 |
| |
VOL. 03, NO. 03, July 01, 2009 (Ashadh 17 2066)
|
|
“If local autonomy is a goal, you need to attain it step by Step”
Professor REI SHIRATORI
Japanese Professor REI SHIRATORI, who is president of the Institute for Political Studies in Japan, is well known Japanese political scientist. As Nepal is in a constitution making process, the Japanese professor discussed the constitution drafting progress with CA’s chairman Subhas Chandra Nembang, CA members and others such as constitutional experts like Dr. Surya Dhungel, lawyers and civil society members at the office of Consortium of Constitutional Experts (CONCOE). Before leaving Nepal, professor Rio spoke to KESHAB POUDEL at Hotel Himalaya. Excerpts of half an hour meeting:
How do you see the viability of federal system in the country like Nepal?
For a small country like Nepal with a poor economy, it is very difficult to prove its viability. In Japan, we have been practicing local self government very effectively. Whether one likes it or not, the federalism includes the concept of some kinds of disintegration.
How do you see the local autonomy?
Local autonomy is important aspect of power devolution. It is impossible to achieve one hundred percent local autonomy or a one hundred percent federal state. If you pursue complete federalism with right to self determination, your country will split into many countries and then you cannot remain as an independent entity. If local autonomy is a goal, you need to attain it step by step.
What is the system of governance in Japan?
We have parliamentary system at national level and presidential system in prefecture level, city, and town and village levels.
At a time when Nepalese politicians and civil society members have been saying federalism is panacea to all the problems, how do you see the concept of devolution of power?
The general trend of devolution of power is different in different countries. There is a growing demand to have more devolution of power in developing countries like Nepal due to them being multi-linguistic, multi-cultural, multi ethnic and multi-religious. But devolution of power may create problems if mishandled. In order to protect the minority interest and identities, there should be two chambers- one open to minorities. Minorities and different ethnic groups want a federalist structure.
How do you define federalist elements?
When I say federalist elements, it does not necessarily mean the complete federalism. Federalism means division of the country into states or provinces and each state or province has some kind of independence from the central government. In Nepal along with establishing political power structures, one of the most serious problems is how to achieve economic development. In order to accelerate and push forward economic development, there needs to be one integrated economic plan. In many states, these kinds of federalist elements are not one hundred percent federalist. It is more of a separation of powers between local, state or provincial government.
Why have so many countries have been pursuing federal structures?
In developed countries, we see the phenomenon of devolution in different ways as they have very different situations to developing countries. In developed countries, almost all of their fundamental policies involve the welfare state. When we consider the nature of welfare state, we are dealing with human beings.
What are most important characteristics of Japanese constitution?
One of the characteristics of Japanese constitution, which was not in the constitution drafted by Japanese intellectuals, is that there is separate chapter for local self government. Japan is a small country which was established on the concept of centralized power, but gradually it accepted the need to have decentralized elements and some autonomy at local level. Japan has a long tradition of a centralized and integrated political system.
Do you have separate chapter for local government in the constitution?
Yes, we have a separate chapter for local self government. In this chapter, it states that the role of local government is in regulation concerning the organization and operation of local entities in principle of local autonomy. All local administration is in accordance with the law decided by the Diet (Lower House), the national parliament. We have tried to keep the principle of local autonomy and the integrity of the nation.
What is the electoral system?
The head of local bodies are directly elected by the people. Local presidents and local assemblies like city councils and the local council governor or mayor are elected directly by the people. In local government, we utilize a presidential system. The local mayor is more independent than the local assembly. Because he is directly elected from the people, he can exercise more power than the prime minister of Japan.
How do you see the role of prime minister and head of local bodies?
As the Prime Minister is elected by the members of parliament, he cannot ignore members of the assembly. The prime minister always has to consider the voice of the majority in parliament. However, the local government mayor sometime neglects the local assembly members. They are strong and the local assembly can impeach the mayor. Japan has parliamentary or Westminster systems at national level and presidential system at local level.
How do you manage fiscal integrity in Japan?
In order to have fiscal integrity among central and local government, around two thirds of taxes are collected by national government and one third is collected at the local level. Because of the welfare state two thirds of revenue is spent by local bodies, which means the national government collects two thirds of revenue but spends only one third. This allows the central state to allocate more resources where it is needed. For example the Tokyo government is industrial city and it is rich and the government does not allocate any budget to it while some city prefectures in northern parts of Japan don’t have big industries and they depend upon agriculture. Therefore, central government provides more subsidies to them.
“CA will finalize the constitution by May 2010”
Manohar Prasad Bhattarai
Having served for more than 30 years in the parliament, MANOHAR PRASAD BHATTARAI is now heading the Parliamentary Secretariat as an acting Secretary General of the Constituent Assembly and Legislature Parliament. Since the country is in the process of constitution making, Bhattarai is shouldered with a huge responsibility. Secretary General Bhattarai spoke to NEW SPOTLIGHT at his office about his responsibilities. Excerpts:
As Secretary General of the Constituent Assembly, how do you see the progress of the constitution making process?
The constitution making process is moving as per the schedules fixed by Constituent Assembly. In accordance with the schedule, the committees are now in the process of finalization of concept papers and four of the committees have already presented their concept paper in the CA.
The schedule of Constituent Assembly has amended several times in the last few months. How can you assure people that the schedule will not be amended again?
Frankly speaking, the schedule has already been changed six times. The Legislative role of the Constituent Assembly hampered the constitution writing process. Since the legislative function of CA has been obstructed several times in the past, it has disrupted the functions of the Constituent Assembly. Given the present progress, CA will finalize the constitution by May 2010.
Don’t you think amending the schedule has been a negative sign for Nepal’s future?
If we promulgate the constitution in time, then no body will blame us. So far as the amendments of dates are concerned, they were done for internal adjustments to make the constitution making process smooth. Nobody needs to worry about these kinds of simple changes.
Is the CA secretariat is responsible for such amendment?
So far as the responsibility of the schedule is concerned, it is not a responsibility of the Secretariat but that of the political actors. The Secretariat does not influence the making of the schedule as that is a political decision.
How is the Secretariat supporting the Constitution writing process?
The Secretariat is providing all kinds of logistic support and expertise. For instances, in the process of constitution writing, we have distributed more than 4 million questionnaires for opinion collection. We received more than half a million filled questionnaires in return. Our staffs supported concerned committees to process and analyzed the questionnaires.
Since the session of Legislature Parliament has been frequently disrupted, don’t you think this will hamper the constitution drafting process?
All of us need to keep one thing in mind, that if we fail to fulfill our historical responsibility to draft a new constitution on schedule, history will portray us as irresponsible citizens. If we want to fulfill our historical responsibility to write the constitution, nobody should do anything to disrupt the Constitution writing process. We must fulfill our obligation by writing the constitution on time. If we fail to do so, it will be a very unfortunate event in history and the country will be pushed into darkness. I am confident that the change of government and the disturbance in the Legislature-Parliament will not obstruct the constitution writing process.
While Nepal is in the process of writing constitution, has there been support from the international community?
The support of the international community has been generous. Since Nepal is drafting the new constitution for itself, we should have sense of ownership over the document. So far as the support and cooperation of international communities in this process is concerned, they are offering us logistic and technical support as required. Donor communities also want to see a settlement. This has been an issue for 60 years, writing a constitution by Nepalese themselves.
Do donors have put conditions for their support?
Although they have been providing all kinds of support, they haven't interfered in our affairs. As all of us know that Nepal is a country with constraints in resources, Nepal's government alone is unable to provide necessary services. Donor communities are now filling the gap. Their support is making us more efficient. Although there are some negative views regarding their support, I don't think we should be negative and biased towards the kind of generous help given by the international communities.
As a General Secretary of the Constituent Assembly, how difficult is it to achieve effective coordination among your staff and CA members?
We have very strong, dedicated and self motivated team including experts and other employees. Our employees are very much enthusiastic and they have been working very hard. We are fortunate enough to work in an organization which is working to complete a historical task. We have also assigned our employees to support the Parliamentary Party Offices of the 24 political parties with much needed logistics.
Do you see differences in the past and now?
Previously, the number of MPs was very small, only 330. Now, the number of CA members has gone up to 601. For the support of the constitution writing process, we have temporarily hired employees from the Ministry of Law, Justice and Constitutional Assembly, Attorney General's office and the Courts. There are 28 under secretaries working in the CA secretariat. We have also fulfilled some clerical positions by using employees of the Nepalese government. We also hired a large number of people working at the International Convention Center.
How are your experiences in working for such a long period of time in the legislature and now the CA?
We are very fortunate, whether the CA or previously the parliament, because we have very wise and competent political leadership that has knowledge of constitution and constitutional law and is experienced in working in a parliamentary system. I have not faced any difficulty in working with them. I too have no difficulty working with my colleagues in the secretariat with whom I have worked for such a long period. Even I found complete support and backing when we moved the CA from Singha Durbar to the International Convention Center. I am very proud to say that, despite so many difficulties, the staffs working in the parliament secretariat handled it very efficiently.
