Now that they have promulgated a new constitution, political leaders are now thinking of electing local bodies. Recently, the Cabinet tabled a bill to amend the Local Bodies (Election Procedures) Act, opening the way for local elections. The amendment is the last technical hurdle to holding a new round of local elections. As per Article 303 of the new constitution, the current local bodies can continue until local level elections are held. If the amendment bill goes through, the government will not need to wait until the restructuring of the local bodies to hold elections.

While all the political parties accept the need to hold local elections, questions of when and how remain. Although the constitution is quite clear about the sequencing of political events, its implementation continues to be a challenge. The first challenge is technical and generated by the content of the constitution itself, whereas the second challenge is political.

Hurdles ahead

Democratic local governance in Nepal was initially pushed by donors, and despite resistance from political elites, it became quite popular within a short span of time. Local elections, however, have not been held since 1997, and elected local bodies have not existed since 2002 when the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba dissolved them. 

The challenge faced by the government and other agencies during and after the earthquake to provide relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction speaks amply about the need for elected local officials to channelise service delivery, carry out development activities, and connect the people to the state. The massive corruption in budget expenditure in the last decade has also led people to believe that the presence of elected officials at the local level might make the process more transparent and accountable.

The sequence of political events required to implement the new constitution is quite challenging. The federal government cannot be established without the election of provincial and local bodies. And under the new constitution, Nepal’s local bodies are to be restructured. On March 15, the government formed a commission to suggest boundaries and numbers of village council, municipal council, special, conservation, and autonomous areas. The commission is required to complete its work within one year, but given the political nature of the task, it is likely to generate a lot of conflict.

Despite the promulgation of the constitution, Nepal’s political transition could be a long one. Formulating laws is a very tedious task, and is an equally complicated process. More than 300 laws need to be revised and over 150 new ones drafted. 

The term of the current Parliament expires in January 2018. Politicians feel that about 18 months is a realistic target under normal circumstances to draft and amend these laws—that is, if the government and Parliament act responsibly.

However, given the nature of political conflict, Nepal’s political transition could linger for several more years.

The Madhesi Morcha is opposed to constitutional provisions in Article 56 (4/5) and elsewhere that allow the federal parliament to determine the numbers and structures of the local bodies including the municipalities, village councils and wards. They want that authority to lie with the province. 

Until this issue is determined, local level elections will not be possible. Second, if the provinces are given this authority, then local elections will only be possible after the provincial elections.

Local bodies have significant implications for the organisational base of the political parties. The Ministry of Local Development is allowed to make appointments related to the local bodies, allowing the party in control to expand its political base to all districts. Now that the Nepali Congress is in opposition, it is inclined to push for local elections only after fixing the provincial boundaries and the number of local bodies as per the new constitution. 

Elite capture

Portraying local elections as a solution to existing problems related to democracy and development could also be deceptive. For example, the Constitution of Nepal 2015 was valorised to such an extent that it was considered a panacea to Nepal’s ills. However, the promulgation of the constitution has demonstrated that much work needs to be done to promote democracy in Nepal. Similarly, embarking on a path of nation-building and development requires the ability to generate consensus among key actors, a skill largely missing among our political leaders.

If it is to be successful, local governance needs adequate powers, resources, and accountability. Nepal’s existing provisions do not give enough powers and resources to the local bodies. Given the tendency among our top-level politicians to 

centralise power and decision-making, there is a real danger that they will not allow enough power and resources to the local bodies and create inadequate accountability measures. 

During a recent discussion, individual representatives from former local bodies said that existing channels of delivery of public services to the local level are controlled by a patron-client network. The ordinary people, especially the powerless, have no say on the development and service delivery processes. 

A lot of traditional elites in the local level have now been replaced by new ones with strong linkages to political leaders, and these people are engaged in appropriating local resources, receiving government contracts, and deciding ‘development’ activities. Without substantial reform within political parties, the quality of representation at the local level will not improve.

The capturing of service delivery and local development processes by elites means that we will see more of Manmohan, Madan Bhandari and BP hospitals and high quality schools in urban centres, and less of poverty-focused and universalistic initiatives targeting the poor and the powerless. 

The prospect of elite capture becomes all the more likely in the context of restructuring, which will lead to larger constituencies—as per the new constitution about 4,000 Village Development Committees will be reduced to about 1,000. It will mean that under the new provision, there will be one village assembly for every 30,000 people.

Local elections have the capacity to transform Nepal’s social fabric and unleash local development process, but if they are used as mere political tools to support existing power relations, then they could inflict lasting damage on Nepal’s political stability.

There is a real possibility that local elections may be used by those in power as a political tool to suppress the opposition. If local elections are pushed forward without consensus, they can widen the gap between different identity groups and create more challenges to political stability and national integration.

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