In the third week of May, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli remarked that provincial and local govern­ments are not free and independent entities, but units under the fed­eral government, thereby implying that he holds executive power over all three tiers of government. This hinted of Oli’s desire—and his gov­ernment’s increasing attempts—to concentrate power in his hands. Experts caution that such centraliza­tion of powers would be detrimental to both the nascent republic and the new federal structure. After the 2006 people’s move­ment, Oli has been projected as a senior mainstream leader who is not fully committed to federalism and republicanism. Ironically, he is now in the country’s driving seat and is responsible for implementing its federal setup.

 

Oli’s statements (and steps) have ratcheted up the tensions between the federal and provincial govern­ments. There are several instances of the prime minister crossing the red line set by the constitution when it comes to the division of powers between the federal, provincial and local governments. Oli has already snatched away several rights granted to the provincial governments.

 

Provincial chief ministers and heads of local bodies have long been complaining that they are being denied the opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights. They are also criticizing the federal govern­ment for not allocating sufficient budget to them. At the same time, provincial and local governments lack adequate human resources to carry out their responsibilities. They are systematically being made more and more dependent on the federal government.

 

 

Political analyst Chandra Kishore says Province 2 is unhappy with the central government for not giving it sufficient budget. “In some areas, the province is collaborating with the federal government but there also are issues that have widened the rift between the two. The federal government is not serious about formulating necessary laws for the provinces, which also suffer from a lack of sufficient staff. And there are differences over how to manage the police force and other security issues,” says Kishore. Schedule 6 of the constitution clearly gives the provincial governments the right to make laws on the maintenance of law and order and the formation of a state police force.

 

Parallel power-centers

The Oli government has cur­tailed the rights of the provinces by appointing chief secretaries and sec­retaries to provincial governments. In the name of security arrange­ment, there have been systematic attempts to increase the power of the federal and local governments (at the expense of the provincial governments). Currently, the chief district officers (CDOs) appointed by the federal government have the right to mobilize the police force. In a draft bill, Province 2 has proposed appointing district administrators who will hold parallel positions to the CDOs. This is likely to create problems in the coming days.

 

Generally, other provinces are not as vocal in their criticism of the cen­ter as is Province 2. But complaints are heard not only from Province 2, whose government seems more hos­tile toward the center, but also from other chief ministers, who are from the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) itself. Speaking to journalists in Butwal on June 17, Province 5 Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel, who is close to PM Oli, said, “The coun­try’s budget is still centered on Kath­mandu. A Kathmandu-dominated economic system cannot ensure the country’s balanced development.”

 

After much pressure, the federal government registered a bill in the parliament aimed at forming a for­mal mechanism for effective coordi­nation among the local, provincial and central governments. But there is no sense of urgency to endorse the bill.

 

The bill envisages a committee chaired by the prime minister to manage the relations between the three governments. Another coor­dination committee at the provincial level is envisaged to settle disputes between the provinces and the local bodies. The provincial assembly also has the right to adjudicate such disputes.

 

 

The constitution has given some exclusive rights to each of the fed­eral, provincial and local govern­ments. But the three also share a number of common rights; hence the need for effective coordination among them. The central govern­ment, however, does not appear sincere about passing laws on the interpretation of shared rights. The most reasonable explanation is that it does not want to share power.

 

Error of Commission

Even in matters where the provin­cial and local governments are free to make laws, the center has created various obstacles. The ongoing con­troversy over staff recruitment by the Public Service Commission is but an example of the Oli govern­ment dilly-dallying on the devolu­tion of rights.

 

First, there has been a painful delay in forming provincial pub­lic service commissions, which are mandated to recruit civil servants for provincial and local bodies. Sec­ond, the bill on civil service has been pending in the federal parliament secretariat for several months. (A few months ago, APEX had pub­lished a comprehensive story on how staff recruitment will remain a controversial issue if provincial level arrangements are not immediately adopted.)

 

Similarly, there are complaints that the central government is not handing over big infrastructure proj­ects to provincial and local govern­ments. Moreover, the federal gov­ernment continues to appoint and mobilize secondary school teachers by setting up separate units of the education ministry in the districts. A report prepared by the High Level Education Commission has not been made public, whose only purpose seems to be the concentration of all education-related rights at the center.

 

Oli is not only centralizing the pow­ers of the three tiers of government, but also those of the three organs of the state, namely the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. In Feb­ruary, the government came up with a bill on Work, Responsibility and Rights of National Security Council, which, if approved, vests the power to recommend army deployment in the prime minister without even holding a council meeting. The main opposition and the civil society have objected, but the government has shown no sign that it will change the bill’s content.

 

Similarly, a new bill to amend the National Human Rights Commission Act aims to curtail the rights of the constitutional body, which is man­dated to independently monitor human rights violations in the coun­try. The new bill has some provisions which make the NHRC accountable to the government. It also bars the NHRC from opening offices at the provincial level, which goes against constitutional provisions.

 

In sum, Prime Minister Oli is in the mood to exercise greater control, both by denying rights to provincial and local governments and by con­centrating power in the executive branch.

 

Areas of friction

Concurrent powers between federal and provincial governments

• Appointment of senior staff to provincial and local gov­ernments • Appointment of CDOs by the federal government and lack of coordination in the security sector • Appointment by the federal government of senior police officers in the provinces • The federal government’s unilateral control of the forests, which actually fall under the common jurisdic­tion of federal and provin­cial governments • Appointment by the federal government of the Chief Administration Officers of the local governments • Exercise of authority by the federal government to appoint teachers • Delay in the formation of laws on the interpretation of joint rights between the three tiers of government • Centralization of financial resources

• Cooperatives • Education, health and news­papers • Agriculture • Services such as electricity, water supply, irrigation • Service fees, penalties and royalty from natural resources • Forests, wildlife, birds, water uses, environment, ecology, and bio-diversity • Mines and minerals • Disaster management • Social security and poverty alleviation • Personal events, births, deaths, marriages, and sta­tistics • Archaeology, ancient monu­ments, and museums • Management of landless squatters • Motor vehicle permits   Source: The Constitution of Nepal 2072