Public Awareness

 Civil Society News & Columns

 By Prakash Bom
 February 2, 2007

The ample of suggestions were presented to the drafting members of Interim Constitution to consider the federal governance system. Perhaps none of them had the vision for it for the new democratic Nepal. Obviously none of them had honestly understood what it means to people about the mandate of the people’s movement II for the complete democracy. Those elites who drafted the Interim Constitution had interpreted the meaning of the people’s mandate as per their status quo – the centrally controlled government setup for the democracy.

Similarly, the SPA had no clue about how federal governance system can address democratic issues of nation’s diverse ethnic communities. The most ironic of it was the SPA turning itself to EPA with the Maoists who too took the status quo of SPA for granted. Whether the political parties or people once they take the status quo for granted without questioning its validity they must pay the price. The historical evidence of it is the two hundred fifty years living condition of Nepali people. Thus sooner we question the status quo the lesser we pay the price.

From the beginning the Maoist leaderships should have taken their stand that without the federal governance system the democratic issue of people of diverse ethnic communities cannot be addressed. The main objective of their people’s war was to abolish the monarchy because the people of ethnic communities were structurally marginalized under the feudal oligarchic governance system for two hundred fifty years’ arbitrary rule of the monarchy. Those who had unnecessarily exploited the country under such rule were the privileged class of people from every communities of Nepal. Now those who still stick to this status quo we call them regressive ones. Yet the political leaderships do not see lingering of their mind to such status quo.

UML had tried to address the issue with the proportional electoral representation without considering how it will work in a centrally controlled governance system that the most of the ruling elites and political party leaderships like to continue with it. Frankly what they wish to accomplish for themselves is their interest for the power.

There is no change in this.  The change only comes then when people of Nepal can govern their own community through the establishment of the Federal Electoral Democracy.  The proportional electoral representation for the diverse ethnic group of people based on population (headcounts), human-development and size of the physical territory of a constituent (geographical territory) can only be viable through the federal governance system. 

Those ruling elites, political party leaderships and the law (constitutional) experts of the nation who have stale mindset of the status quo must understand that the primary premise of the federal governance system is the decentralization of the state power. The decentralization of the state power is based on the proportional electoral representation of constituents of the nation.   

In Federal Democratic Government system the nation’s federal legislature, executive and judiciary are established as bodies of the ‘central or federal government’ through the proportional electoral representations of the constituents of the nation. The responsibilities of the federal government are mainly focused on the nation’s overall policy making, foreign relations and national security. The rest of the nation’s everyday ground works and grass-root level of developments are managed by the local (regional, or state or district) governments. There can be more than one government in an electoral constituent – state or regional government, county or district government, and city or village government.

The local governments of each federal constituent are formed with local legislative, executive and judiciary bodies through the proportional electoral representatives of each constituent. The governor is either directly elected or nominated by the representatives of the local legislative (assembly) of a political party in majority or collision of more than one party’s majority. The best option adopted for electing the governor in most of the developed nations’ federal governance system of the local government is direct election.

Formations of the local government bodies are strictly accomplished through the electoral procedures – either directly elected or nominated through the assembly hearing procedures. The people of the constituent however must directly elect the constituent judges and attorneys. The cabinet of the elected governor of the electoral constituent governs the local (regional or state) government. Likewise cabinet of the elected mayors governs the district or county, city or village governments.

It is perhaps very hard for those political leaderships who are addicted to the control of the central power to accept such a drastic decentralization of the state power. However, it is the most profound way of securing the democracy of a nation, which cannot easily be toppled by a coup in just capturing the central government. Therefore, it can create a stable political foundation in the grass-root levels for those political parties who honestly believe in the institutions of the Electoral (comparative) Democracy.

This is what the Prime Minister of Nepal and the President of the Nepali Congress party has to grasp full heartedly and try to make understanding with his party cadres whose mind is staled with the status quo of centrally controlled governance system.  Electoral (competitive) Democracy cannot possibly survive under the centrally controlled governance system of a nation. The restructuring of the state is must with the decentralization of state power for competitive democracy to be sustained.

It is also true that democracy cannot only favor Madhesi people. It cannot also penalize them because their protests have instigated the communal violence. But their issues raised the probability for the adoption of the federal governance and proportional electoral system in the interim constitution, and this must be beneficial to high-landers of all ethnic groups too.

If such reasoning is not acceptable to MJF and MTMM then they are combusting fire for regressive forces. In this regard Maoists approach to address genuine Madhesi issues prior to any dialogue with MJF and MTTM is politically intelligible. If MJF and MTMM are not willing to resolve the issues with the constructive dialogues and the political process then the nation has to unite to defeat such regressive force with the counter protests and movements.

But if MJF and MTTM agreed for the constructive dialogue for the political process then the amendments of the interim constitution for establishing federal governance and the proportional electoral system is indispensable. The Prime Minster must endorse it for the legislators of interim Parliament to amend the interim constitution.

Establishment of the federal governance system with the amendment of the Interim Constitution will pave the way for the successful elections of the constituent assembly. This will also enforce the drafting process of the new constitution for the federal governance system based on the proportional electoral representation as per the headcounts, human developments and geographical territory.

At his juncture MJF & MTTM must be able to refrain themselves from the regressive infiltrations. If not MJF & MTTM must take the responsibility of their atrocities. The destructions of the public property, manhandling of people of other ethnic groups, attacking press and media cannot be considered a peaceful political protest. They are acts of vandalism of the primitive bandits.

If the royalists have set off the violence in the Madhesi protests through out the nation against democratic establishment than the monarchy must not survive in any form whatsoever. We have to put an end to it perhaps declaring Federal Democratic Republic even before the elections of the constituent assembly. Otherwise the royalists must stop infiltrations of the public atrocities against the elections of the constituent assembly. The fate of the monarchy lies in fair elections of the constituent assembly.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has failed to congregate Madhesi crisis with his national radio address.  Perhaps it is very had for him to accept the federal governance and proportional electoral system with the centrally controlled democratic status quo of his party legacy. However, SPA leaderships and the Prime Minister have been able to partially addressed the issues of the federal governance and the proportional electoral system. They have at least pledged for the federal governance system. The amendment of the interim constitution with the federal governance and proportional electoral system provisions must gain the momentum with the constructive political dialogues among the SPAM, government and protesting organizations.  

How Public School can be Managed in Federal Governance Structure under Local Government's Development Responsibility 

 By Prakash Bom
 December 10, 2006

Ban the Party Politics in School Education

First of all, the Public High School education must be determined with the international standard. So far in last two decades the private school education in Nepal has tried its best to meet the international educational standard. However, the public school education has the most student population being educated poorly below average standard of nation’s education.

From grade one to twelve is the standardized high school education.  Prior to first grade nursery kindergarten is the pre-school education.  Twelve years high school education is categorized into elementary education (one to six grades), middle school (seven to tenth grade) and high school (eleventh to twelfth grade). Students accomplish high school graduation after the successful completion of the twelfth grade.

Accordingly the teaching professional skill and training certifications are measured for the teachers to teach in different level of the high school education. The elementary education teachers must pass elementary certification tests after two years college graduation or associate degree with elementary education major.  Similarly the middle school and high school teachers must possess teaching certification and bachelor’s degree in respective teaching subjects.

In these regards student protests against the government decision to grant permanent status to all temporary schoolteachers is justified to dislodge party-politics from the entire school education of the nation.

There should be constitutional provision in the coming up new constitution after the constituent assembly elections to ban the party-politics in public schools from first to twelfth grades.

It is appreciating that educationists in Nepal are aware of party-politics interfering student lives in public schools.  By standard teachers should be qualified, skilled and trained with the best teaching ability that can yield the academic Excellency in students.

Political parties, student and teachers unions must respect school education to reach standard not by interfering lives of student in public schools from first to twelfth grades. They must highly regard the critical phase of early education of the children in schools. It is a very crucial stage of education in human lives. This is what determines the future of a human life, of a family, of a nation and of the world.

Ethically schools should be free of the party-politics, unionism and religious practice for children’s pragmatic educational development. It should be able to maintain peaceful, secure and fair secular learning atmosphere.

As long as the bill sanctioned by the Parliament has no political motives to carry on party politics and lays the conditions to keep up with the standard in public education then the strike of the students should be taken a successful movement for public awareness.

It is time for Nepal especially in the field of school education to put an end to the party politics that exercises nepotism and favoritism arbitrarily. Political parties must stop manipulating party politics in public school education among both students and the teachers.

Political parties and the representatives of the Parliament must realize that the most enriching resource of the nation is the human resource. Without educated, trained and skilled human resources the country cannot just develop no matter how abundant are the natural resources of the nation.  Therefore, ban the party politics in the school education.  

How can public school education be dislodged of the party politics?

It is obvious at this current tradition of the party politics in Nepal no political party will decide to dislodge its party politics from the public school education. In order to make school free of party politics the electoral federation of the school districts has to be implemented in each constituent of the nation. The electoral federal system of state management is the way to change the course of the nation whose current collective political minds are embedded with the habits of intrusion to be all over without taking professional responsibilities.  

Once the federation of the school districts is implemented each constituent’s political party leaders and its cadres will have opportunity to take jobs with professional responsibilities in the education system. They will have to though compete with the electoral process to get such positions in the school districts. This is what Nepal needs now to make political leaders and their cadres professionally capable of doing the real-time jobs in their respective constituents.

The electoral federal system of state management has mechanism to generate opportunities in different avenues of the organizations. For instance, in the federation of the school districts (of a constituent) members of each school district are elected to manage the school.

If the schools are arbitrarily given to the community without the electoral procedure to form a legitimate management body, then there will be no one to take professional responsibility. Therefore, Nepal must adopt the electoral federal system of state management that can form legitimate organizational bodies to yoke the professional responsibilities on the contenders.

The federations of the school districts are formed based on the demography of each constituent of the state. In a school district there can be one school or many schools as many as the body of the school district organization can handle. Electorates of the school district elect the members of the school district organization body. The members are elected for the position of the rector, registrar, dean and council members or members of the board.

It is time for Nepal to create legitimate organizations such as school districts for party politicians and its cadres to take professional responsibilities in each constituent of the state. It is also time for party politicians and its cadres to develop skills and talent for the job. The federal system of state management can create ample of professional job opportunities to the electorates of each constituent who are skilled and qualified, and wish to dedicate themselves to the service of the nation. This is how the party politics can be dislodged from public school education without negative consequences.

Coming soon:

Achieve: Articles by Prakash Bom: 

Scrutiny on the Major Player of Seven Party Alliance

Proposal to establish Electoral Democratic Institutions in Nepal

How can the Independence of Judiciary be protected?

Who can decide the fate of the institution of the monarchy of Nepal?

Rationally bothering about the fate of the Institution of Monarchy in Nepal

Justifications of the Declaration of the Secular State

Political Phobia of the Feudal Minds of Nepali Cogress

Initiation of the Electoral Logistics of Democracy

Time for Rule of Law to Democratize the Peace Accord with Changing Time

Do not Disappoint People again this Time

Suspend the monarchy in Interim Constitution

Constitutional Council and Independence of Judiciary in Interim Constitution

Nepal is not Hinudus' land

Nepal must be able to avoid socio-political turmoil

Conspiracy against Interim Constitution

The Amendment Procedure of the Interim Constitution

On a Historic Day the Federal Democratic Republic on the Horizon

True Nationalism of New Democratic Nepal

Issues of Federal Governance and Proportional Electoral System

Federal Governance Structures

Democracy & Nation Integrity

How do people constitute Federal Government

Declare Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

It is time for Madhesi People to take Pre-caution

Democracy – the People-power & Rule of Law

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