Undermining constitutional provisions

 

 Undermining constitutional provisions

In Nepal, it is not new and surprising to see the misuse of power by both the ruling and opposition parties while nominating chiefs and heads of constitutional bodies. Most of the constitutional bodies are without their chiefs and head for a number of years owing to unconstitutional political attitude of both the ruling and opposition parties. Unless they agree on division of their shares who should lead the constitutional bodies, the nominations of chiefs, heads or members of these bodies continue to remain vacant. In the past, most of these positions were filled with their hand-picked candidates who became string puppets of the political parties and misused their authority and discredited their highly respected organizations for the benefits and interest of their political masters.

It seems that both the ruling and main opposition parties have now finally agreed to equally share their choices to head these constitutional bodies: National Human Rights Commission, Women Commission, Dalit Commission, Indigenous Nationalities Commission and Inclusive Commissions, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority and Election Commission.

This hand-picked practice of nominating chiefs, heads and members of constitutional bodies has been widely criticized by the constitutional experts and political analysts. But, who would care?

Constitutional Council should be held above partisan interests, analysts say

Experts say dozens of constitutional body vacancies give the council an opportunity to ensure proportional representation while recommending candidates.

 

 Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Thursday called a meeting of the Constitutional Council for Sunday after holding several rounds of negotiations with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is a member of the council as the leader of the main opposition.

The two held a meeting even on Friday to discuss the appointments at a number of constitutional commissions.

But with Debua announcing on Saturday that he won’t be attending the meeting, Sunday’s meeting is going to be postponed. The Constitutional Council cannot convene a meeting in the absence of the leader of the main opposition. On top of that, for the meeting to convene, at least four members must be present besides the prime minister, who chairs the council.

Deuba has said he won’t attend the meeting because it would give a negative message as it is holding a mass demonstration against the government a day later.

“Participating in Sunday's meeting is not feasible for the party president [Deuba]. He will participate whenever the meeting is called next time,” Ramesh Lekhak, a Nepali Congress leader, told the Post.

Continue reading 

https://kathmandupost.com/politics/2020/12/13/constitutional-council-should-be-held-above-partisan-interests-analysts-say
https://tkpo.st/37fpTWB