Hardly had the nation started reconciling to being governed by a sitting Supreme Court judge as chairperson of council of ministers responsible for holding Constituent Assembly elections, with all the contradictions and dangers associated with the blending of the executive and the judiciary, another bombshell has rocked the beleaguered nation. This time the bomb is the implant of Lok Man Singh Karki as Chief of the Commission for investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). The appointment of Karki, with his questionable credentials and legitimacy, breaches all norms of propriety and morality, particularly since the new CIAA chief has been implicated in the suppression of Jana Andolan II.
The manner of his appointment is even more agonizing and disturbing: external forces seem to have twisted the arms of our respected President. The President, who had decided to return Karki’s nomination for reconsideration by the Constitutional Council, was forced to change his mind at the 11th hour. There has been tremendous opposition to this implant from the 33 fringe parties led by CPN-Maoist, student bodies and civil society. NC and CPN-UML leaderships have expressed their sincere apologies for being duped into committing such a crime. Whether this lip service is genuine or not, only time will tell.
REPUBLICA
The Lok Man Singh saga is only the tip of the iceberg. In an earlier article (“Looking ahead,” Feb 18), I had said that the people of Nepal are indeed worried about a sitting Chief Justice heading government, but they are even more anguished that the idea of CJ as executive head is not homegrown and the management of our nation may have gone out of our hands. UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was only a ‘spokesperson’ when he announced this bold initiative from the rostrum of his party’s General Convention. Frustrated by the never-ending antics of Prachanda and his cohort and petrified by the relentless day-light robbery of the treasury by the UCPN (Maoist) and their Madhesi allies, NC and the CPN-UML seem to have relented, in the belief that holding timely elections and getting rid of the Bhattarai government was of utmost importance. Little did they know they were playing into foreign hands who were being allowed to dictate on issues of vital national interests.
Since the Sugauli treaty in the 19th century, Nepal has occasionally been pushed to compromise its sovereign right, but the Lok Man Singh episode eclipses all other cases as this one deals with a purely internal administrative matter. Nepal has always accommodated the sensitivities of our southern neighbor with whom we share traditional friendship and goodwill. In the 1970’s, the Kuwait Development Fund had financed the construction of the Kohalpur-Banbasa section of the East-west highway. Many international construction companies including Indian and Chinese had participated in the bidding and the government had decided to award the contract to a Chinese company. Then, the government of India sent an envoy requesting King Birendra to cancel the deal, offering grant assistance to complete the project.
In deference to India’s request, the project was shelved (at much embarrassment to Nepal and the Fund) and the aid offer was accepted. This however proved very costly for Nepal as it took over a decade to construct the road, compared to the estimated three years. There are many instances where Nepal has bent over backwards to accommodate India in areas of water resources development and its perceived security threats. This said, it would be naïve to blame India for our backwardness and underdevelopment. We and especially our political leadership should take the responsibility for our overall failure.
Recently, a responsible official at the Indian Foreign ministry opined that in dealing with India at the government level, most of our political leaders were preoccupied with party and personal matters and seldom discussed issues of national interest. It is most unfortunate that our failure to articulate national interest and our narrow focus in dealings with our neighbors have actually encouraged them to treat us as mere favor seekers rather than equals. No wonder Nepal has now been relegated to the domain of India’s intelligence unit, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) rather than remain a concern of the Foreign Ministry or high level political leadership.
The major fallout of the humiliating disaster of Karki’s appointment has been complete erosion of faith that we had for the office of our President. As the ultimate guardian of our constitution, we had hoped that he would intervene to prevent the implementation of a horrendous decision initiated by a worthless syndicate of four parties, called the high level political mechanism (HLPM) and pushed through by the constitutional committee headed by Khil Raj Regmi, the chairperson of the governing council. With political parties, civil society, the legal fraternity and many others seeking the failure of the recommendation, the President was mentally prepared to send it back for reconsideration. However, under relentless pressure from foreign elements aided by anti-national elements (masquerading as heavyweights in some political parties) and may be, even threats, the President eventually succumbed, plunging the nation into a crisis of sovereignty.
Nepal has occasionally compromised its sovereign right, but the ‘internal’ Karki episode eclipses all other cases.
As the nation hurtles down the lane of despair and desolation, one wonders if there is a way out. Fortunately some of our political leaders, stymied by the ugly turn of events propelled by their own inadequacies, have begun to assert that our nationalism has been weakened and have vowed to work together to strengthen nationalism and safeguard sovereignty. If our leadership is truly committed to this, the following needs to be done: 1) Expand the current four party syndicate called HLPM to accommodate other parties; 2) Define nationalism, our national interests and our dealings with our immediate neighbors and the international community; 3) Have Khil Raj Regmi resign from the post of Chief Justice and declare the date for the elections; 4) Ensure that political parties take stern action against anti-national elements within their ranks who put pressure on our President to commit such a misdemeanor.
Finally, as the guardian of the constitution, it is hoped that the President would take a more proactive role to ensure the implementation of the above to put the nation back on track.
The author is Nepali Congress Mahasamiti member from Dhankuta
thapa.ajit@gmail.com
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