Debate Rages in Nepal: Are Parliamentarians Lawmakers or Developers?

The Federal Parliament is the supreme representative body of the nation and the forum where citizens exercise their sovereignty. According to the constitution, members of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, elected for fixed terms by representatives of the citizens, do not have the responsibility of carrying out development works in their constituencies on a regional basis.

The primary responsibilities of a Member of Parliament (MP) are fundamentally to legislate, form the government, and discuss and pass the budget. Furthermore, the role of the parliament also includes discussing and passing the government's policies and programs, constitutional amendments and referendums, monitoring the regular activities of the government, providing necessary directives and suggestions to the government, ratifying international treaties, and making the government accountable to the citizens.

Despite these policy-making roles of the parliament, MPs have been viewed as the 'bearers of development' in Nepal since the Panchayat era. Votes are solicited and cast based on this premise.

Candidates who have registered their nominations for the upcoming House of Representatives election on February 21 have started soliciting votes by saying, 'I will carry out the development works in this area in this manner.' Voters are also asking candidates questions like, 'If you win, how will you develop our constituency?'

Constituent Assembly member and senior advocate Ram Narayan Bidari states that there has been confusion among both MPs and the public regarding the core function of the parliament. In his understanding, the two important functions of the parliament are forming the government and making laws. Another function is the distribution of the nation's treasury.

"It is permissible for me to say, 'If I win the election, I will create the budget in this manner,' but making a commitment like, 'I will build roads, canals, and playgrounds in this specific place,' is not within the jurisdiction of an MP. This falls under the purview of local levels. MPs should not encroach upon the rights of local bodies," said constitutional expert Bidari. "If someone who promises to encroach upon others' rights wins, what else will they encroach upon? What illegal acts might they commit? Therefore, making development commitments in parliamentary elections is lying."

He stated that MPs can commit to amending laws related to land, forest, land revenue, and education according to the needs of the voters and direct development works accordingly.

Former Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress, Shyam Kumar Ghimire, stated that the tradition of contesting parliamentary elections by making commitments for development works, which dates back to the Panchayat era, cannot be broken.

Leader Ghimire mentioned that in the House of Representatives election scheduled for February 21, discussions are not being held based on what laws (procedures) should be formulated and what the responsibilities of an MP are, but rather physical development works have taken priority.

"This tradition must be changed. In reality, MPs have no role in development and budget formulation. They only pass the budget brought by the government in parliament based on majority/minority," Ghimire said. "But in the current election, there is a problem in understanding and making others understand that the main role of an MP is lawmaking. There is a need to develop national awareness on this issue; MPs are not development workers."

Former Chief Whip of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), Padam Giri, says that the public has not been made to understand that the constitution has given the parliament the main task of forming the government and creating laws.

"There is a gap between the expectations of the people and the responsibilities given by the constitution. Voters have not been adequately informed about this. There is a situation where MPs are evaluated based on whether they undertake small development works to large development projects," said leader Giri, who is a candidate for the House of Representatives member in Parbat district. "This kind of understanding has become a major challenge for the implementation of federalism. Therefore, the media needs to campaign to explain the responsibilities and roles of MPs. Otherwise, voters maintain the understanding that if development does not happen, the MP is responsible."

Giri shared his experience that the public evaluates based on how much development work has been done rather than how many laws have been enacted, and questions from the public are about how they will manage the construction of playgrounds, water taps, schools, etc., rather than what laws they will enact in the future.

Former MP Madhav Sapkota of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) also emphasizes the need to highlight what the roles, duties, and rights of an MP are according to the constitution.

"An MP is a legislator. As an MP, they must raise issues of public concern, but MPs do not have a direct role in development projects," said leader Sapkota, a candidate for Sindhupalchok Constituency No. 1. "Even now, the focus of voters and candidates seems to be on infrastructure development. An MP is not a development representative; they are a law creator. The constitution clearly defines the responsibilities of the three tiers of government and which projects fall under which government's jurisdiction."

He stated that candidates should resolve to determine what kind of quality and accountable laws are necessary to solve the country's main problems through the upcoming parliament and how to create them.

Former MP Asim Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party stated that the justification for parliamentary elections will only be proven if candidates, while campaigning door-to-door, manage to explain to the citizens in their constituencies that 'an MP is not a person who builds roads and bridges, but a responsible representative who makes laws for the country.'

"If voters do not understand, it is the duty of the candidate to make them understand, and if the candidate understands but fails to spread awareness, it is clear dishonesty," said leader Shah.

He emphasized that MPs must be clear that they go to parliament to create policies and laws. "If there is a problem with garbage disposal, it is not the MP's job to pick it up; their responsibility is to work on how to solve that problem in the long term," he said.