Nepal Monitor: The National Online Journal

Almost three years down the historic Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) among the political parties that led to a new political order in Nepal, it is appropriate and useful to look back at the roadmap for conflict resolution in Nepal prepared by Volunteer Mediators Group (VMG). As members of VMG, we worked to chart out the document. In this paper we would like to review what was done and what is yet to be done for sustainable peace and prosperity of Nepal. There have been some significant achievements since the 2006 People’s Movement but there are several lines of actions originally enlisted in the roadmap that need to be acccomplished for a durable peace in the country.

What was fullly achieved?
One of our key recommendations included competitive politics, under a parliamentary system. As per the recommendations, the multiparty parliamentary system has been retained under the interim constitution. Moreover, the legislature has been constituted “on the basis of territorial and proportional representation” and “with representation of different ethnic groups, indigenous peoples, dalits, women and prominent citizens.”

Regarding the army, we had asked to “give the Army a national character by opening them to all qualified citizens possessing necessary qualities for military service like discipline, good health and aptitude, and make them loyal to the country and the people.” It has, indeed, been fulfilled.

The group had suggested that decentralization programme be implemented by providing necessary power and resources for local bodies, changing the structure, geographical division and number of local bodies, keeping the state of development and geographical conditions into account and to review the existing number of districts and development regions and formulating development plans designed to remove existing disparities between geographical regions and to establish, for this purpose, appropriate political and administrative structures at the regional level.” We view the declaration of Nepal as a federal state as a direction towards the implementation of the decentralization programme, although we have to wait to find how much power and authorities would be given to the federating units and local bodies.

Measures considered for the welfare of women are more or less fulfilled. The document had asked “to abolish economic, social and legal discriminations existing against them and to provide them equal right to parental property, to provide them reservation in education, health, administrative services and employment opportunities, and to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in all elected bodies and to launch affirmative actions in other agencies for this.”

Many steps have also been taken to fulfill the suggestions about the deprived classes. It had, for example, asked to “carry out instant measures to abolish untouchability and other forms of exploitation and suppression and to grant equal rights to deprived classes, to provide reservation for ethnic and Dalit/oppressed communities in education, health and administrative services and other avenues of employment and to create special facilities for the care of the handicapped, aged and children, to provide them appropriate representation and to enable them to participate in different organizations.”

Last but not the least (among the “achieved” agenda) as contemplated in the roadmap, the formulation of “a new national anthem reflecting national pride, unity and patriotism” has been fulfilled. The state was declared secular in the similar vein.

What is yet to be achieved?
We had envisaged to “hold direct election for the post of the Prime Minister and to appoint ministers from within and outside the Parliament on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.” That is, however, yet to be done under the new structure of the state.

We had also recommended for a provision for making the organizational structure and financial activities of political parties democratic and transparent. We had also suggested making provision for providing government financial grant to political parties for the next election in proportion to the votes obtained by them in the last elections.

In view of the difficulties anticipated in the integration of the rebel fighters in the regular army, we had asked to “recruit the members of the people’s militia with necessary qualifications in the Nepal Army at appropriate level and the remaining ones in other security services such as forest security, industrial security or other security services after imparting them necessary training.” In addition, we had suggested “to give priority to engage them in various employment opportunities by imparting necessary training to them and to attract them to join developmental activities in accordance with their skills.” A bigger agenda to “make provision for enforcing compulsory military training for one year to all adults in Nepal for engendering in them spirit of nationalism and national security” is yet to be carried out.

As far as the foreign policy is concerned, much remains to be done as per our suggestions. We wanted “to make special efforts for augmenting foreign employment opportunities for the Nepalese, to enhance the involvement of the Nepalese people in international security system and especially to extend full support to the UN’s peacekeeping operations ... to negotiate with different countries of the world for recruitment of the Nepalese youth in their security forces with maximum benefit to the Nepalese people, to make the relationship with India up to date, realistic and progressive and, to achieve that end, to replace the 1950 Treaty with a new treaty or treaties suited to changed context and to regulate the open border and to protect and promote national interests with due regard to the security sensitivity of the neighbouring countries.”

Regarding economic policy also, much of the agenda the roadmap came up with is yet to be addressed. It asked “to establish the right of the tillers on land, to follow an industrial policy that derives utmost benefits from globalization, to formulate a national water policy that promotes national capital and expertise, to encourage foreign investments for highest national benefit and to encourage foreign residents of Nepalese origin for investing in Nepal and, for this, to provide them certificates of permanent residence in Nepal.”

The roadmap recommended for “introducing compulsory primary education all over the country, making primary health care facility nation-wide, and to leave the higher education and specialized health services to the private sector with provision for powerful monitoring mechanism to prevent exploitation of the people.” Some moves have been made but not yet fully embraced in the system.

There are many measures yet to be carried out in terms of good governance as contemplated in the roadmap. It had recommended to “enacting stringent laws to keep the public services out of political interference and to monitor its implementation through high-level teams, also involving NGOs in the monitoring mechanism and to consider quick and efficient delivery of services to the people as the main criterion of good governance.” It also stated “the government being mainly responsible for controlling corruption, it should take measures to make educational institutions and the public aware of it and seek their support for fighting corruption and to make legal provision for debarring persons charged of corruption from holding any public office.” It also asked “to strengthen the constitutional, governmental and non-governmental agencies engaged in controlling and fighting corruption and to consider judiciary also a focal point of good governance.”

We also suggested to include a provision making it compulsory for treaties and agreements relating to amendment of the Constitution and utilization and distribution of national resources to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total members of the Parliament. We hope this provision will be included in the new constitution of the country. And other recommendations will be followed upon.

The authors are members of the Volunteer Mediators Group (VMG) formed in 2003 to contribute to the cause of establishing peace in the country through voluntary cooperation. The informal group continues to meet occasionally to discuss matters of common interest.

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