local levels of government to the central.
However, without institutionalizing the electoral mechanism as the basis for forming the bodies of government from local level to the central the feudal political tradition of arbitrary appointment cannot be eliminated to eradicate corruptions from the government, which is doomed with the politics of nepotism and favoritism.
Therefore, restructuring the state under CDP the electoral mechanism must be defined for elected representatives to administer the local and state governments based on the federal government system. Restructuring of state is the most vital of all CDP. Henceforth, any attempt to implement programs such as scientific distribution of land, free education system up to high school level, and free health care system, prior to restructuring state will be failure.
It is because the fundamental responsibilities of implementing programs such as scientific distribution of land, free education and health care systems must be institutionalized in the local and state government levels. Otherwise, such programs under the directives of the central government through its employees will be counterproductive. The only thing central government can do is to set the policy for such programs through the Parliament ballot as mandatory for local and state governments to implement.
The scientific redistribution of land in an Agrigarian nation like our is must not because the peasants who till the land should own but more importantly it is to encourage them with better financial and marketing strategy for improving nationwide productivity by implimenting intensive scientific agriculture methods. If not scientific redistribution of land will not transform the lives of peasants necessarily. The nation must have intensive scientific agriculture programs as mandatory for local and state governments to implement with government subsidies.
Similarly, how can there be free education and health care systems without setting up a support mechanism in all government level unless otherwise the Maoists want Nepali people get poorest of poor education and health care at the mercy of international donors!
In order to set up free education to fulfill people's right to school education the electoral school districts at the local government level have to be institutionalized. This means elected school district representatives manage and administer free elementary, middle and high schools of school districts of a local government of all federal states. The national policy and standard of education are set by the federal or central government through the Parliament ballot. However, the primary budget of free schools depends on the revenue from local and property tax. The federal and state subsidies depend on the feasibility of the local revenue – that the bigger the local revenue smaller the state and federal subsidies.
However, people must have right to choose between free public and private schools. Naturally, people who choose to send their children to private school they pay their children's education expenses on their own. School districts are responsible to provide free school education to those who choose to send their children to public school.
Likewise, unless a national fund for retirement and health care is legislated for every over eighteen years older citizens to contribute their portion from their earning on a month basis the system for a free health care system is not viable for generation to rely on. This fund generally is called "the social security fund" in the first world nations. The fund is build as the backbone for the national developments. That is to say, Nepal borrowing money from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will cease. Instead Nepal will borrow from its own national retirement and health care fund with the certain interest for guaranteed return. It is only the government with its central bank's collateral borrows the money from this fund to invest in the development of the nation.
The basis of retirement and health care fund is that the more one earns the more one contributes to the fund. The base line is 6% of the monthly earning and the other 6% employers contribute or the government contributes for those who are self-employed such as farmers, labors, and no income group of citizen such as widows, depend women with no support and so on.
A socio-political and economic approach that can inclusively address the issues such as restructuring the state with the right to self-determination for institutionalizing federal government system is the best for building national consensus. It is for sure Nepal cannot be prosperous nation nor it can lift itself soon from the status of poorest nation without institutionalizing democracy that can guarantee civil liberty and protect civil rights of all people in which the demand for the affirmative right consequently ceases for certain ethnic group over rest of other.