<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181144/636a95979c7e80680e05dc17jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1002"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>Prime Minister KP Oli’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/prime-ministers-health-condition-under-wraps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deteriorating health</a> is setting off a hidden, yet intense, jostling for succession within the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-troika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruling Nepal Communist Party</a> (NCP).Oli, who is 67, had one of his kidneys transplanted 12 years ago, and sources say it has deteriorated so much that he needs to have dialysis three times a week. Doctors are said to have advised against another transplant because of age and the risk of infection.Senior officials attending recent meetings with the Prime Minister have noted a visibly infirm appearance, and say the PM had difficulty moving about. But Oli has surprised everyone before by bouncing back from health crises, and his advisers say he has both the mental faculty and physical capacity to do the dialysis in Baluwatar itself.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-wait-and-wait-mode/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In wait-and-wait mode</a>, Kiran Nepal<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/prime-ministers-health-condition-under-wraps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prime Minister's health condition under wraps</a>, Ramu Sapkota“It is more important for Prime Minister Oli now to think about his health than his hold on power, and this is a good opportunity for him to live on, and not be seen as a political failure,” commentator Shekhar Kharel writes in a commentary for Himal Khabarpatrika.However with doctors insisting that he rest more, there are now calls for Oli to step down on health grounds  -- leading to speculation about who next.After the victory of the left alliance in 2017 and party unification, Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal had a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/one-body-two-heads/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘gentlemen’s agreement’</a> that they would take turns at prime ministership, with Oli stepping down halfway through his five-year term. However, the PM has been publicly denying any such agreement, while Dahal tries to refresh the Prime Minister’s memory every chance he gets.Most party figures say it is certain that it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-wait-and-wait-mode/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dahal’s turn to be prime minister</a>, but add that he may have to give up his powerful party co-chair position. That role is wide open for the many aspirants who have emerged.As with Girija Prasad Koirala, who conducted affairs of state from his bedside while on an oxygen machine, Oli too is now rarely at his office in Singha Darbar.Just like during the monarchy days, it looks like Nepal’s leaders want to cling to power until the very end to ensure a succession that is to their liking. However, Dahal’s ascendancy may now be a fait accompli.By-elections later this month in Kaski, Bhaktapur, Baglung and Dang are seen as a referendum on the NCP’s rule. Analysts say that while the non-performance of the ruling party will be a factor in the polls, the NC is too weak to mount a serious challenge.Explains political analyst Puranjan Acharya: “It does look like the failures of the ruling party and the opposition cancel each other out, but since the local governments are run by the NCP they may have a slight edge.”

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

Premier league

<figure><img width="1250" height="1145" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121140/636a40489c7e80680e04a610jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Pic: Bhanu Bhattarai</figcaption></figure>The 2015 Constitution and arrival of fresh political leaders through nationwide elections in 2017 promised a more equal and inclusive New Nepal. Political power would be devolved from elite-captured Kathmandu,  and development balanced across all regions of the country, with greater appreciation for religious and ethnic diversity and increased participation of the marginalised in governance.There is broad acceptance that this ongoing transformation will have durable effects on the quality of the country’s governance. Yet there remains widespread anxiety that those now in decision-making positions in government will shirk their responsibility and opt for cosmetic adjustments rather than fundamental change.Part 2: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/constitutional-guardianship-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Constitutional guardianship in Nepal</a>, George Varughese and Iain PayneThe Constitution promises to bring government closer to citizens through a new federal structure wherein federal, provincial and local governments are coequal.  With 753 local governments, seven new provinces, and local and provincial assemblies with more than 35,000 elected representatives, the executive and legislative levels of government are now functional and more visible to citizens.However, minimal attention has been given to the judiciary’s key role in impelling constitutional values in government — starting with the rule of law and access to justice — and contributing to the success of the ongoing transformation.This is neither mysterious nor casual: neglect of the judiciary is quite usual in Nepal. The undermining and sidelining of the judiciary over many years is part of a sordid story of collusion by political parties across the spectrum to weaken, co-opt and subordinate state institutions that deter impunity and constrain opportunism.A quick measure of this neglect is the steady decline in the already-meagre annual allocation of state resources for the judiciary, today at its lowest levels of funding in years — a mere 0.34% of the government’s budget, down from 0.57% in 2015-16. Continued failure to invest in this co-equal branch of government — the one meant to constrain unlawful action — undermines the transformational project of the 2015 Constitution.Three years after the adoption of a new Constitution it is also necessary for the judicial branch to consider its role in ensuring that rule of law and access to justice is better under federalism.While much hope has been placed in the 2015 Constitution, it cannot in and of itself transform the country’s constitutional and political culture, which has been shaped over decades of perverse governance praxis that accepts collusion and impunity, crises and destabilisation, and backroom deals and horse-trading as normal.New norms of politics must be embraced. The rule of law, and buttressing it the judicial branch of government, is at the heart of this reshaping of politics.The rule of law is concerned with the principled exercise and accountability of governmental power. It requires adherence to the laws of the land, beginning with the Constitution, by all.Elected representatives and appointed officials alike must abide by the same rules as everyone else, there is no special pass for those in power. Sadly, the main threat to federalism in Nepal is the absence of the rule of law, exemplified by ongoing abuse of the Constitution by those charged with protecting it.It has been persuasively argued elsewhere that the rule of law demands public justification for the exercise of public power. This process must be championed by the judicial branch as the expression of its own authority, one to which public actors and citizens must learn to conform. In the setting of the courthouse, the branches of government must justify the legitimate exercise of power and be able to defend their actions. The judicial process thus contributes to a constitutional culture in which the arbitrary exercise of power is discouraged.It is in this sense that the rule of law may be talked about as a value. It is a critical, missing feature of Nepal’s constitutional culture, one which the judicial branch of government must salvage, nurture and return to public service.This is the first of a three-part series by George Varughese and Iain Payne who are associated with Niti Foundation.

Federalism, rule of law and the judiciary

mainNavigation

footerNavigation

opinionSubnav

political-power

Premier league

Federalism, rule of law and the judiciary