Nepal

Former minister and Nepali Congress central committee member Ramesh Lekhak is a reputed legal expert. He was one of the key lawmakers of the then Constituent Assembly that prepared a draft of the new constitution of the federal democratic republic of Nepal. He is unhappy with the governmentsluggishness in implementing the constitution. Lekhak, who criticised the government‘anti-federal mentality&, talked to Jagdishor Panday of The Himalayan Times sharing his critical views on implementation of the federal constitution, government activities and his partyrole as the main opposition in Parliament. Excerpts:

What do you think about the way the constitution is being implemented

The governmenteffort to implement the constitution, especially the provisions of federalism, is sluggish. I have visited all seven provinces and met the stakeholders. All of them — from chief ministers to civil servants and chief attorneys of provinces to local representatives — have said implementation of the constitution was not going well. To sum up what they said: on the one hand, the federal governmentmentality towards implementation of federalism was completely negative; while on the other; the centre never held any fruitful discussions with the provinces and local levels on implementing the statute.

The central government has been blocking the provinces and local levels from functioning by intentionally delaying the introduction of necessary laws. There are no laws, employees and other resources in the provinces. The few bills registered by the government in the federal Parliament are also not compatible. For instance, the Information and Technology Bill stated that there will be a different information and technology court in all seven provinces. But the provincial governments and lawmakers of provincial assemblies don&t have any idea about this. The provincial governments don&t even know how the central government is functioning in their respective provinces.

Are you saying the central government drafted the bill proposals without consulting other levels of government

Yes. The central government has never coordinated with provincial and local governments while framing laws. The central government has not prepared the laws in time. Although the constitution has clearly provisioned separate power structures at the centre, province and local levels, the federal government has not made necessary laws allowing the province and local levels to exercise their concurrent powers. Lack of laws has also created confusion in the provinces and local bodies.

What suggestion do you have for the centre

Firstly, the federal government must change its mentality. The federal government must have the willpower to implement the constitution. For example, if you have a car and want to go somewhere, you must use it. If you don&t use the car and only wish to travel somewhere, you can&t do it. Like your car, constitutional provisions need to be activated. In essence, the federal government should have a positive mentality to implement the constitution. However, the reality I have noticed is that the central government and its leaders don&t want to give power to the lower-levels of government.

How do you evaluate the role of lawmakers in the Parliament

Clearly, I can say the Parliament has been forced to act as a ‘puppet& of the government, while the government itself is handicapped by Prime Minister KP Sharma Olidictatorship. In this context, the role of lawmakers has been undermined by the government in the name of two thirds majority. The reality is PM Oli has been centralising powers of both the government and Parliament in himself.

Besides, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has not held its central committee meeting to discuss the governmentfunctioning and other issues. Party co-chairs Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal often take all the major decisions without consulting other leaders. Their monopoly on the partystructure has had its adverse impact on the government as well as the Parliament. You can&t run the government with the same ways used to run the party. If the top leadership of NCP(NCP) doesn&t mend its ways, it will be detrimental to democracy.In this backdrop, what kind of role should the speaker play in the Parliament

As said earlier, the speaker also seems helpless. NCP co-chairs Oli and Dahal have always dictated to the speaker to make him run the House as they wish. He can&t conduct the Parliament smoothly without the party leadershipconsent. The provincial assemblies are also under the shadow of the NCP-led governments. So, it won&t be logical to count on any specific role of the speaker in the existing scenario.

What about the role of the NC as the main opposition party in the House

Considering the numerical strength of Nepali Congress in the House, our party has been, somehow, playing its role of the main opposition. But, I agree the NC has not been effectively making its presence felt in the House to meet peopleaspirations. The NCPnumerical strength as well as the NCown intra-party issues are hindering factors. Obviously, people want us to be aggressive against the governmentworking style, but the NC, being a democratic party, always follows democratic norms and values. In the coming days, NC will certainly be visible and its presence in the House will be important to check the governmentwrongdoings.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has publicly accused the Nepali Congress of supporting ‘reactionary& forces, whatyour take on this

Thata silly statement. How can Oli, who has centralised all powers in himself, accuse the main opposition The government has not done anything to institutionalise the federal system. It has completely failed in all aspects of development & economy, security and governance, among others. Oli wastes his time with statements such as ‘rain is coming from china and water boat from India.& He doesn&t want to talk about implementation of federalism, but is always eager to make foolish statements. Even with two-thirds majority, the ruling partycriticism of the main opposition is illogical. NC is the only force that will always protect democracy and act as per the peopleaspirations.

How does the NC view the issue of government land-grab

Government land has long been grabbed by the public. There should be a fair investigation. We can&t blame anyone without proper investigation.

The budget session is starting on April 29, what is your suggestion to the government regarding preparation for the new budget and the governmentprogrammes and policies

The government hasn&t run long-term development projects initiated by previous governments effectively. Many projects are still in limbo due to lack of budget. The government must work more and talk less. Priority should be given to the development sector. The nationdevelopment will be a far cry if we only spend the remittance sent by Nepali migrant workers from the Gulf to import goods from India and China.As there is a need to reduce dependency, the government should frame plans and policies accordingly to support our economy.

Kathmandu, April 28

Federation of Nepali Journalists today submitted a 16-point letter of attention to Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba separately, urging the leaders to take initiative to ensure free press and freedom of expression in the country.

A delegation led by FNJ President Govinda Acharya had visited Dahalresidence in Khumaltar and Deubaresidence in Budhanilkantha to hand over the letters.

According to FNJ, it was a part of the ongoing pressure campaign. FNJ is launching the campaign against the growing government trend of detaining and sending mediapersons to jail under the Electronic Transactions Act, and on charges of offence against the state.

Upon receiving the letters, Dahal and Deuba expressed their commitment to ensuring press freedom and assured that they would help address the issues raised by journalists. FNJ stated that it would submit the letter of attention to the leaders of all political parties, former prime ministers, speaker of the House of Representatives, chairperson of the National Assembly, rights activists and civil society leaders.

Issues raised by FNJ in its 16-point letter include formulation and implementation of press laws by the federal, provincial and local levels in accordance with the spirit of the constitution and international declarations; put an end to enactment of draconian laws; implementation of National Media Policy with modification; amendment to the anti-press provisions in the Criminal Code Act and Civil Code Act; guarantee of facilities to the working journalists as provisioned by the Working Journalist Act and Working Journalist Rules; and increment in minimum salary of journalists.

FNJ has also demanded that the government recognise Nepali media as a communication service industry and provide facilities accordingly, ensure proportional distribution of government advertisements and grant permission to journalists to enter Singh Durbar with identity cards issued by FNJ. Its other demands include providing monthly subsistence allowance to senior journalists above 60 years of age and journalists with disabilities, scrapping sections 47 and 48 of the Electronic Transactions Act and providing health insurance and life insurance facilities to journalists.

According to section 47, a person, who publishes any prohibited materials in the electronic media to spread hatred or jealously against someone or jeopardise the harmonious relations among people of various castes, tribes and communities, will be slapped a fine of up to Rs 100,000 or an imprisonment for five years, or both. Similarly, section 48 stipulates a provision of punishment with a fine of Rs 10,000 or an imprisonment of two years or both for violation of individualrights to privacy.

Kathmandu, April 28

Police arrested 16 persons with a huge amount of psychoactive substance during separate anti-drug operations in Kathmandu valley yesterday.

According to Metropolitan Police Office, Atit Tamang, 24, of Sunsari district and Bikalraj Bhattarai, 36, of Rautahat district were found possessing 4,490 tablets of prescription drugs including trama, tramino and other psychoactive substances.

Acting on a tip off, police raided their rented room in Sanepa, Lalitpur, leading to seizure of the drugs.

Similarly, police arrested 11 suspects, including Prince Tiwari, 21, of Kathmandu with 50 tablets of trama from Satdobato, Lalitpur.

In yet another anti-drug operation, the police arrested Himal Karki, 25, of Lalitpur in possession of 150 ampules of injectable drugs — diazepam, buprenirphine and pheneragan from Kirtipur.

Likewise, police held Radheshyam Chaudhary, 22, of Rupandehi district and Pushkar Budha, 19, of Rolpa district with 375 tablets of nitrazepam from Jadibuti, Kathmandu.

All the arrestees have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs (Control and Punishment Act), MPO said.

Police also arrested three persons with 32 ampoules of injecting drugs — diazepam, phenergan and buprenorphine from Godavari of Lalitpur yesterday.

The suspects are Suman Maharjan, 25, Raju KC, 30, and Niranjan KC, 28, of Lalitpur district.

Officials said they had stepped up surveillance of suspects smuggling prescription drugs into Kathmandu via Nepal-India border. Organised trade of such drugs, which can only be sold against a doctorprescription, is on the rise despite police crackdown.

Teenagers account for the largest section of end users of pharmaceutical drugs as they are more accessible and affordable than the hard drugs.

There was an alarming rise in drug smuggling in the country in the fiscal 2017-18.

Statistics released by Nepal Police show that the law enforcement agency filed 3,088 cases against the traffickers in 2017-18 compared to 2,467 the previous fiscal, an increase by 22.35 per cent.

According to Nepal Police, growing abuse of psychoactive substances and injectable drugs has emerged as a big problem in the country in recent days.

The annual growth rate of drug users is 11.36 per cent.