The politics of vendetta Is political stability...
While the nation was celebrating constitution day the other day, our so-called leaders of the ruling government and suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Rana were engaged in a war of words.
We know that constitution is the upshot of several bloodless democratic struggles against repressive forces. The people from all walks of life -- CSO, media, academicians, politicians, lawyers -joined hands to give this constitution. But now the same actors who built the pillars of democracy are against each other’s throats.
On the day when the government officials and politicians were observing the constitution day at the Nepal Army Pavilion, the suspended Chief Justice Cholendra Rana was under house arrest.
Rana was born on December 13, 1957. He worked as a legal practitioner from
November 22, 1979 to April 10, 1996. He was appointed an additional judge at the then Appellate Court Janakpur on April 15, 1996, from among advocates. From January 26, 2006 to September 23, 2008, Rana served as a member of the Special Court. He was appointed a Supreme Court justice on May 27, 2014. He succeeded Om Prakash Mishra as chief justice of Nepal on January 2, 2019. The Deuba government was formed as per the July 12 order of the constitutional bench. In the landmark decision, the Rana-led bench not only ousted the KP Oli government from his office but also ordered the appointment of Deuba as the new PM. In the days that followed, PM Deuba and the suspended Chief Justice were sharing a good relationship. They were showering praises on each other.
However, the relationship turned nasty when reports saying that Rana had demanded a share in the Deuba cabinet surfaced. It was largely believed that Rana sought his share in the Cabinet as part of the quid pro quo. Political critics lament that Rana's proposal undermined the separation of power by demanding a ministerial post. He, however, has denied the charges that he wanted his people in the post.
Justices and Bar Association office bearers say that Rana has failed to take initiative in fixing hosts of problems in the Judiciary including corruption. Rana also faces the charge of not conducting a hearing on the petition against constitutional appointments. The former PM KP Oli last year had introduced an ordinance to amend the Constitutional Council act. As per the changed provincial, the council had held meetings and appointed 52 individuals to different constitutional bodies. It is reported that the meetings were held in the absence of House Speaker Agni Sapkota, and Deuba who was then the leader of the opposition. These severe ties between Deuba and Rana and the former were desperately seeking an opportunity to teach Rana a lesson.
Rana drew widespread criticism when he decided to reduce the sentence of Ranjan Koirala, who was serving a life term for murdering his wife. He received the public wrath for his announcement though he agreed to review the decision after a public outcry. Rana made a blunder when he acquitted some people charged with gambling. His remark about the card game called “marriage” saying it is an intellectual game became the subject of ridicule.
While his engagement as a member of the Special Court, which deals with corruption cases, Rana had acquitted several accused against whom the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had filed charge sheets.
This is not to say that our incumbent PM Deuba is not without any faults and weaknesses. It is reported that Deuba was not happy with him right from day one.
He felt that Rana was lobbying with the antiDeuba faction to exert pressure on him and compel him to step down and lay the ground to bring his bedfellows to the government. Ever since Deuba assumed office, he perceived Supreme Court under Chief Justice Rana as harmful to his government
The intention of the five parties in the ruling alliance government was to suspend Rana and stop him from assuming the office as the Chief Justice which could be harmful to the government. Given the intention of the government, it is very clear that it wants a government-friendly court which was not possible as long as Rana assumed the post as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The government's decision to keep him under house arrest also reflects ill intentions of Deuba. With this move, Deuba has only earned him a leader with no morality. Meanwhile, Rana has said that the case of impeachment was registered as the case of Lalita Niwas land scam for court consideration. As Supreme Court kept pending the case following his suspension, one can easily smell a rat. No doubt, there are incidents when legislature and executives are at loggerheads. They spit venom against each other making the nation hostage. But the present conflict between the government and the suspended Chief Justice has exposed how our socalled leaders and judges have failed to rise above the partisan interest for the broader interest of the nation.
The system has become a playground for everyone -- be it politicians, judges and lawyers etc. They will define the law as per their interests. Their inability to rise above the occasion has only made the nation hostage. There is no check and balance mechanism and as a result, the legislature and executives have undermined the law of the land. This is a living example of politics of vendetta the powerful two-thirds majority government led by Oli formed in 2018 collapsed in 41 months. Two parties split twice— NCP split into UML and Maoist Centre first and then UML into CPN (Unified Socialist) and JSP-N into LSP and the Baburam-led group.
The NCP which was formed by unifying the two communist parties—UML and Maoist Centre—with a slogan of establishing political stability before the 2017 polls suffered not only split but became the cause of political instability. Now they are arch rivals. The political incidents of the past five years show that the political leaders are responsible for the instability. Mere constitution and law cannot work when the leaders give up their power-centric activities. We do not know whether Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal had made a gentle agreement to run the government turn by turn as was reported in the media, but the enmity between the two leaders grew prompting Oli to resort to the unconstitutional act of House dissolution. While Oli had good relations with Dahal, he applied every measure to corner Madhav Kumar Nepal which prompted the latter to break the party. Here not the law, but the ego of Oli and the two leaders were responsible for the failure of the Oli-led government to complete a five-year term in office. Sadly, no government formed in Nepal after 1951 has completed the full term of five years. When the parliament elected in 2017 failed to maintain stability, the new election is not likely to throw a parliament that could maintain stability. In 2017, the parties participated in the election by unifying themselves, but this time they are divided. Although the ruling parties are trying to forge an electoral alliance, a faction in the NC is challenging the alliance. The latest political development shows that the NC is likely to suffer a split after the 2022 polls as UML did after the 2017 elections. The growing factional enmity in the NC and the unethical acts of Prime Minister Deuba and his team while picking the candidates for the upcoming elections are likely to fuel division in the party.
Moreover, when the key of the government is always with Pushpa Kamal Dahal, political stability cannot be possible. He will be changing his stance. Even though it is not certain, he will be with the NC after the elections if Oli offers him the post of post-election PM. Thus, political stability looks elusive after the November 20 elections.