The Himalayan Times
30 September 2021
Ridiculing constitution
It was not surprising to see the major political parties manipulating the constitution in the past also by amending some of the elements through ordinances for their political benefits. But, they never bothered to amend the constitution as demanded by the other parties even after signing the agreement to fulfil their demand. In fact, the promulgation of 2072 BS constitution was not welcomed by Tarai-based political parties and some other fringe parties. They still observe the Constitution Day as a black day.
Now, the Deuba-led coalition government, comprising five political parties, has started bulldozing some articles and elements of the constitution for its political benefits, undermining the mandate given by the sovereign people during the general elections. Previously, the Oli led government was widely criticised for its attempt to split the JSP-N by amending the Political Party Act (PPA) through an ordinance and was forced to withdraw its ill-intended political act.
Since, it was not possible for Deuba to form the government by ousting Oli’s government, its coalition partner decided to amend the PPA to split the UML and the JSP-N party by lowering threshold for splitting their parties. Accordingly, it was amended through an ordinance on August 18. But, even after amending the PPA, Deuba has not able to form a full-fledged government, fearing the JSP-N would further split using the amended PPA and has now decided to withdraw the PPA amendment ordinance explicitly for their political benefit “PPA ordinance withdrawn” (THT, September 28, Page 1).
By doing so, is not the Deuba-led government ridiculing the constitution? With the rollback of the ordinance on the PPA, even when the parliament is in session, the government cannot revive the old law without having it endorsed by the House. It means that there is no law at all to govern the political parties. Nor can the government introduce another ordinance when the House is still going on. Thus, it has created a legal vacuum.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharjgunj
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