Moving toward rule-based society

Nepal has a long history of functioning as a relationship based society and in the absence of the principle of rule of law. For centuries monarchs had been above the law and powerful elites and politicians enjoyed a sort of ´diplomatic immunity´ even on home soil. Who-you-know was and still is, to a great extent, an asset over what-you-know as connections rather than qualifications land you privileges and jobs.

However, we can now observe a gradual transition into a rule based society with increasing incidence of upholding the rule of law. That is not to say that we are close to a state of Utopia with a perfect legal system, where everybody abides by the law and no one is above it. Nonetheless, there are significant changes that are occurring that allude to this positive transition.

Political agreements were initially shrouded in secrecy; deals were made behind locked doors, the details of which, although often involving the future of the entire nation, were, more often than not, kept from the very public. Now, however, political agreements have become increasingly formalized and have evolved from being mere oral brokering between two political big-wigs to formal and written contract publicly shared. Most recently, the five-point agreement reached by the three major political parties was passed through the Constituent Assembly which is also preparing to form a panel for monitoring the effective implementation of the pact. This indicates the step that political parties are taking towards shifting from an informal to formal and more rule based actions.

Another example of this shift is the recent decision by the UCPN (M), albeit a controversial one within the party, to end the dual security arrangement and to change the temporary number plates of the vehicles that do not conform to the national standard/format, on vehicles belonging to the Maoist. When the Maoists were a rebel group fighting against the state, the number plates (of the vehicles) and People´s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel as security was their way of flouting the rules of the state against which they were fighting. However, once they were accepted as a political party, these arrangements went contrary to their agreement to end their parallel government. Hence, in light of the recent decision to remove these arrangements, it can be observed that UCPN (M) is attempting to uphold the rule of law. The party has still a long way to go to completely make this transition but the aforementioned decisions are a good indicator.

Similarly, scams and instances of corruption involving millions of rupees that had heretofore gone unchecked due to the heavyweights involved are now being addressed at an increasing rate. A former minister, a post which once was the equivalent of being virtually immune to any legal action, has now been convicted of corruption and been served a jail term along with monetary penalty. Other high level corruption cases are coming to the fore and this indicates the strengthening of the judicial bodies and other institutions responsible for upholding rule of law.

Our society has always been positioned on a see-saw with the state at one end and the public on the other. At one time the state had immense discretionary powers and the general public´s rights were limited. Now due to the success of the People´s Movement II the public has been instilled with this immense sense of power which has tipped the balance on their side.

Also, the Supreme Court has formally announced that it will take measures to speed up the resolution of pending cases. One of the measures includes the setting up of a direct hotline to the office of the Chief Justice. These measures strengthen and facilitate the smooth functioning of the judiciary and help to combat red-tapism which slows down the meting out of justice.

These actions of the government bodies and political parties are indicative of our transition towards a rule based society. However, while focusing on them we must not forget that rule of law most importantly means no one is above the law - neither the rich nor the poor, neither the powerful nor the powerless, and neither the state nor the public.

It is ironic that in Nepal we are observing an increasing trend of the public demanding that politicians and officials observe the rule of law while that very public is flouting it. In the process of identifying the corrupt and those misusing power and protesting against them, the public at large have slowly taken actions that seem to place them above the law. Vandalizing private and public property in the name of protests, disrupting normal lives and obstructing projects are some examples of the public deciding to protest against corruption and perceived injustices by breaking the rule of law themselves.

The people are chanting and calling for justice to be meted out in case of high-profile corruption cases and flouting of rule of law, yet there is little hesitancy in stealing electricity, bypassing building codes while building both residential and commercial buildings, and evasion of tax.

Our society has always been positioned on a see-saw with the state at one end and the public on the other. At one time the state had immense discretionary powers and the general public´s rights were limited. Now due to the success of the People´s Movement II the public has been instilled with this immense sense of power which has tipped the balance on their side. However, the rule of law demands a perfectly balanced state of see-saw, where neither the state nor the public is above the law. Therefore, in order to truly ensure rule of law, we need to continue to pressurize the political parties and the state bodies to adhere to it but also need to ensure that we do not flout the very principle in the process.

Writer is Executive Director of Niti Foundation, a policy research funding institute

mohan.manandhar@nitifoundation.org