Federal democratic governance system can be made sustainable and effective only through transparency in governance, rule of law, equitable distribution of resources and means, constitution-friendly environment and citizen supremacy.
What you should know
Sushila Karki government's first and most important responsibility is to hold elections on February 21 and hand over power to the elected government. In the same way, it is to provide proper support to the families of those who died and the injured in the Gen-G movement, to bring the rulers who suppressed the movement and those who vandalized government and private property through intrusion to the law, and to deal with the daily concerns of the citizens, including the prevention of corruption raised by the Gen-G movement.
The Karki government is also responsible for improving the disturbed peace and security and investment climate, strengthening relations between levels of government and with foreign countries. All political parties should embrace the Gen-G movement and go for unconditional elections. If the elections are completed on time, the disturbed state organs will be active. The constitution holds the rhythm. If the parties do not go to the elections, if there is a situation where the elections are not even held, the country will go into chaos. Belongs to uncertainty.
It is beneficial for the country for all political parties, new and old, to participate in the elections. It is equally important to set agendas for elections. Election agendas are reflected through manifestos. The parties will also have to work on its preparation. But while setting the agenda, it is necessary to give priority to the issues put forward by the Gen-G movement. The issues of transfer and transformation within the party should be mentioned in the preamble of the manifesto itself.
is the rule of law that the citizens, including Jen-G, want. The stability of federal democratic republican governance system. This article focuses on the issues of the legislature and the executive, including the ways forward for government reform. Issues such as the judiciary have not been discussed. The article is believed to be an important reference material for political parties in writing election manifestos.
Legislature
Legislature currently has a bicameral system consisting of the House of Representatives (275 members) and the National Assembly (59 members). The number of Parliament is 334 with both Houses. Reducing this number to only 200 people (165 in the House of Representatives and 35 in the National Assembly) is a disguise. In the current number of 275 in the House of Representatives, 110 from the proportional election system are canceled and only 165 are directly elected. That is to abolish the proportional electoral system. Inclusion in the direct election system itself for proportional and inclusive representation. Like
, women-women, Dalit-Dalit, minority-minority, Muslim-Muslim, tribal tribe-tribal tribe, etc., arrange competition only between classes and communities. When the proportional election system is abolished, one or two political parties will get a majority in the parliament. There is no problem with the stability of the government. An alternative to a full direct election system may be full proportionality. But for this, the weighted average of the votes received by the political parties and candidates should be considered as the basis. Some countries, including Scandinavia, have such a method. However, in a country like ours, this method can be a bit complicated.
Regarding the National Assembly, it currently has 59 members. 56 eight people from each province and 3 people are nominated by the President. By improving it, there will be only 35 people instead of 8-8 people with 5-5 people. The system of nomination by the President is removed. It is necessary to make arrangements for only those who have acquired expertise in their respective subject areas to sit in the National Assembly. A person defeated in any other level of election in the same year should not be brought to the National Assembly. This is the topic that many people are questioning about the National Assembly.
There are only 69 people in the German National Assembly, a federal country three times larger than Nepal. Belgium has 60 and Austria has 61. Switzerland has 46. If there are competent personalities, even few people can play an effective role in the National Assembly. In addition to the size of the Parliament, the Vice President should be made the President of the National Assembly in the reform of the legislature.
It is not necessary to hold the position of deputy chairman and vice chairman. Disguise when removed. Arrangements should be made not to provide other facilities to MPs except meeting allowance. Politics has now become a pot of money and the most attraction is/is in the position of MP. There is a system in Switzerland that does not provide other facilities except the meeting allowance. MPs only go during meetings. Other times they enjoy their profession. Similar arrangements should be made with us.
After becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives and Speaker of the National Assembly, provision should be made to prevent him from returning to party politics. It is complained that the role of those working in these positions was not fair and neutral. If there is a system to break party affiliation and not return to politics, they will be impartial and it will be easier to make the government accountable to the parliament. When the party affiliated with his party is in the government, the Speaker/Chairman is in a position to be flexible towards the government. There is also an end to such a situation.
Arrangements should be made for the appointment of the Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal, the Secretary General of the Parliament and the Commander-in-Chief. Such an arrangement exists in Switzerland. The parliament building was set on fire in the name of Gen-G movement. Destroyed. If the general was appointed by the Parliament, this would definitely not have happened. As far as the Chief Secretary is concerned, the situation is that the Chief Secretary does not take much interest in the activities of the Parliament. This is also my experience as a Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Special Committee. Being the Chief Secretary of the permanent government, the activities of the Parliament should be listened/watched carefully by the Chief Secretary.
The role of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly should be made equal in drafting the bill. Now the role of the National Assembly is secondary. In Germany, bills originate from the National Assembly. Likewise, if the House of Representatives is dissolved while the bill passed by one House is pending in the other House, provision should be made that it will be approved by a two-thirds majority of the National Assembly. As now, when the House of Representatives was dissolved, many important bills, including civil, education, etc., became inactive.
executive
The House of Representatives should continue the current system of electing the Prime Minister. A directly elected prime ministerial system can be a major disaster. If there was/is a situation where the constitution is torn and all the organs of the state are under control when there is a 'check and balance' by the parliament and the courts, it cannot be said that the directly elected prime minister will kill democracy and become a dictator.
It cannot be said that such a prime minister will not make the country like Ukraine. A prime minister elected by the parliament is fine for us. Due to the reform of the electoral system, one or two parties will have a majority in the parliament. Stability is not a problem. Instead, it is necessary to arrange for the political parties to nominate the prime minister's candidate in the election itself. When citizens vote, it is necessary to adjust the system of voting by looking not only at the party, but also at the prime minister's candidate.
Constitutionally, more than half of the work responsibility is at the provincial and local levels. Not too many structures should be placed in the Singha Durbar, where the function goes down. If we talk about ministers, only 11 people including the Prime Minister should be included. In Switzerland, there is only 7 people in the constitution. America and Germany have a cabinet of 15 people. We need to improve the arrangement of up to 25 people.
Likewise, the rule that MPs cannot become ministers should be implemented. Such an arrangement exists in America, Switzerland, Brazil, Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia and other countries. The main reason for the increase in corruption is the system of MPs becoming ministers. If MPs cannot get salary benefits, MPs cannot become ministers, the current corruption will be reduced by half. The main problem now is the tendency to collect money to get MP tickets, money to win elections, money to become a minister and the main focus after becoming a minister. If we can't improve it, it will happen no matter what the governance system is.
MPs and other leaders have embezzled huge amounts of money through their favored consumer committees through pocket schemes. It is also necessary to completely separate MPs from the selection of plans. This is also one of the reasons for the increase in corruption.
Prime Minister's tenure should be at most two terms. There should be a constitutional provision to take a break from party and parliamentary politics after becoming the prime minister twice. The term of the President is at most two terms. After becoming the president, he should be separated from party and parliamentary politics. After becoming the head of state, his dignity should be preserved. Ex-Presidents, Ex-Vice-Presidents and Ex-Prime Ministers should be given minimum facilities for a maximum period of five years and then the facilities should be stopped completely. This arrangement should also be applied to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Speaker of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice. It is necessary to end the system of exploiting the state in the name of former officials. Regarding the implementation of
plans, the federal government should establish a method to implement only plans of national pride and strategic importance. Apart from maintenance, in the physical infrastructure development plan, Rs. One billion and in respect of other schemes Rs. Arrangements should be made to ensure that the federal government does not implement schemes smaller than 10 crores. Arrangements should be made for state governments and local governments to take ownership of large projects conducted by the federal government. If there is maximum participation of the citizens in the plans, their implementation will be easier. Plans are protected.
The construction of the Minister's residence in Bhainsepati was opposed by the local citizens. If there was a consensus of the citizens, the citizens themselves would have prevented the destruction. Rapti Deukhuri, the capital of Lumbini province, was chased away by local citizens who were going to vandalize the structure. Preserved structures. Governments at any level should consult citizens while building structures. It should be written in the law itself. Switzerland has written it in the constitution itself.
There is a need for extensive reform in the institutional structures of the association. More than half of the structures must be scrapped. The constitutional commissions should not have more than three officials and keep only some important commissions including election, authority, public service, finance and all others should be abolished.
Provincial level
The number of provincial assemblies is now 550. In this, 220 coming from the proportional election system should be abolished. As mentioned above in the model of the House of Representatives, the representation of women, Dalits and other classes and communities should be ensured in the 330 elected through the direct election system.
Due to the reform of the election system, there is no problem in the stability of the Chief Minister. The number of ministers should be minimum 5 to maximum 7 including the Chief Minister. There is also a suggestion of 10 percent instead of the current 20 percent of the state assembly. However, in the last time there are many opinions that the number should be mentioned rather than the percentage. Provision should be made that provincial assemblymen cannot be ministers and assemblymen cannot get other facilities except meeting facilities.
The bill must be approved and the procedure for calling and ending the session by the Speaker of the State Assembly should be established. Even if the policy and program is recited by the Chief Minister. The oath of the Chief Minister and Ministers shall be administered by the Chief Justice of the High Court or any other acceptable person upon arrangement. By doing this, huge expenses are saved in the name of the provincial head (coordinator of the province).
There is a need for extensive reforms in the institutional structure of the provinces as well as the federal one. Bodies that conflict with the authority of the local level, including the directorate, should be abolished. In relation to the implementation of the plan, a practice should be established to implement only provincial pride and inter-municipal level plans. Apart from maintenance and improvement, in the physical infrastructure development plan, Rs. 5 crore and in other schemes Rs. It is necessary to have a provision that provinces do not operate schemes smaller than 1 crore.
Local level
District Coordination Committee is not necessary. It should be dismissed. In order to end the situation of depriving women in the name of party affiliation and so on, a legal provision should be made that one of the chief and deputy chief should be a woman. It should be arranged that the elected representatives from the local to the federal level should not be given other facilities except the meeting allowance. People's representatives like
staff do not need to go to the office all the time. It is important to establish a routine of going to meetings and going about your business at other times. Wards should be empowered. While formulating the budget, the municipality should make a fair distribution based on the social and economic infrastructure development of the wards. There is a common complaint that the authority of Singh Darbar reached the municipality but not the citizens. It needs improvement.
There is a huge expenditure in the name of vehicles in the municipality. प्रमुख, उपप्रमुख र प्रमुख प्रशासकीय अधिकृतका नाममा अलग–अलग गाडी राख्ने चलन बन्द गरिनुपर्दछ । सवारी साधन भएपछि काम विशेषका आधारमा प्रयोग गर्ने व्यवस्था मिलाउनुपर्दछ । सेवाभावबाट जनप्रतिनिधि निर्वाचित हुने, सवारी साधनलगायत अतिरिक्त सुविधा नलिने व्यवस्था भएमा जनप्रतिनिधिप्रति नागरिकको भरोसा बढ्छ ।
अन्त्यमा, शासनमा पारदर्शिता, विधिको शासन, स्रोत र साधनको न्यायोचित वितरण, संविधान अनुकूल वातावरण र नागरिक सर्वोच्चतामार्फत मात्र संघीय लोकतान्त्रिक शासन व्यवस्थालाई दिगो र प्रभावकारी बनाउन सकिन्छ । कार्की सरकारको मुख्य जिम्मेवारी निर्वाचनमार्फत चुँडिएको संविधानको धागोलाई जोड्नु हो । यसका लागि सबै नेपाली नागरिकको सहयोग र सद्भाव जरुरी छ ।
