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FORMS OF GOVERNANCE: NC mulls an ‘improved’ parliamentary system

KATHMANDU, JAN 18 -
With the debate on forms of governance heating up in public places, the Nepali Congress has thrown its weight behind an “improved parliamentary system”, which provisions a parliament-elected executive prime minister and an indirectly elected president. However, as the party’s “third-faction” has advocated for a directly elected PM, NC still stands undecided on it.

The new system presented for discussions in a joint meeting of the party’s Central Working Committee and the Parliamentary Party promises to have done away with all shortcomings that the earlier Westminster model had. NC’s model partly draws upon the US presidential election system and proposes an Electoral College (a pool of electors voted directly by the people) to elect a president, who shares certain limited powers with the executive head.

The “improved” model is claimed to be a better alternative as it proposes reforms that ensure stability of the government and the parliament, supports inclusion in view of Nepal’s social diversity and does not pose the risk of giving birth to authoritarianism.

As a measure to address the past instability, the model proposes granting a 100-day honeymoon period for a newly-elected government and that a no-confidence motion against an elected government must accompany a confidence motion (a required majority in the parliament) to form a new government.

If the Cabinet wants to dissolve the parliament and go for mid-term elections, it must have the proposal endorsed by a majority vote in parliament, according to the model.

“Learning from past experiences, we have proposed reforms enough to make the parliamentary system free of flaws and that guarantees stability,” said NC leader Ramesh Lekhak.

“None of the systems are free of flaws, but what we can do is pick the one that has least problems.”

Insiders in the NC said the party is unlikely to agree on any model that proposes to take the executive head outside the parliament and confer executive powers on a single person. NC has it that the presidential system will not be successful in a country as diverse as Nepal and that the parliamentary system only can provide spaces to ensure inclusion.

NC leaders say their improved model also addresses the Maoist desire for an elected president. As arranged in US election laws, Lekhak said the Electoral College could be formed comprising electors from the union/provincial governments and even from local governments.

The president elected through the Electoral College will have important authority, including the power to redirect any bill passed by the parliament that is not in the larger interest of the country or in breach of the constitution. “The president will be given the authority to forward any bill to the constitutional court if s/he finds it in breach of the constitution,” Lekhak said.  

NC leaders say the recent controversy over the reinstatement of the then Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal should be taken as a lesson that an executive president will not bode well for the country.



Leaders ‘backing’ third faction model



KATHMANDU: NC leader Narahari Acharya on Wednesday presented a new model of forms of governance, where he proposed a directly-elected prime minister.

Leaders, including Gopal Man Shrestha, Gagan Thapa, Suprabha Ghimire and Mohan Pandey, supported Acharya’s model during Wednesday’s meeting of the party. Acharya said his model is a perfect solution to the risks involved in the directly elected presidential system and instability that comes with the parliamentary system.

“The system is an answer to those in search of a stabilising system having a powerful executive under proper checks and balances,” Acharya said. “We have seen the post-1990 instability invited by the old parliamentary system and are also cautious of the risks of dictatorship through the directly elected president system.” The model has proposed that the PM would pick his ministers from outside the parliament, a measure which is expected to discourage wrangling for ministerial portfolios.

Acharya said his model could soon garner a majority support. “It is gaining support and some leaders have said it is the best model,” Acharya said.

Posted on: 2012-01-19 07:49

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