An appeal to the People’s Movement II to continue with active campaign of Civil Society, Human Rights Activists, Lawyers, Journalists, Intellectuals, &Youths of Nepal to establish a Decentralized Electoral (Federal) System of Government:
The leaders of political parties of Nepal are prone to get succumb to their parties’ self-interest for power. Once they get into the government their minds get lost even at this critical stage of national crises – “so much for just forming a cabinet to pave the road for Interim Government to perform the election of National Assembly!”
Nepali people have let them do this in the past. But now at this juncture we must be actively vigilant to guard the verdict of the People’s Movement II getting slipped away from the political party leaders’ wicked hands.
Until we successfully accomplish the foundation of the complete democracy through the election of the Constituent Assembly – for Republican or ceremonial monarchical Multiparty Democracy, we must not put an end to the People’s Movement II. We must keep moving on with it until we reach to our destination.
People’s movement II have warned the political leaders of all party that they must not repeat the same mistakes again as they had committed in last fifteen years.
One of the mistakes that leaders kept committing was their inability to find the common denominator to resolved the national crises. Instead they strived for their own self-interest.
To this juncture we ‘Nepali people’ owe our deep respect to the members of civil society, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and youth organizations who have united us to fight the cause not only in Nepal but global wise.
Now we have found the common denominator “The Election Of The Constituent Assembly”. We must therefore most precisely and vigilantly establish the secular Democratic legislature, executive and judiciary logistics to abolish feudal autocratic and oligarchic governing systems, which are creeping viruses in the government agencies.
In my humble appeal to you all I would like to remind you that the oligarchic administrative logistics are dominant elements of feudal autocratic regime. They are not only corrupt but also parasitical in the government practice.
Therefore, we all members of Civil Society, Human Rights Activists, Lawyers, Journalists, Intellectuals, &Youths of Nepal must campaign to abolish such logistics and bring about changes in the ‘New Constitution of People of Nepal’ that gives fundamental rights and responsibility to the people to be governed by themselves.
I hope you will not hesitate to agree with me to abolish following oligarchic logistics of the autocratic government:
- Abolish ‘Chief District Officer’ as central government’s appointee to administer the districts of Nepal. This is an oligarchic logistic began from Rana regime. If in Democracy people are to rule themselves through electoral process from the grassroots of government practice, how can a central government appointee from Bhojpur run the district administration of Doti? Such practice from the government must be fundamentally and radically abolished in our “New Democratic Constitution.”
We must campaign therefore to establish an autonomous district level government in our New Democratic Constitution.
As in most democratic countries’ government practice, the elected (state) district chairman or governor must run the district administration by forming a district cabinet from among the elected district assembly members in majority or collision just as in the federal or central government cabinet.
But any system of government that has central government’s appointee such as CDO that administers the state or district violates the fundamental rights and responsibility of people.
In last twelve years of multiparty system of government CDOS gave no place for the elected members of district assembly and district chair to legislate and administer the district. Instead few members became rebel and most of them remain puppets of CDOS to exploit the development budgets for their self-interest.
Thus CDOS had brought corruptions and injustice in the administration and development of the districts of Nepal.
We must campaign for New Democratic Constitution that can clearly define the off-limits of the Central Government:
The work of federal government is to formulate administrative policies to execute the legislations of the Parliament for the domestic and international relations with the broader national interest.
The New Constitution must secure independence of the local government to form its own cabinet with the district chair or governor.
The constitution must assure the district as autonomous government so it can formulate its own specific district government logistics and policies through the legislature of the local assembly.
For instant, the local government must have policy to collect local tax such as property tax, local wages tax, local sales tax, local income tax etc as its revenue.
In this New Constitution there should be clear distinction between what local revenues and what federal revenues are. Yet federal government must have policies to audit the local revenues to figure it out for the development assistance and natural disaster relief funds.
Similarly the electoral member of municipality and village council must form a cabinet under elected mayor to administer the cities and the villages.
There should be no appointees from the central government to administer the local body of the government.
Rather with the recommendation of the local government the central government will establish its agencies’ services on Education, Population, Agriculture, Industries, Transports etc.
The district Public Commission agency should provide the human resources for the managements of local government as per local government’s recommendation.
The New Constitution must make clear that the electoral members of the district assembly and chairperson, and electoral members of municipality assembly and mayor and members of village assembly and mayor must administer the local bodies of the government.
But it must be unconstitutional for the central government appointees to rule the local bodies of government. If the New Constitution did not abolish such logistics of oligarchic governance then that will be utter violation of fundamental rights of people of Nepal to have right and responsibility to rule themselves.
The electoral members of National Constituent Assembly must define the off-limits of the central government in the New Constitution precisely and thereby let people put their houses together themselves in their own home districts, municipalities and villages.
Party leaders must have observed the significance of the local governance from the successful example of the Community Forest managements that took place in last twelve years’ democracy in Nepal!
Legislators and party leaders must advocate abolishing such an oligarchic central government’s appointment of CDO to administer districts of Nepali.
This will also eliminate the chances for political leaders to manipulate CDOS for their own political self-interest.
In most of democratic countries the law enforcement logistics are established from the local level of government. The ‘county’ village law enforcement officer ‘sheriff’, municipality and district enforcement officers must be the permanent residence (from 6 months to 2 years’ residency) of the (state) district.
In general election they are in the ballot with rest of the candidates. There’s no central government appointee for the law enforcement officer or police.
- Abolish therefore ‘DSP, SSP, ISP’ law enforcement officers or police officers as appointees of the central government logistics.
The district, municipality chief law enforcement officer (police officer) and village sheriff (village chief law enforcement officer) must be the permanent resident of the district, municipality and the village and they must be in the ballot of every general election.
There should be police academy in every district from where the police forces are trained and supply to demand of the district, municipality and village. Provided members of police forces are the permanent resident of the district.
The New Constitution must not allow central government to appoint a law enforcement officer from the district of Bhojpur to police the district of Jumla. Otherwise this will be the violation of the fundamental rights of people of Nepal to choose to rule themselves.
Similarly in most of the democratic governments, except for the Supreme Court Justices all other district judges and attorneys are in the ballot of the general election and they must be the resident of the (state) district.
- Abolish the appointment of district attorney and district Judge. They too must be permanent resident of the district and must be put in the ballots of every general election.
Local governments resource management:
The New Constitution must define article for local governments resource management for water supply, sanitation, health and education.
For instance, how education system should be managed in grassroots level.
There must be election for members of the council of education in every village school district, and municipality school district. For example, Kathmandu municipality might have at list a hundred school districts.
The elected school district members of council should be responsible for each school district’s education that meets national standard. The members should also be in the ballots in every general election.
Civil Society, Human Rights activists, lawyers, journalists, intellectuals, and youths must stand vigilantly to make sure the New Constitution must abolish the central government’s oligarchic control of the governance of the districts of Nepal.
It must rather assure clearly the establishment provisions for the autonomous local government’s logistics. Thereby the citizens of each district from different walks of life must be given their fundamental rights and responsibility to govern their own district through the process of general election.
We all should look and find the creeping parasites of oligarchic logistics in the domain of government practice that had and will violate the fundamental rights and responsibility of people. Then and there we must campaign against it to abolish from the government practice. This should be our culture of complete Democracy to never back off from standing for our right and responsibility.
Sincerely
Prakash Bom
pbom.usa@gmail.com
May 1, 2006
