How could the king address the demand of constituent assembly within the framework of the present constitution?

By Sarad Bahadur Thapa

If one thinks very coolly and seriously, it is pity to say that Nepalese political parties are equally responsible as the king Gyanendra for the present state of Nepal. After 1990, the political parties badly misgoverned the country, forced Maoists to abandon the present constitution, spent most of the time in fighting to grab the power, many times untimely dissolved the parliaments without any logical reasons, dogged the constitutional crisis by unconstitutionally recommending king to postpone the election, and finally made door open for the king to interfere into politics. After unconstitutionally taking over power for one year, the king has already acknowledged his failure and finally gave up power to the people. It is now time for the political parties to control the situation and go ahead by realizing and analyzing their past mistakes too. It was the political parties who started derailing the present constitution in October 2003 by recommending the king to postpone the general election by more than a year nearly after 5 months of former elected Prime Minister Deuba dissolved the House of Representatives. However, Nepali constitution clearly states that new parliamentary meeting must be held within 6 months after the parliament is dissolved. With this recommendation, king was invited to step into the politics to cope with the constitutional crisis.

Moreover, it was the political parties who never listened to Maoists in the past and forced them to take the politics of violence. It is not necessary to describe here that the Maoist problem is the origin of all the present days’ crisis. Now, once again the political parties have got a great opportunity with the sacrifice of more than a dozen people within two weeks to rectify themselves and drive the country into right path. They must take this opportunity very positively and take responsibility to give peace and prosperity to highly frustrated Nepalese people. They should not hesitate to reconcile with the king for the sake of people and the country in long run. They must take the lessons from the recent history of Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Iran. Meantime, they should not forget the history of monarchy in Nepal and their great contribution to find today’s Nepal. If they decide to confront with the king further, finally it will be the Maoists who will take control of the country’s politics. In this case, country must go for another revolution like in other communist countries and that time not only 14 but 140,000 people will die. None of today’s leaders and so-called intellectuals would be alive then. Many of them would be killed like Ganesh Chiluwal (president of Nepal Maoist Victims Association).

Meantime, the demand of constituent assembly is also not justified. And especially for

Seven parties and so called leaders of civil societies, it is ridiculous to make such demand which reflects nothing more than their stupidity. Why?

1. First of all, one must understand that was it the present constitution that stopped political parties to implement their policies for socio economic development of Nepal? If yes, could they describe which clauses are hindrances? Was it not possible to amend these clauses in parliament? Why did not they try to do so?

2. If they feel now that the constituent assembly is only one solution to change the face of the country, then why did not they agree with the Maoists and support them in the past? Why did then they carry the policy of suppressing Maoists by using military force? Who should take responsibility of death of those thousands of people in the Maoist violence?

3. Is the written sentence or the honest implementation of the constitution important to drive the country into right path?

4. Who can guarantee that the constitution written by such an Assembly would be valid for coming generation or to the people who would be defeated in the assembly election? Should the nation always go for such assembly if some quarters of the society demand new assembly again?

5. What will happen if the assembly decides Nepal should be united to India or China?

6. What will happen if the assembly decides to go for communism or absolute monarchism or some other form of extremism?

There is also technical difficulty to go for the constituent assembly. In one hand, political parties and civil societies put their demand of the constituent assembly in front of the king. On the other hand, they say king must remain within the framework of the present constitution. So far I understood the main reason behind the current protests is king’s overstepping of the present constitution. Now, how could the king address the demand of constituent assembly within the framework of the present constitution? Does this mean if the king acts in favor of political parties then his unconstitutional move could be bearable to political parties? If it is so then it is completely unfair. Hence, the demand of constituent assembly is totally illogical and all the conscious people should think about such demand very carefully before arguing for it.

If the seven party alliance decides to confront with the king further, finally it will be the Maoists who will take control of the country’s politics.
The best solution for Nepal is to continue with the present constitution with necessary amendments. There is nothing wrong with this constitution. What is important is its effective implementation. Recently political parties have established good relationship with Maoists and they must use this opportunity to convince them that the parliamentary election would be free and fair under their leadership. They can ask Maoists to join the government to ensure free and fair elections. If Maoists believe on people’s power they must join the government to hold the parliamentary election. If Nepali people want Maoists to come into power, nobody should block them to form the government and help them from all sectors including the international communities to implement their revolutionary programs to make new and progressive Nepal within the framework of present constitution.

Thapa is a research scientist at the Optoelectronics Department in the University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany. Please send your comments to [email protected] or [email protected]

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to [email protected])