Federalism : Devolution Of True Levels Of Sovereignty, Power

Ambar Mainali

No nation can remain iso-lated from adopting a system of governance that ensures transparency, social justice and devolution of power. Nepal, too, is seriously skimming the options of what best form of governance would be appropriate to address the imbalances of development and inclusiveness. The debate on moving ahead for a federal system has gathered momentum among the political parties and the citizenry at large.

People's participation

History reveals that Nepal has been making steady progress in bracing ahead for a governance system, which would allow maximum people's participation in the overall state machinery. The journey from the Rana oligarchy to the eight-party coalition has come through years of debate and struggle. The nation at the moment is deeply engrossed in what model of federalism would augur well for its democratic development.

Except for the educated political elite, not many really understand what federalism stands for, its philosophies and modalities. The concept of federalism revolves around the sharing of power between the central government and the constituent federal states. The different disgruntled groups must be very clear about the fact that power sharing with the centre is not equal.The centre normally has comparatively more power than the constituent states in such a set up. The whole idea is not to confine the powers at the centre but to distribute them to the states. This is agreed upon by the states at the time of promulgating the Constitution and the successive years whenever amendments are proposed to what extent power should be devolved to the states.Today, around 45-50 per cent of the world's population lives in federal states. The essence of federalism is to devolve the true level of power and true level of sovereignty. How should the country be structured at the sub-national level? What electoral system will be used to elect national officials? These are some of the pertinent issues that need to be dealt with.Besides, intergovernmental organs must be developed over a course of time, which are not necessarily provisioned in the Constitution. Infrastructure development, media, roads, bridges and the metric system need to be uniform for all the states.As stated earlier, Nepal has had a chequered political history revealing the gradual devolution of state powers to the people. The eastern part of the country is comparatively more developed than the western part. The same holds true for the eastern hills and western hills. The dalits, Madhesis, ethnic and indigenous populations have grudges that they have been sidelined from the political mainstream. Against this backdrop, devolving state power to the federal units would be a sensible way to allow people to have their say in carving their own fates.

Hence, rumours that the state would disintegrate if it were transformed politically in favour of a federal set up is misleading and unrealistic. Power sharing between the centre and the federal units would instead help keep the unity of the people together. The constitution in the making should take note of the fact that the federal states would have a larger stake in linking their identity with the country instead of breaking away from it. Given this assurance, no federal unit would ever want to break away, as doing so would entail huge expenses for them. They would have to have their own army, police and the administrative set-up.With the agreement among the eight parties that Nepal would move for a federal structure already in place, the only issue in need of a thorough soul searching is 'would the nation be comfortable when the federal units are marked on the basis of ethnicity?' Rather efforts to divide the federal states on the basis of geography would be more sensible in the case of Nepal where communal feeling is very intense. This would, in turn, provide opportunities for the people from diverse groups to intermingle with each other and thereby have a feeling of cultural solidarity.Federalism at the moment is being portrayed like a magic wand that could find instant remedy to all social ills. This, however, is not the reality. There are a range of issues that have to be looked into before laying down the federal structure, which is principally based on the unequal division of the state power.

Following the drafting of the constitution by the constituent assembly to be elected on November 22, it is essential to have a rigorous discourse on which powers to retain at the centre and which to relegate to the sub-national or state level.Besides, the political parties must also work out which model of federalism best suits the nation's development realities. The nation's division on the basis of ethnicity and race is believed to be a model that would only serve to bring about division along racial lines, hence it would be wiser to adopt the geographical demarcation while carving out the states.The benefits of federalism are such that it reduces abuse of power and tyranny. Decentralised authority lessens the risk of autocratic rule because disbursed power is harder to consolidate and exploit. It helps to solve basic collective action problems. It helps reconcile the need for both unity and diversity. It allows for ethnic, cultural, demographic, economic differences to flourish sub-nationally and be incorporated nationally. A federal system permits greater flexibility and responsibility. Each sub-national government can tailor policies to the citizenry, and the citizens can hold their sub-national as well national officials to account.Last but not the least, federalism encourages innovation, competition and efficiency. Sub-national governments are policy laboratories that innovate and learn from each other, and in mobile societies competition among governments may yield better policies.

Risks

However, there are risks in federalism. It creates collective action problems. Public bads may proliferate, such as cross-jurisdictional pollution. There could be accountability problems in a federal system owing to multiple elected officials. Next, local biases cannot be ruled out. Sub-national politicians will tend to favour the interests of their own constituents, which can come at the expense of national interest. And finally, the issue of inequality could surface as some sub-national units will have greater demands and problems than others, creating either inequities or animosities arising from redistribution by the national government of sub-national resources.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 4, 2007

Implementation Must

The government has unveiled the much awaited Rayamajhi Commission Reportin the legislative Parliament the other day which is a welcome step on its own. The commission headed by former justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi was formed in the aftermath of the Jana Andolan-11 to inquire into the atrocities and killings carried out to suppress ruthlessly the popular movement under the purview of adherents of the Royal regime. Needless to describe, many people had been killed, several hundred amputated and thousands involuntarily disappeared during Jana Andolon II as people had revolted against the much maligned autocratic Royal regime to restore civil rights and freedom in the country. The commission probed, interrogated and collected adequate testimonials and evidences which could be adduced to incriminate those responsible for using disproportionate force to suppress the people taking to the streets peacefully for restituting democratic rights and liberty . The report has rightly indicted 201 people from different agencies of the state administration including the executive organ of the government, police and civil administration, military and paramilitary apparatuses. The monumental 1184 page report has blamed the higher authorities for being involved in hatching design and conspiracy to suppress the people?s movement and abetting the use of force to quell and tame the surge of mass to oust the dictatorial regime. The report has categorized the accused into four types and recommended different forms of actions commensurate to the gravity of the offences and crimes committed to flout human rights and jeopardize the democratic aspiration of the people. The report has suggested the enactment of necessary laws since the prevailing legal framework is not sufficient to book the culprits to justice. Though the government, in its bid to implement the recommendations of the report with a view to strengthen the process for enforcement and reparation of the rights of the people, had formed a ministerial level committee some months ago, no concrete steps were taken to do the same. The presentation of the report in the legislative Parliament this Friday would definitely lead to the initiation of the genuine and concrete steps towards its implementation . The government should work towards enacting necessary laws so that those who are involved in the commission of the crimes are brought to justice. The onus of building positive human rights culture lies with the government.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 6, 2007

Is Foreign Aid Necessary

Sunil Poudyal

Nepal?s dependence on foreign aid has always remained more than 50 per cent of the annual budget with some exception. The donors also never bothered to study whether the aid reached among the target group or not. It has also been found that the extreme dependency of the recipient country of the aid leads to the it plunging into the deepest pit of corruption. Nepal is no exception in this regard. Besides, the provisions set by the donors are so complex, especially for poor and strategically weak countries, that the recipient can hardly secure her people?s interest and/or sovereignty.

Graft

Right from the beginning of the process of aid, the network of commission starts being framed. There is also the donor?s domination and direct/indirect intrusion within the realm of freedom of the recipient. The recipient country has to satisfy the intermediaries, agents as well as some officials of the donor country or organization. The donor imposes on the method of the utilization of aid amount, ways to implementation the project, recruitment of advisors and most of the top level officials, procurement of machineries, equipment and logistics etc. This is rather unfortunate but a reality.If the administrators are visionary, sincere, dedicated, honest, confident, determined and if they have integrity, Nepal does not need any donor to help for its development. But we should hurry to stop the dependency on aid because its addiction to our economy is so severe that haste in this direction can ruin the economy. It should be decreased gradually to zero level within a few years. No country can remain aloof in the modern world. All the countries in the globe are interdependent. But interdependence and domination are two different things. Nepal holds nature?s blessings no less than other countries in the globe, though the type might be different. Until about two decades back we used to export bricks, cement, bamboo shoots, sugar, rice, floor etc to Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. There was also a time when we had exported timber to the then USSR. We have been exporting carpets, garments, herbs etc to foreign countries; the volume of exports fluctuate affecting the foreign earnings because of some problems including the lack of consistency in national rules and regulation.. If we pay due attention to make our policy, quality etc compatible to exploration and expansion in our foreign trade, we do not have to worry much to make the balance of payment favorable. Nepal is said to be a country with the second highest hydropower potential in the world. There is no doubt that if we go for mega hydro projects, they depend on foreign aid. By developing water resources for generating power, it can also be exported to India. It needs huge investment either through foreign or loans. However, the buyers are limited and Nepal has to abide by the conditions imposed by them. Therefore mega projects do not seem to be feasible for the country. Attracting foreign investments for joint ventures or national industrialists for medium scale hydro projects might be suitable for the country as power can be sold at the local markets. However, we should not forget to target our neighboring countries also to cash in on the surplus power, if any, provided the agreement is beneficial to us. It would be contextual to note that mega project of any kind is unsuitable to us considering the huge investment on imported resources and raw materials and equipment and because of transit problems.

It is advisable to also encourage small investment for micro scale hydro projects and other sectors. Again we should always remember that our policy and facilities guaranteed to the entrepreneurs should be reasonable, consistent and compatible to the interest of the country. If we develop hydro power project extensively, we can develop cable cars and rope ways facilities, extending them, especially, in the remote areas. It will also contribute much to solve the grave problem of irrigation and drinking water facilities.. It is worth remembering that the construction of is very expensive together with a big sum required for regular maintenance in comparison to cable cars and rope way system. The degradation of the environment is another curse that the land routes invite. Similarly, soil erosion, land slides and pollution that land routes initiate naturally causes extra burden on the national purse and hampers the life of human beings and the flora and fauna. Besides, regular import of means of transport and accessories is another big burden that the country has to face. The ropeway system help create market for the products of remote areas to cities and vice versa and the cable cars; to boost the tourism industry. The ridge, vivid impression of nature, the diaphanous landscape, the rock band, varieties of climate, unfathomable precipices, the flora and fauna, varieties of birds and animals (some rare in the world), varieties and colorful insects and butterflies, rivers for rafting, places for gliding and bungee jumping etc are the things which can tempt not only foreign tourists but also the domestic ones. The development of tourism will initiate the expansion of inns, hotels, restaurants, rest houses etc with the utilization of local materials.

Prosperity

If we cast our eyes from the east to the west of our country, some areas in the hills are very much favorable for grazing, cattle and sheep farming, dairy industry, fodder etc. Similarly, some areas are very promising for various fruits and vegetable, and some areas for forest products like Bijayasal ( Tacocarpus Marsupium). If these could be harnessed properly some of them can be exported to earn foreign currency. All these activities mentioned also help generate opportunities of local employment which naturally support to increase per capita income of the country. These all show that Nepal can not only survive without aid but also can prosper.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 6, 2007

Right Decision

Jana Andolan II was a grand success thanks to the great participation of people from all walks of life despite the terror and suppression resorted to by the then royal regime. Many people, in the course of the 19-day revolution, sacrificed their lives all for bringing democracy once again in the country and to be free from the shackles of tyranny that was evident in the country then. The country and the people owe it to the martyrs and the other people who took part in the revolution without fear to do away with the authoritarian regime. Soon after the success of the April revolution, Parliament was reinstated. One of the major decisions of the government then was the formation of the high-level Rayamajhi Commission under the co-ordination of former Supreme Court Justice Krishna Jung Rayamajhi to probe into the misuse of state coffers and power of the erstwhile royal government during the April movement. It was a right move to find the culprits that tried to suppress the people's movement by committing excessive force and misused the people's money to gun down people. However, those who misused power and state money to suppress the people were swept away by the people's power. That was the beginning of a new era for the people despite the fact there is a lot to travel in realising the goal of the constituent assembly and the drafting of an all-inclusive democratic constitution to herald a new Nepal.

The Rayamajhi Commission had submitted its report to the government quite a few months back, but it had neither been presented to the legislature parliament nor had it been made public despite several commitments in the past to do so. Finally, the cabinet has decided to present the said report to the legislature parliament today. This is quite meaningful in the sense that the names of the guilty will be made public, and the necessary legal action against them can proceed according to the law of the land. It has been reported that there are over 200 people who have been charged in the report as having acted against the people during Jana Andolan II. The decision of the cabinet was made public by the Minister for Information and Communications. Now, the people can rest assured that the necessary legal action will be taken against those who had committed excess and misused the state coffers to suppress the people's revolution. The coming days will be very important in how the recommendations of the report will be implemented in the greater interest of the people and the country.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 3, 2007

Government's Noteworthy Initiatives

Prem N. Kakkar

PROBLEMS crop up time and again in national politics. Since the success of Jana Andolan II and the formation of the interim government and the legislature parliament with the participation of the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists, the country can be definitely said to be moving towards the goal of holding the constituent assembly (CA) polls on November 22. There is, no doubt, that the announcement of the CA poll date is very significant as it has erased all doubts and confusions that persisted in the minds of the people stirred by the political leaders themselves in their various addresses. That the government was dilly dallying over the date for the polls has been proved wrong.Law and orderNow that all eyes are set on the CA polls, it is the right time for all the political parties to concentrate on the drive to go to the villages and districts so that the people will have all the inputs to be aware about the poll and prepare for it. So far, it seems that the political parties and their activists have not adequately galvanised themselves for the purpose. This is rather disconcerting as the polls going to be held in the country for the first time has great ramifications for the whole political scenario.

That the polls are important has been highlighted by the political leaders and the government, but concrete steps on many fronts have yet to be undertaken to the fullest. The first and foremost is improving the law and order situation of the country. Without peace prevailing, it is clear that it will be difficult to conduct the CA elections. The government is well aware of the situation, so it is conducting talks with the various agitating groups. The talks are moving ahead, but the conclusion is yet to come about. It can be hoped that soon an amicable solution with the different groups will materialise in the interest of all, including the voters. The violence that is taking place in many parts of the country, especially the eastern Terai region, is of great concern. There are people who are blaming the government for this, but it alone cannot do everything and needs the support of all, particularly the stakeholders. The differences in opinion among the political parties represented in the government are natural, but the need is to resolve them through mutual understanding and dialogue. That has been the hallmark of the time since Jana Andolan II achieved success. This is the reason why the top leaders of the eight parties always speak of maintaining unity despite the fact that the CA elections are going to be competitive.The reason for maintaining unity is the outcome of the fear that the regressive elements might become active to undermine the gains made so far. A look at the way the cabinet meetings are being held shows this. There are differences, and then the meetings are stalled for a number of days. Following high level parleys, the cabinet again sits down to take important decisions. The same happened last week. Finally, a cabinet meeting was held on Wednesday.

The meeting took some very important decisions, including the presentation of the Rayamajhi Commission report to the legislature parliament so as to make it public. The cabinet also approved the tune for the new national anthem. In fact, the country had been without a national anthem for over a year.In making the Rayamajhi Commission report public, the people will formally come to learn of the people indicted by the Commission. It will also make it easier for the legal process to start to prosecute those who have been named in the report for their suppressive role during the April revolution. Over 200 people have been named in the report, against whom legal action has to be taken. In this context, it is not understandable why the government took so long to take the decision to present the report to the legislature parliament. Now that the decision has been taken, the people will be waiting to see what steps will be taken to implement the recommendations of the Rayamajhi Commission. That it has come a few months before the CA polls must also be taken into consideration. DemandsThough late, steps are being taken to take the people into confidence. This will boost the morale of the people in the run up to the CA polls. Meanwhile, steps must be taken to deliberate on the demands of the various agitating groups, improving the law and order situation and the campaign to go to the villages and districts to make the people aware of the importance and necessity of the constituent assembly election. If these are done, the dream of a new Nepal will definitely materialise.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 3, 2007