Introduction
For the purpose of this paper, the word “governance” is used to mean how the Nepali society as a whole and the people at large are being governed and served by the players of governance. The paper aims to relate it with constitution, rebuilding and international relations in the context of availing essential needs of the people. The recent developments are marked by the influence of governance where the key players have tried to define and manipulate it in the pursuit of their interests. The distinctive feature of the governance in contemporary Nepal is that the government along with other political players are trying to distort the market economy. Black market is being encouraged through government consumption with increasing corruption making the access to essential goods more inequitable. Leaders are not prepared for the implementation of the new constitution and elections thereto. Whether it be rebuilding after quake or the supply of limited goods due to transit problems at the Indian border, they looked for opportunities to enhance their role and the consequence was disastrous. Their perspectives have been related to generate fund for meeting the cost of governance and different levels of imminent elections. Credibility is lost in maintaining international relations. Even the friendly nations are not commiserative enough to the sufferings of the people of Nepal.
What made governance ineffective?
The year 2015 turned out to be not only disastrous but also remarkable with achievements as well as governance failure. Leaders saw the need for complying with democratic culture and the concept of decentralization embodied in the new constitution as something threatening. The cost of governance is increasing which made them hesitant in agreeing to a new constitution with many provinces. Due to inter-party competition for gold and glory, they tried to see their own position and looked for ways of appropriating the necessary funds. The guiding principle of federalism is distorted and the number of provinces became the issue as that is, according to their perception and modus operandi, linked with huge cost of governance. The idea of federalism is to unlock the potentials of different areal units of the country by allowing them to work with autonomy. Instead of developing synergy among the regions and unleashing their development potentials, the issue focused on raising conflicts and dividing the limited resources just to increase the cost of governing. We need federal states so that they will be less control of the centre in their attempts to develop their own resources by unlocking their potentials. Since the people have become so empowered that further centralization will be increasingly difficult. Leaders failed to understand this; but they were troubled pondering how to bear the cost of governance which they thought will increase with the new constitution. The overhead costs of running the government has been increasing in leaps and bound for some years and the implementation of the new constitution will incur much more cost if they opted to continue with this trend of governance. This has made the governance ineffective.
Consequences
The government (excluding the Army) was too slow to respond to the immediate consequence of the April 25 Earthquake. It was the earthquake of May 12 that the key leaders found themselves trapped in inaction, a situation quite threatening to all of them. The process of constitution writing in Nepal thus got momentum in the wake of earthquakes.The government played its traditional role of controlling development more vigorously for establishing its effectiveness and tried to centralize all the more. Sincere relief efforts were discouraged due to rules and regulations imposed. The immense power of the government in manipulating the governance that we observed during this time of national emergency and crisis is due to the power of political parties to defy law including the Constitution and use the public resources in pursuing their own benefits and make false propaganda. They are also reported to have resorted to corruptive activities and apparently are immune to any sort of action by the State. They left no stone unturned in trying to legitimize whatever they have been doing. This extended to international arena as well. Donors were not integrated and harmonized into the rebuilding process, and conflicts in the Madhes became an issue of security and integration. The concern centred on the supply of goods. They are now trying to pursue the people to believe that federal system is not good for Nepal. India who helped us during the time of earthquake will rethink its relationship with Nepal. The prerogative of the leaders to delay action is the greatest weakness that will make constitution ineffective. Immediate action is needed for making impacts of the good intentions. Sadly, the government is becoming more ritualistic, less welfare-oriented and more centralized on partisan lines.
Corrective Measures
There is no denial that we need a strong government but for this, governance should not be detached from the people. Nor should it be made more expensive at the cost of public good. Development efforts should not perpetuate bad governance but allow the economy and communities sustain their resilience. That the Nepali society along with its business community showed the coping potential for sustainability on its own, the new constitution should help planning for good governance in a strategic sense limiting the possibility of excessive control of the government and promoting desirable initiatives towards the necessary changes. Good governance requires that the government rely on the process of interest articulation. International relations can be strengthened only when there are reciprocal relationships. Nepal should contribute to peace and security as well as global environment.
The new constitution should urge the articulation of interests and for any action, consutlations, partnership formation, working together and inclusive decisions ought to be more frequent. This will make even a relatively weaker constitution work and evidence-based changes will get incorporated in the subsequent revisions of the constitution.
Conclusion
The recent Earthquakes with the exposure of our limitations in terms of good governance along with inertia that we showed in initiating the necessary changes have made it clear that there are lots of interests that deter any sort of planning towards good governance and initiatives for change. Constitution is not an end in itself, but is the fundamental law of the land that should help to create conducive environment for good governance and facilitate changes required for the transformation of the lives of the Nepalese people. The political players presented it too seriously and instigated the people towards anarchy and violence just for their own benefits. They allow things to worsen and intervene only when they can and only when there is their own interest. They manipulate the course of action to serve their interest. Constitution will have no meaning if all are not allowed to participate in the process of interest articulation. They used the people for making amendments to the constitution to their liking and when they did not see their interests being served they used power to suppress the popular activities.They encouraged disjointed and fragmented decisions within the government and got the freedom to speak as an activist even being inside the government which made Nepal weak in the international arena as well. While the cost of governance is increasing at an alarming rate and will increase still more with the addition of the federal structure, the system allows for participation and creates a mesh of desirable things and in choosing between there will not be enough time for the articulation of interests which leads to more costs of implementation. There is unfair competition between the private good and the public good; and the public good suffered all the more.
All these led to make governance worse and it has implications such as inefficiency in the rebuilding process, problem of demonstrating the inclusive nature of the new constitution as well as deteriorating condition of Nepal’s international relations. The solution lies in understanding that leaders instead of making governing a profit-making business, should work for the development of their constituencies by unlocking their potentials. They should learn to seek their identity through dedicated work for the welfare of the people and enhance the public good. They should stop meddling with international relations out of protocol, projecting a bad image of Nepal. Because Nepal has been contributing to international peace and prosperity, she is qualified for international support and not otherwise. Being the part of the governance, whether in the government or not, they should not impair the image of Nepal.
Published in
Nepal Council of World Affairs. Annual Journal 2016, February 2016, ISSN 2467-947x, pp. 51-53.