EC Moves To Consolidate Parties

The Election Commission (EC) has proposed a set of amendments to the Act relating to political parties. The proposed amendments, if materialised in the said law, would bring about significant changes towards institutionalising political parties in the country. The proposed contents will go a long way in deterring defection and breakdown of the political parties. In the proposed amendments, the anti-defection clauses are prohibitive and punitive. Any attempts at defection on the part of the elected officials would not be entertained by law. 

In case of defection or change of party affiliation by the elected officials or members of parliament at the federal, provincial, and local levels, the elected positions will automatically be vacated. This provision intends to stop the practice of party defections and shifts in political affiliations to bargain for ministerial berths or any other positions in the government entities. Moreover, the proposed amendments institute the provisions for state funding to political parties based on their electoral performance and national coverage to enhance electoral integrity, transparency, and accountability in the party operation and management. 

Amendment 

This provision is also expected to minimise the lack of transparency in mobilising donations and raising contributions for the party fund.  The proposed amendment is also going to make changes in the provision relating to the electoral threshold to provide that the parties that secure a minimum percentage of votes could get recognition as a legitimate political entity. In addition to securing three per cent of the votes, a party must now file in seventy per cent of constituencies and maintain inclusive structures at the central and provincial levels as well as eighty percent at the local units. 

Moreover, the draft bill discourages independent candidates from joining the party, stipulating that if an independently elected representative joins a political party, their position will automatically be vacant. The smaller fringe parties have accused the EC of pushing stringent requirements to benefit big parties like the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML). Moreover, the draft bill discourages independent candidates from joining the party, stipulating that if an independently elected representative joins a political party, their position will automatically be vacant. 

The history of political parties in Nepal is indeed very glorious in the sense that parties had initiated and launched a struggle for the democratisation of the state and society. In recognition of the contribution and role of the political parties, authors of the post-democracy constitutions were inclined to borrow from the European tradition of recognising and regulating political parties in the constitution, which is in sharp contradiction to the British parliamentary practices.

The constitution of Nepal, promulgated in 1990, offered the country the lone and exclusive example among the South Asian countries where political parties have been constitutionally entrenched. It is worth noting the fact that even the constitution of the Union of India does not have a separate chapter relating to political parties, even though that country has a rather long history of political parties and democratisation than that of Nepal. The federal democratic constitution, authored by the Constituent Assembly in 2015, incorporated insights and ideas from the previous statutes with an added importance and scope given to the political party based on the law of the land. 

According to the federal constitution of Nepal 2015, political parties need to be incorporated as a legal entity and registered with the EC of Nepal, which is designated legally as the regulating authority for political groups and organisations. The constitution requires the political parties to imbibe democratic values and norms. The party office-bearers for different tiers and levels need to renew their mandates every five years through democratic elections. Pursuant to the constitutional provision, law relating to political parties was formulated in 2017 that spells out the registration process, standards, functions, scope, and party functionary recruitment, and several other aspects of the political governance.  

Though the EC has been often criticised for its less than satisfactory performance, especially in enforcing rules and regulation, it has, of late, become active to assert its role as the enforcer of the political party regulatory regime. Furthermore, the EC has sprung into action to enforce the provision in the law relating to political parties that prohibits the recruitment of school and university teachers and civil servants, among others, as the office bearers of the political parties.  Not very long back, the Commission served the notice to the political parties to refrain from recruiting the government-remunerated employees into the formal party structure to uphold the provisions envisaged in the law relating to political parties. 

Impartiality

Needless to say, a large number of government-remunerated employees, including school and university teachers, are reportedly recruited into the ranks and files of political parties that have politicised the orientation of public institutions in the country. This has to be stopped to ensure the impartiality and rationality of the academic and bureaucratic institutions that feed on the public exchequer. As discussed above, political party laws have their significance in promoting and regulating the political parties, especially requiring and sanctioning them to organise and act democratically. 

The law fulfils such critical functions as defining the criteria for recognition of a political party, regulating party activities, prescribing norms for party organisation, setting sanctions against parties if they fail in upholding the norms, and so on. In Nepal, we have rightly formulated political party law according to the democratic intents of the constitution. However, it is high time we made the Election Commission effective enough to enforce the party regulatory regime and amend the law in line with the provisions suggested by it to consolidate and streamline the functioning of the political party organisations. 

(The author is presently associated with Policy Research Institute (PRI) as a senior research fellow.  rijalmukti@gmail.com)