After CA, constitutional bodies now all set to become new casualties

KATHMANDU, JUL 12 -

If the CA was the first big casualty of the fragmented national politics, there are now widespread fears that some key state organs and constitutional bodies could be rendered dysfunctional in the absence of political consensus to fill up the vacant positions.

A dozen constitutional positions, including those in the Supreme Court, Election Commission, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Public Service Commission (PSC) and Office of the Auditor General will soon be vacant. What is worrying is that the bodies that take a call on many of these appointments are now either defunct or non-functional after the dissolution of the CA and the parliament. The Supreme Court, for instance, will be left with just six permanent justices (out of 21) by December, as permanent and a number of temporary justices will have their term expired by the year-end. In the absence of a parliamentary committee, which vets the appointments of the justices, the apex court will not get the new justices.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Neelkantha Uprety and two other commissioners will retire in November and January next year respectively. The top positions at the EC have to be filled by the Constitutional Council, which remains defunct with the political parties represented at the council not seeing eye to eye. The seven-member Council—which comprises the Prime Minister, Chief Justice, the Speaker, a representative of the main opposition and two Cabinet ministers appointed by the PM—has not been able to meet for a long time for want of political consensus. Nepali Congress (NC), the main opposition party, has refused to discuss any appointments before there is consensus on broader politics. Similarly, the CIAA, which has been headless for over five years and has been run by civil servants, is soon going to be non-functional. The Constitutional Council has not been able to appoint any commissioner and chief commissioner to head the anti-graft body. If the Counc il continues to remain in death bed, CIAA will be completely non-functional after its Secretary—Bhagawati Kafle—retires in December. Kafle was made the acting CIAA chief some five years ago by a departing chief commissioner, but Kafle, as a civil servant, doesn’t have the delegating authority. This potentially means there would be no constitutional mechanism to check malpractices and excesses by the government officials.

Former top bureaucrats admit that the absence of parliament and institutions like the CIAA, Office of the Auditor General and other constitutional bodies would invite serious governance crisis that will ultimately result in the absence of instruments of checks and balance, a vital need for the functioning of a democratic society. Former Chief Secretary Bimal Koirala says the governance crisis will seriously cripple the state as many of the government’s initiatives would now be hamstrung in the absence of a functioning constitutional bodies. “The current Election Commission is one good example that demonstrates how the upcoming absence of the commissioners will gradually make the institution dysfunctional,” says Koirala.

Apart from the key constitutional bodies, there will also be other high-profile changes soon. Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Chattara Man Singh Gurung retires on September 9.  Lt Gen Gaurav Sumsher Rana is all set to succeed him, unless there’s “massive political upheaval in the next few weeks,” says a senior government official.

Similarly, Nepal Police Chief Ravindra Pratap Shah retires on September 14. Additional Inspector General Kuber Rana is the likely successor, but insiders aren’t ruling out one of the two AIGs, Bhisma Prasai or Nabaraj Dhakal, getting the top job.   

“Hopefully, the changes in all these leaderships will be smooth, but given the deeply entrenched political distrust and the fluid politics of transition, one can’t rule out anything,” says a senior bureaucrat.

The bureaucracy itself will soon see its top official retiring. Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire leaves office on August 5.

A race of sorts has already begun. The hopefuls, in the seniority order, are Bhagawati Kafle (CIAA) Shanker Prasad Koirala Koirala (Election Commission), Balanand Poudel (Women and Children Ministry), Tana Gautam (Urban Development), Lilamani Poudel ( PMO), Umakanta Jha (Industry) Sushil Jung  Rana (Home) and Brinda Hada (Irrigation) and Trilochan Uprety (PMO).  The ruling and opposition parties are sharply divided on who should be given the top position. “The longer the parties take to strike consensus, the more serious the complication,” says an official at the PMO. “This will further disrupt the balance of power and promote ad hocism.” Former Home Secretary Srikanta Regmi offers a bleak scenario. “The constitutional and administrative void has been and will benefit PM Bhattarai, more than anyone else. If a bureaucrat defies the government, he will be immediately transferred,” he says.

Some others offered different explanations. All, however, agreed that the longer the current state of politics, the worse will be the crisis. “The only way now is to reach consensus and avert a disaster,” says Regmi.


Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/12/editors-pick/after-ca-constitutional-bodies-now-all-set-to-become-new-casualties/356977/