Cohering UDMF Agreements with the 5th Amendment of the Interim Constitution of Nepal

[THT]

First of all, no government agreements with any political party or
organization or foreign government can bypass the electoral right of
people's representatives either in the transitional Constituent
Assembly or in the future Parliament of a new democratic Nepal. This
is the most hard-earned people's mandate of half a century democratic
struggle and sacrifice, which has been finally established by the
successful Constituent Assembly elections. The mandate is
fundamentally set to keep political leaders, ruling elites and their
cadres back on the tacks of competitive electoral democracy against
their overbearing arbitrary discussion making feudal tradition in the
government.



Madhesi lawmakers' demand to include agreements of Madhesi alliance
United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) with the interim government in
the 5th amendment of the interim constitution for the ratification by
Constituent Assembly is legitimate. It is the most sensible move of
Madhesi lawmakers in Constituent Assembly as a democratic practice.
However, the agreements have to be coherent to the 5th amendment of
the constitution. If all the agreements are not coherent to the bill
of 5th amendment then their agenda must have a separate bill for
Constituent Assembly to vote on. But, in any case, they must be
ratified by the Constituent Assembly because just the agreements
between the government and UDMF themselves cannot be statutory law.



The question is whether the major element of agreements such as
formation of autonomous states needs to be rectified by the
Constituent Assembly under the interim constitution for the immediate
implementation or it has to be the principle element of restructuring
states under the new constitution. If the former is true then we must
find out how coherent such agreements are with the current
constitutional crisis from the perspective of the primary objective of
Constituent Assembly. We must acknowledge that the 5th amendment of
interim constitution is the necessity without which a new legitimate
government cannot be formed in order to take its primary
responsibility in coordination with Constituent Assembly for drafting
a new constitution of federal democratic republic Nepal.



The declaration of federal democratic republic Nepal by the first
historic session of Constituent Assembly has mandated the
restructuring of the state to implement federal government system. But
what federal governance structure Nepal will adopt to its best
implementation that can keep national integrity intact is the
responsibility of Constituent Assembly. In my opinion, CA
representatives have not even started brainstorming on how the
electoral mechanics of federal government system functions in relation
with the central to the states and local governments. The logic of
expediency is that as much as states are autonomous and have right to
self-governance that much their local governments are autonomous and
have right to self-governance. If this provision is set in the
constitution then national integrity remains intact. But the question
'how?' should be thoroughly scrutinized in Constituent Assembly.



The logical process of restructuring state under the federal
government system is first to draft a constitution or a blue book of
legislation. But the constitutional provisions of the federal state
regarding its structure and functionality must be decided with the
consensus vote of the Constituent Assembly. It is therefore premature
to include agreement such as UMDF's for autonomous state for interim
government to set the guarantee prior to the legislative process of
Constituent Assembly. However, such agreements must be processed
under the scrutiny of drafting constitution with the simple majority
vote of Constituent Assembly (as per the proposed the 5th amendment
sets simple majority provision).



However, the agreement to declare all those individual Nepalis martyrs
during Madhes movements cannot be the part of the constitutional
crises that the nation is going through. But it should be the
responsibility of the interim government to honor martyrs providing
proper compensation to their families. If the interim government
could not do it then the new government should do it.



As a matter of fact, the constitutional provisions of the 5th
amendment as per the recommendation of six-member-SPA-task force can
be the basis for the practice of competitive electoral democracy in
the legislature level for a new democratic Nepal. What 5th amendment
is trying to establish a provision for legislature to vote on issues
for resolving political crises and a method for implementing peace
process to a logical end. Electing president, vice-president and
prime minister with the simple majority vote of the legislature -
Constituent Assembly that allows the formation of an executive body of
the government or cabinet is to introduce a new chapter in the modern
democracy of Nepal. This is what can make the old-fashioned Anglo
Indian Parliamentary practice obsolete.



Similarly, the Madhesi demand for one Madhes one province must be
brought to the ballot of the legislature as separate bill but not part
of the 5th amendment. Madhesi political parties attempt to include
their demands in the 5th amendment is to force their agreements
without the scrutiny of the people's representatives in Constituent
Assembly. The most democratic approach to address their agreements is
to table a separate bill in the legislature for vote.



It will be historical mistake to include Madhesi agreements in the
purposed 5th amendment of the constitution against the current
political process for establishing the practice of electoral
democracy. It is to first lay the cornerstone of democracy for the
electoral institutional development of the legislature – Constituent
Assembly with the provisions of 5th amendment. Then after a separate
session of legislature must be called upon to ballot Madhesi demand
for Constituent Assembly endorsements.



Since the Madhesi agenda has become political crisis it can neither be
excused with what been agreed upon nor it can be discarded. It needs
the vote of the legislators of the Constituent Assembly. It deserves a
new session of the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, both Maoist and
UML rejection for one Madhes one province is also immature because
political issue such as must be brought to the attention of the
people's representatives in Constituent Assembly for vote. Such step
should finalize the crises whether what agreement UNDF had with the
interim government or with the almighty for the forceful
superimposition of Madhesi homogeneity.



It is politically dangerous to express solidarity with Madhesi agenda
especially for one Madhes and one province by any political parties
without the proposal of bringing their agenda to the legislature of
the Constituent Assembly. Those parties, which intend to do so for
the dirty politics of power, will eventually undermine the integrity
of nation and violate the civil liberty and rights of other indigenous
Nepali both ancient and recent settlements from being able to form
their own federal state with autonomous and self-governance
provisions.



As Maoist leader Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai has pointed in retrospect that
as per agreement the demand of Madhesi autonomous state ought to be
addressed by the new constitution for which legislators of the
Constituent Assembly have been elected with the successful historic
elections of CA. Therefore, it is legitimate demand of Madhesi
legislators that Madhesi agreements must be set to the motion. But
the major political party must be able to scrutinize the demand for
its coherence with the 5th amendment that is being proposed. In my
opinion, it is a different political issue for a new constitutional
provision that is ought to be addressed while restructuring the
state. Therefore Madeshi agenda is incoherent to the proposed 5th
amendment.


Again it is our hard-earned people's mandate for establishing
institution of competitive electoral democracy - Constituent Assembly,
which representatives as people's elected legislators' of the first
democratic institution must not let any agreement as such bypass their
ballot. It is in their legislature vote people's electoral power is
vested for them to lead the nation to the inclusive electoral
democracy that can have the strength for defending national integrity
and protecting civil liberty and rights of other Nepali indigenous
nationalities for forming their own state and local bodies of
government under the federal government system of the Federal
Democratic Republic Nepal.

Prakash Bom
June 28, 2008