‘Central govt can be sued for acting against spirit of federalism’

Senior General Secretary of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal Jitendra Sonal, who is also minister of physical infrastructure development of Province 2, says the central government is violating the constitution by announcing vacancies for almost 7,000 police personnel. He also says the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) government has deviated from its poll pledges. Ram Kumar Kamat of The Himalayan Times discussed various political issues with him. Excerpts:

People in Madhes fear your party will forget Madhes issues as you have supported the government at the centre and formed a coalition government in Province 2. How do you react to this?

We have not forgotten anything, neither the Madhes movement, nor the martyrdom of scores of Madhesis, nor the six months of blockade. Neither have we forgotten security personnel’s repression nor the fact that hundreds of our cadres are facing false criminal charges. We have not forgotten that one of our lawmakers, who is in judicial custody, has not been able to take the oath of office and secrecy. We have not forgotten any of our issues. We are just waiting for the right moment to raise our issues.

The NCP commands the almost two-thirds majority in the Parliament. How does your party want to get its agenda addressed in this changed context?

Maintaining majority depends on how a political party connects with voters. People’s mandate is a periodic phenomenon that can be meaningful only if a party, which has won the majority, connects with people. The NCP won the majority in elections but has lost people’s faith. It has failed to live up to people’s expectations and its activities do not match voters’ aspirations.

Can you elaborate?

People voted the NCP to power with the hope that it would take all on board and run the government to achieve the goals of prosperity. They had also expected the government to strengthen federalism and amend the constitution, which the party had pledged. It had also pledged to normalise the political situation, but it failed on all these fronts. The NCP has formed the government in six out of seven provinces, but its own provincial governments are not satisfied with the centre. Recently the provincial ministers of physical infrastructure development met and expressed grudges against the central government. Similarly, the chief ministers of all provinces have also expressed dissatisfaction with the centre on various issues. Thus, I can say the central government is deviating from its agenda because it is too arrogant because of its strength.

What will be your party’s strategy to get your agenda of constitution amendment and other issues, including that of the language of the province, addressed?

We admit it is not easy to get our agenda addressed. Martyrdom of scores of people during the three Madhes movements and months of border blockade highlight the fact that it is not easy to get our demands addressed because the Khas-Arya community, which has held state power for long, is not willing to share power with other marginalised communities such as Madhesis, Dalits and Janajatis. Federalism is a separation of powers and not devolution of power. This means our struggle is not easy. When you get certain things done easily, then that is not struggling. When King Mahendra staged a coup d’état, democratic forces had to fight for 30 years to overthrow the Panchayat system. When Ram Raja Prasad Singh gave the slogan of republicanism in the 1960s, people never thought this dream would ever be realised.  When Gajendra Narayan Singh gave the slogan of federalism, it was not deemed easy but we achieved these. Realising our goals of empowering the Madhesis, Dalits and Janajatis through constitutional reforms may not be easy, but that does not mean that we cannot achieve these goals. We will achieve what we are struggling for. It is not impossible.

The RJP-N and the FSF-N have been running the coalition government in Province 2. What is your experience of running the government?

Our coalition government was formed by the Provincial Assembly. It can easily run the administration, but the central government, which has to provide fund and functionaries and facilitate the provincial governments’ functions, has not met its obligations. It has neither sent us the sufficient number of employees to our province nor is it allowing us to recruit our own employees.

We could recruit our employees through the provincial Public Service Commission, but the central government has not formulated an umbrella law. Law and order problems have worsened and I think the main reason for the increase in cases of violence and sexual assaults is that the central government is not in full control and has failed to exercise its power. The central government is not delegating authority to the provincial governments. I think cases can be filed against the central government for creating such a difficult situation. Under the new constitution, provincial governments have the power to form provincial police because internal security is under the jurisdiction of the provinces. The central government, which was supposed to encourage provincial governments to form their own police force, has opened vacancies for 7,000 police personnel. How can the central government do this when recruiting new police personnel is the provincial government’s job? The central government is required to enact a new law to govern the Public Service Commission. Provinces should have their own PSCs.   If the central government recruits new civil servants today, it will be violating the constitution. I think the centre’s decisions related to police and civil servants can easily be challenged in the Supreme Court.

When will the government expedite the process of naming Province 2?

We are thinking of naming the province Madhes Pradesh but as you know our coalition government does not have the required two-thirds majority in the PA, we will have to discuss the issue with NCP and Nepali Congress representatives in the PA. Even if the NCP and the NC do not agree to our proposal, we will take the proposal to vote in the PA in the new session of the assembly, which will be called after Tihar festival. We will stick to our proposal because it is related to our agenda. We are not going to compromise on the nomenclature of our province.

How do you evaluate the central government’s performance?

This government is heading towards undeclared communes because it wants to control the press, police, human rights activists and protesters. The government has also tried to influence the judiciary. There are three cases where the government has erred with regard to the judiciary. First, the government illegally evicted a sitting chief justice. Secondly, the parliamentary panel rejected a chief justice nominee without enough grounds, and the government nominated a new chief justice.

How do you view the FSF-N’s partnership with the NCP government at the centre? Do you think the FSF-N is committed to its agenda?

It would have been better had the FSF-N remained committed to its agenda. When this party is in government, cases slapped against cadres of Madhesi parties are being adjudicated and cadres are being sent to jail. The Cabinet can easily decide to withdraw false cases. The FSF-N, a coalition partner in the central government, should do something about it but it is not. This was the party that led the movement for federalism, but it’s not doing anything to redress the provincial government’s grievances, particularly the employee crunch in the province. The central government made a new organogram merging various government offices in the districts. People are required to go to distant areas to avail of government services. This is against the spirit of federalism.