The Narahari Acharya Proposal
Now that he has declared he might run for party president, I feel the need to talk more fully about his proposal. I should perhaps begin with a summary. The document is 29 pages. It has a lot of gravitas to it.
This easily is the best piece of writing since 2/1 to have come from any Nepali holding a major political party office. Acharya has already proven his leadership by having the guts to come up with it. The bad people monkey with the tools of power when the good people choose to stay quiet and uninvolved. Protesting and pontificating is one thing, but you really have to acquire power if you do mean to do good.
I personally strongly endorse Acharya's candidacy. I hope he formally declares his candidacy, something not even Koirala has done so far. And if he declares, I think he will win. So far he is the only one with a message.
This is not to say I have any kind of personal dislike for Girija Koirala. Koirala and his family have made major contributions to the democratic cause in Nepal over decades. But I think it is high time Koirala retired. Even Ronald Reagan retired after a point. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee did. I think Girija should be more like what Ganeshman Singh was for the 1990 movement. More like this respected figure who stays away from the day to day details of the movement. He should bless the movement, but let the new leadership take over.
If there is a transfer of power to a new generation leader with a message for democracy both in the country and inside the party, the Nepali Congress might begin to reverse its decline.
And I think Narahari Acharya should bring Gagan Thapa into the Nepali Congress' central committee. He is old enough. Over 40% of Nepalis are less than 14 years old.
The document has great analysis, and it captures the public sentiment for democracy as it exists today. The best part of the document is that it offers proposals for democratic outlets for people who might have alternate or even better proposals, especially people from alternate political ideologies. That "safety valve" might be the crown jewel of Acharya's document.
Looks to me like Narahari Acharya is a "good" Bahun! He has even managed to articulate some of the Madhesi grievances.
So what's in the document?
A Proposed Democratic State Structure For A New Nepal
There has been a major democratic debate going on.
(1) Background For The State Structure
The struggle for democracy has been going on for over five decades now. The major actors of the 1990 movement did not do a good job of further polishing democracy and institutionalizing it. Not enough space was provided even inside the Nepali Congress for debates that might have further strengthened the democracy. The four point agenda of the seven parties is the last major work done for the cause. But they have been more like knee-jerk reactions and less like serious political propositions.
Nobody has been able to speak against the basic concept of multi-party democracy, not the king, not the Maoists. But as to what form that democracy will take, there is little agreement on that. The challenge is to synthesize all the divergent viewpoints.
Nepal has always had this capital city centered state structure where the ruler's sex, caste, group and language dominate.
Now the emphasis is on creating an inclusive structure. Some think only a republican setup will provide for true inclusion. But whatever the case, there is little debate as to where the sovereignty ought to rest. It ought to rest with the people.
What are the items on our agenda? What priorities should we accord to each item? All questions will not get answered in one attempt. But we can draw from the experiences elsewhere in the world. We also can draw from our experiences. The monarchy-centered thought patterns have prevented modernization and democratization. It is that thinking that has also prevented us from truly understanding the Maoist insurgency.
The 1991 parliament was not made good use of. The parliament was not able to provide voice to the minority and that voice spilled over into the streets. The voice in the streets was marginalized, and that morphed into a violent insurgency.
How to identify minorities? 20% are not Hindu: there are religious minorities. More than 50% do not speak Nepali. Over 90 languages are officially listed of which 12 are major. There are women. There are caste and ethnic groups.
The women are a majority, but they are forced to live within sexist social structures, and their participation is low in all public spheres.
The Dalits have been subjected to inhuman exclusion.
The Madhesis have been sidelines from the state machinery. Even normal participation for them is not in the collective mentality.
Karnali has been regionally sidelined.
(2) People's Ownership
People's sovereignty has to be established. Once that is done, we will have a forum to address all the other grievances.
This king has unilaterally breached the 1990 understanding between the king and the parties. The 1990 experiment has been a total failure.
Talks of reform and amendments make no sense when the country has no parliament, and it is not possible to hold elections to a new parliament. After 2/1 it is a strange practice to look for the validity and relevance of the 1990 constitution. The very quest for democracy asks us not only to think in terms of a new question, but also to think in terms of how it will come about, who all will be involved, in what ways.
It is obvious the next constitution will have to be drafted by elected representatives. To face the roadblocks to that clear destination is the challenge for the democracy movement.
How can you hold elections to a Constituent Assembly when you can not hold elections to a parliament? What will be the outcome of such an Assembly? Will the outcome be accepted? Will the elections to the Assembly be free and fair? All these frequently raised are questions on process.
A Constituent Assembly is the surest way to bring peace. The political exercise that will take the country to an Assembly will itself address all the questions.
There are no alternatives to a Constituent Assembly.
(3) Peaceful Transformation
In 1990 the king vetoed the idea of a provision for referendums in the constitution.
That mistake should not be repeated. Because in shaping the constitution today, we can not speak for the future generations.
(4) Federal State Structure
Federalism is widely getting recognized globally as the antidote to civil wars and ethnic strife.
The 1990 movement did not establish federalism in Nepal: that is strange and alarming.
A scientific demarcation of states has to be made.
Centralization has for too long and erroneously been equated with national unity.
Democracy can not be imagined without federalism: federalism is that fundamental.
Federalism is also a political cure to the Maoist insurgency.
(4.1) Structure For Regions And The Need
The more diverse a country, greater the need for local autonomies.
Federalism and decentralization and local autonomies also lead to greater participation in the democracy.
Nepal might look small compared to India and China, but it really is not that small a country, either by population or land area.
It is hard to seek ethnic homogeneity when creating states. You end up with states where the largest ethnic group is a clear minority. And people move around. You already have mixed populations in all urban areas.
It is hard also to seek geographical similarity.
(4.2) The Importance Of Regional Structures
Democracy's goal is to strengthen the citizen, not the state.
(5) Direct Elections For Prime Minister
So far there has not been any attempt to look beyond the Westminster model of parliamentary democracy. Our experience since 1990 has shown the British model is not good for us.
In the UK and in India, although there are no direct elections for Prime Minister, such candidates are known during elections.
There could be one arrangement at the federal level, quite another at the state level.
Direct elections will also get rid of the Prime Minister's prerogative to dissolve the parliament.
The Prime Minister's cabinet will also be from outside the parliament. This way there will be a clear demarcation between the legislative and the executive.
(6) Election Procedures
(6.1) The Electoral Tradition And Today's Needs
(6.2) Types Of Election Processes
There are direct and indirect elections. There's first past the post, and there are elections where the winner has to have a majority vote: a plurality is not enough. There are elections where you vote for a party, not any candidate.
(6.3) Our System: Reform Or Change
Our largest parliamentary constituencies are several times larger than the smallest ones. Our winners are, by definition, always only those with minority votes. The majority of the votes go waste. Our process also make elections expensive, and money ends up being the decisive factor. Those who can spend more usually win.
Our parties distribute tickets for elections in unclear, opaque ways. That is a major deficiency. There also has been some criminalization of politics.
(7) Management Of The Army
Every state on the planent has an army.
It is possible to not have a standing army, but instead to train the citizens who can be called for service if and when necessary. Even is there is to remain a standing army, that has to be under civilian control, and that army has to look like the country in terms of diversity.
Even the President of India is Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, but that is understood to be ceremonial. The same was to be the case for the king in Nepal, but this king has misinterpreted that provision.
Women and the Madhesis have been excluded from the army. Thas has to change.
(8) The Monarchy: The Central Topic
(8.1) The Monarchy In A Tight Circle
The Nepali Congress has proposed that it is the parliament that should make laws on royal succession, and there should be a ministry for royal affairs to make royal proceedings transparent. These have been internal debates that have been suffocated by key members of the party leadership.
This king's various actions have shown constitional monarchy is not a democratic option in th case of Nepal.
(8.2) Introduction Of A Republic
A republic is a natural form of democracy. It is one's democratic right to ponder the need and possibilities of a republic. Unless the monarch himself takes the initiative to become and remain a constitutional monarch, a republic is guranteed. The republican sentiment is strong not only among students: it is much wider.
(9) Political Parties
The political parties have work cut out for them to gain credibility among the people. The leaders have been a letdown.
(9.1) The British Tradition Of Party Formation
(9.2) Laws About Parties
The parties have disappointed in the post-1990 period.
Party funds need to be made transparent, parties need to be democratized.
(9.3) Democratic Exercise And Fiscal Transparency
Parties fighting for democracy, how democratic are they in their internal operations? The mentality and operations have been anything but democratic even among the big banner parties.
It is possible for the state to fund parties in proportion to the amount of votes a party might get.
(9.4) Making The Parties Strong And Responsible
There should be national laws to enforce democracy inside parties. The Election Commission should host a party's national convention to elect party president. Party primaries should decide on party candidates.
(10) Responsible Judiciary
Our judicial system is way too slow.
(11) The State's Responsibility For Social Welfare
Education, health and employment are issues in which the state can get involved.
(12) Women's Participation In The State
Women's participation in all spheres of life will expand after their participation in the political process can be enhanced.
Countries with first past the post election systems have tended not to have many elected women officials.
Education is important, but education only is not enough.
(13) Dalit Participation In The State
The 1990 movement brought the Dalit question to the forefront. Dalit liberation is a major human rights issue. They are over 13% of the population but had no representation in the parliament.
(14) Madhesi Presence In The State
The Madhesis have been ignored for too long. The Madhesis have never been thought to be part of the national identity.
(15) Conclusion
Women, Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati. Including them in the state structure is a major challenge. That is a big reason why a new state structure is needed.
In the post-1990 period the efforts to strengthen democracy have been more emotional and less institutional.
The Maoist insurgency was not possible during the Rana rule or during the Panchayat era. Democracy has allowed centuries old wounds to come to the surface.
The state has to be restructured for democracy, for federalism, for inclusion, for peace and progress.
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