Heads of state change with union power, like CDOs

Kathmandu, July 17. Two days ago, the new cabinet headed by KP Oli recommended the decision to replace the three governors. The new state governors recommended for appointment to President Ramchandra Paudel on Monday include Deepak Prasad Devkota of Bagmati, Krishna Bahadur Gartimal of Lumbini and Yajraj Joshi of Karnali. Devkota of UML from Kota, Gartimal of MP from Kota and Joshi were appointed as state governors by the president on Wednesday.

According to this decision of the government, Yadav Sharma of Bagmati, Amik Sherjan of Lumbini and Tilak Periyar of Karnali have to resign from the state leadership. Those removed include Sharma from the United Socialists, and Sherjan and Periyar who were appointed from the Maoist quota.

Interestingly, when the coalition government changes, the president himself does not change. Under the constitution, he can be re-elected for a full term, which is five years. But the eyes of each new federal government are also on the chairman of the provincial governors.

This is the eighth time that the head of state has been changed when the coalition changes power. When power changes again and again, the province has a tradition of looking for someone who can make decisions that are beneficial to the coalition.

Article 163 of the Nepalese Constitution states that each province shall have a governor who represents the Nepali government. The president appoints the head of state on the recommendation of the government for a term of five years.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the power to appoint the Chief Minister, constitute the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of the Chief Minister, administer the oath of office and secrecy, convene and terminate the State Assembly on the advice of the Government, issue decrees and appoint the Attorney General. Similarly, the task of appointing the Secretary of the Provincial Assembly on the recommendation of the Speaker and verifying the bills passed by the Provincial Assembly is the responsibility of the Governor.

According to the constitution, a person who is eligible to be a member of the federal parliament, has reached the age of 35 and has not been disqualified by any law can become a governor. The constitution mentions that if the provincial executive power cannot be retained due to the implementation of the federal government, the governor can exercise the executive power of the province in accordance with the instructions of the Nepalese government.

The federal government changes the state head at will because there is a provision that the president can remove the state head before the end of his term. By this time, someone is changing provinces and becoming a governor.

Federalist Khimlal Devkota said the post of head of state was similar to that of federal president but had been changed to vakundo. He said for the stability of the provinces it was necessary to rethink the constitutional arrangements to provide that the head of state should be the “representative of the federal government”.

“The unconstitutional appointments of chief ministers in Kosi and Gandaki clearly show that provincial leaders have failed to play a fair and impartial role,” he said.

Devkota believes that when the constitution is amended, the post will be abolished by the directly elected chief executive of the state, and even if the current arrangement continues, the dishonesty of the parties in this post should be reflected upon by them.

“We should put an end to this irony where whoever leaves a good impression on society becomes the head of state and whoever carries the baggage of the party becomes the head of state. This position is not a position to manage leaders and workers in a way that benefits the state government. It is shameful to change the state chief minister after the change of government.”

Amiq Sherjan, who was removed from the post of head of state twice in five years, commented that the central government has failed to uphold the dignity of the head of state at a press conference held in Budwal on Tuesday. He said it was wrong to remove the governor without his knowledge once the balance of power at the centre has changed.

“Not only now, wrong practices have always existed since the past. If there is a violation of the constitution or the head of state violates the law, he will be removed from office,” Xie Erchang said, “The decision to remove him without reason should be corrected now.” Xie Erchang claimed that the position was not respected and he was not even given the opportunity to resign, and made political comments that the procedures set by the central government in the province were wrong.

This is not the first example of unstable governors during the change of power at the centre. On February 21, then Prime Minister Prachanda repeated the same mistake by breaking his alliance with the Congress and forming a power alliance with the CPN-ML and RSWP.

After the power coalition and the competition for change of government in the provinces began, the federal cabinet meeting on February 28, 1980 decided to dismiss the governors of Madhesh, Gandaki and Sudurpasham provinces, which were close to the Congress Party at that time, and appoint new governors to create a favorable political situation.

It was decided to appoint Dilliraj Bhatt in place of Prithvimansingh Gurung from Gandaki, Sumitra Subedi Bhandari in place of Harishankar Mishra from Madhesh and Nazir Mian in place of Devraj Joshi from Sudurpaschim.

After the change of power coalition, the parties considered the change of governors as natural with the purpose of forming the government and avoiding the governors’ unfavorable behavior in the political process.

Twisted from the beginning

The tradition of the federal coalition as head of state began with the first appointment of the head of state. The government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba (also supported by the Maoist Centre) began over-politicization by appointing a provincial governor as governor on January 3, 2074.

Deuba elected the governor by splitting the then Janata Dal (RJP) and the Federal Socialist Forum. The RJP and Forum units fielded one state chief each and five from the Congress quota were named state chiefs. Prof. Dr. Gobind Subba of Kojima, Ratneswarlal Kayastha of Madhesh, Anuradha Koirala of Bagmati, Baburam Kunwar of Gandaki, Umakant Jha of Lumbini, Durgakeshar Khanal of Karnali and Mohanraj Malla of Far West became state chiefs. Most of them are old party leaders and people close to the party.

The UML warned the then Deuba government against taking decisions that would have long-term consequences as the Left Alliance won a large majority in the elections of November 2074. However, Deuba appointed governors even after leaving the post of prime minister.

Oli was appointed Prime Minister on February 3, 2074, and dismissed the provincial governor appointed by Deuba on October 17, 2076. Two days later, four people close to the former UML and three people close to the former Maoists were appointed as provincial leaders of the then CPN.

Somnath Adhikari Payasi of Kosi, Tilak Pariyar of Madhesh, Bishnu Prasad Prasai of Bagmati, Amik Sherchan of Gandaki, Dharmanath Yadav of Lumbini, Govinda Prasad Kalauni of Karnali and Sharmila Kumari Pant Tripathi of Far West became governors. Even then, party leaders became governors.

However, due to the party split within the CPN at that time, the position of provincial chairman became more unstable. On February 7, 1977, Tilak Periyar, who became the governor of Madhesh Province from the Maoist quota, was dismissed and the UMA appointed Rajesh Jha (Ahiraj).

Amik Sherchan, the governor of Gandaki province, and Sharmila Kumari Pant, the governor of Far West, who had close ties with the Maoists, were also removed from their posts on Baisak 20, 2078. Oli appointed Sita Paudel in charge of Gandaki and Ganga Prasad Yadav in charge of Far West.

Sher Bahadur Deuba, who assumed office as Prime Minister on June 22, 2078 following the Supreme Court order, repeated the same mistake. On July 12, 2078, Prithviman Singh Gurung was appointed as the Governor of Gandaki Province and Amik Sherchan as the Governor of Lumbini Province. At that time, Sita Paudel of Gandaki and Dharmanath Yadav of Lumbini were relieved of their posts.

On August 1, 2078, the Deuba-led government sacked Rajesh Jha Ariaz and appointed Harishankar Jha as the head of state.

Parashuram Khapung of Kosi, Tilak Periyar of Karnali and Devraj Joshi of Sudurpaschim were appointed as new governors on October 23, 2078. At that time, Somnath Adhikari Payasi from Kosi, Govind Prasad Kalauni from Karnali, Ganga Prasad Yadav from Sudurpaschim were dismissed.

After the November 2079 parliamentary elections, Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal became prime minister with the support of the CPN-ML in Surva, but did not become governor before forming an alliance with the Congress. The same sequence was repeated on February 21, 2080, when Prachanda formed a new alliance with the UML.

On February 28, 2080, Prime Minister Prachanda appointed three heads of state from the UML quota, but had to step down on June 28 after the Congress formed an alliance with the UML. Now, the provincial leaders appointed from the Maoist quota have been cancelled.

Former state secretary Gopinath Mainali said that in some countries, the position of head of state is considered as the “president” of the country, reserving the title of governor or other titles. He said Nepal’s constitution also defines the role of governors in the same way.

He said: “This is a purely ceremonial post, so scientific managers, intellectuals and celebrities with a good public image, above the party, with expertise and maturity are suitable for this position. “If someone comes, they can work, but practice does not follow this.

Mainali said that the government is now behaving as if it is appointing Chief District Officers (CDOs) and Planning Commission officials to the post of governors. Mainali commented that such an approach does not even address the essence of the Constitution.

Mainali, a former state secretary, said it would not help the democratic federal system if the head of state and the chairpersons of constitutional institutions were removed again and again and new people were brought in. “Where there is no political culture, every institution tries to be politicized. In this case, each party will look for representatives of its own ideas, even in a symbolic position such as the head of state,” he said.