Wednesday, August 15, 2012

President’s instruction to care taker government to promulgate ordinance

August 15, 2012


To: Dr Surya Dhungel

Cc: Rajendra Dahal; Dr Hari Sharma; Lalit Basnet; Prof Dr Mohan Lohani; Dipak Gyawali

Surya jee

Notwithstanding the fact that I am in complete bed rest subsequent to a surgery (as directed by doctors), I was impelled to send this email after reading a news on above lines which was first published in Rajdhani last Sunday (my first instinct was to ignore thinking that they must have misinterpreted or took something out of context) and subsequently in Kantipur yesterday (after which I was forced to sit in front of my laptop).

They mentioned something about the President instructing the care taker government to promulgate ordinance to enable a Mr Keshav Baral to start working as CIAA commissioner. If this news is baseless or untrue, you can stop reading my email right at this point. If true I, as a citizen of this country on whose education our motherland has invested quite a lot, have every right to be indignant and disturbed (even outraged) for following reasons:

  • President himself has made it clear that BR Bhattarai is PM of a care taker government, bereft of executive authority.
  • A care taker government cannot promulgate even essential ordinances. Based on this very concept president is demurring from promulgating ordinance to conduct election already forwarded by the care taker government.
  • The proposed ordinance isn’t an essential one. I am sure that people will retort by citing Supreme Court order in this respect. The court order was for a government with executive authority not care taker one.
  • There is a consensus that care taker government cannot rule by ordinances. Promulgation of this ordinance will amount to just that and pave path to open floodgate of ordinances.
  • The news is not that clear but it also implied that the ordinance should pave path to fill vacancies in constitutional bodies, too. One important process enshrined in the constitution in this respect is parliamentary hearing. If this ordinance is to bypass the hearing process then, it also will amount to amendment of the constitution itself by an ordinance. It will amount to high treason (राष्ट्रदोह) on the part of all those involved inter alia advisors to the president and the president himself. BR Bhattarai and his team do not need to bother about this as they have taken part in many serious acts of commission and omission which has already made them liable to be called as such by the posterity.

With best regards,


Sincerely,


Ratna Sansar Shrestha, FCA
Senior Water Resource Analyst
www.RatnaSansar.com

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