E-Kantipur

The deafening noise and chaos in the national political scene can drive any sane person crazy. The political scene has been in turmoil ever since the Maoists gave up the government leadership last year (in order to establish civilian supremacy over the military). But now with the sandglass rapidly indicating the nearing of the end of the timeframe for the promulgation of a new constitution drafted by the Constituent Assembly, there are noisy scenes of accusations and counter-accusations galore. The Maoists are saying that no constitution can be drafted and enforced without their participation in the government. The leaders of the other major parties say that it is virtually impossible to write a new constitution in the less than one and half months left for the purpose. There are those who say that the constitution will be written on time, and most others who think it is impossible to do so within the short time now at the disposal of the CA.

The writing of the constitution by itself is not a difficult task. Any constitutional expert can do so within a week or so. The big question is what to write. The fact that the CA members, at the expense of the taxpayers, have journeyed to different parts of the country supposedly to assess the wishes and aspirations of the people and to seek their opinion on what should go into the constitution. The reports are now all there, but who is to filter and take the cream out of the massive volumes of reports at the disposal of the CA members? We created an unwieldy 600 plus member strong CA, hoping that the members would reflect the true aspirations of the Nepalis — whatever their ethnic background and whatever their caste and creed.

The CA members are responsible first and foremost to the people of this country and not to any political party even as the government — no matter which party forms it — is the national government whose first and primary duty is towards the country and its people and not to any political party, not even to the party that forms it.  That is why one fails to see the Maoist insistence that they would cooperate only and if only they are part of a national government, most probably with themselves in the driving seat. (This would, of course, make it easy for the parties in government to share the goodies of the office and shower government largesse on party workers, cadres and activists.)

It has been four years since the ex-king gave up his powers and restored the parliament dissolved by the then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. (Many still say, despite Jana Andolan II, that the king’s step to give up power was right but that he had no constitutional right to restore the dissolved parliament. Under which provision of the constitution did he restore parliament?) And it has been two years since the CA elections were held in order that the people could write their own constitution. Ever since the CA elections in April 2008, all political parties, all civil society members, all sections of Nepali society were fully aware that time was ticking by and that the main task before the nation was writing the constitution and not being sidetracked into mundane day-to-day political intrigues. And instead of concentrating on statute writing, the political parties have been engaged in power play and political intrigues. Nary a serious thought seemed to have been given towards the main objective of the CA by the political parties each trying to enforce and incorporate their own agenda in the constitution, thinking perhaps that it is best for the people and the country.

There are now talk and threats all around. Media reports speak of the stepping up of forced donation collection to finance one party’s show of force on May Day (which has most political parties calling for help shouting, “Mayday, mayday”). There are also allegations that youths aligned with the Maoists were undergoing drills in various open spaces in different parts of the country with weapons and other gadgets. If you hear the Maoist leaders speak, there is nothing wrong in what they are doing. And if you care to listen to their opponents, the paramilitary training is designed to prepare the Maoist cadres “to undertake the ultimate battle”. (Civil society leaders as usual are maintaining their stoic silence on the issue, as is customary when Maoist issues are involved.) In the midst of these allegations, the main goal of constitution writing has been pushed to the backburner, though everybody talks about it as a matter of life and death. Such a scenario will continue to dominate the Nepali political horizon as long as political parties sideline national issues and consider their own agendas as of prime importance.

In the past, there have been suggestions that a bare outline constitution containing some basic features should be enforced to meet the deadline, and later other necessary elements could be added by amending the constitution. That might be a good idea and would have been welcomed by most if only the political parties had truly and sincerely made an effort to meet the present deadline. But have they made the necessary efforts in this direction? Were these parties not seen fighting for power rather than being engaged honestly in constitution writing for which purpose they were elected in the first place?

Amending constitutions to make up for their shortfalls is just not the done thing. It may be noted that frequent amendments to the constitution is not merely a sorry display of the shortcomings of the political parties who have pledged to write the constitution but also a sad reflection on the political maturity of the nation. The US Constitution adopted in 1787 (that is over 200 years ago) has just 27 amendments while the Indian Constitution, one of the longest in the world that came into force on January 26, 1950, has been amended over 90 times in about 60 years. Amendments, therefore, may not be a way out of the present impasse.

Time is running out and things done in haste are hardly ever done right. An agreement among the political parties might pop up a constitution, but it hardly gives time for public debate — let alone a referendum to determine some of the most basic clauses. Intellectuals, academics, legal brains and just ordinary people will hardly have the time to undertake any fruitful discussions. The CA members, who consider themselves as representatives of the people, might say that whatever they do has the stamp of approval of the people. But they might well consider how much more useful any document approved by the people rather than their proxies would be to the country. There is a provision in the present oft-amended Interim Constitution to provide more time for constitution writing. The recourse may be adopted if only the political parties promise not to indulge in power grabbing games but to sincerely devote themselves to statute writing. It is not right or advisable to act at the last minute. Acting in haste might land the nation in another crisis.

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