Rule by law or Rule of Law

Rule by law or Rule of Law

Brig Gen (Ret) Keshar Bahadur Bhandari
These phrases are often used if not very frequently as the terms and norms of Democratic way of doing i.e. while - living, behaving, minding business, dealing with other, being or showing to be civilized, being responsible citizen, exercising freedom, practicing rights and duties, and even running the state and what not? But what about the "Loktantrik" way of doing? It seems this article will have difficulty to encompass all the possible lists of the good..? bad and ugly façade of "Loktantrik" practices of Nepal. "Loktantra" in English is democracy until we find other better substitute of the same.
Democracy means practice of and respect for the rule of law and the individual's lawful right to freedom besides many other democratic rights and duties. The terms the Rule of Law and Rule by Law have the same meaning and objective. In a way, it is the way of behaving and/or way to behave, and when needed - make to behave if not forced to behave or teach to behave. This is applicable to both the ruled and the rulers alike, and the key is to develop a sense of responsibility and establish a system of accountability.
Rule of Law is intimately associated with the self discipline. When the self discipline erodes, the Rule by Law should come into play. A society that have achieved certain level of civilization or civic sense can be ruled democratically through Rule of Law; on the other hand a society needs to be ruled democratically through Rule by Law till such time that the society achieves a certain level of civilized and cultured way of living and doing.
The countries like Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia that have achieved exemplary development in short span of time during late twentieth century were all Rule by Law and that was the key to their miraculous success. They still practice the system of Rule by Law kind of democracy but more in a benevolent way. The democratic practice of Rule of Law found in USA, UK, France and Nordic countries are still a far cry in many countries; and may not even be compatible to the culture, norms and value of the society elsewhere.
In this context, it will be worthwhile to understand the logic of a Ugandan president Museveni about the democracy, as he says - they do not look like American and do not have anything similar to America, so why have democracy only like America. This may equally be applicable to our context as well. So looking at it we might as well choose one of the two ways of democratic practice i.e. Rule of Law and Rule by Law to run our country in days to come; and the system of democracy through Rule by Law should be our preferred choice and only choice at least for a decade. Democracy based on rule by law is nothing but to enforce the practice of rule of law effectively and establish a system of accountable for all kinds of wrong doing; and at the same time this has to be complemented with aggressive awareness campaign to make it a sustainable one.
A single person has made differences and can make difference. Lee Kwon Yu, Park Chung Hi and Mohammed Mahathir are enough to be cited in Asia and there are many examples in other parts of the world. With the vision of Deng Jiao Ping and a firm handedly exercised 'rule by law' established China in present position of global economy and military power. Similarly, under the leadership of Narasimha Rao - the vision and executive drive of Manamohan Singh and Chitambaram changed the fate of India to a fastest growing economy of the world. These are the examples of our immediate neighbors as the proof of how a single person and his team made things different to change the fate of their nation. These examples should encourage us on the same line and look for a person or a team of people to run the country for few decades.
We sure do have such talents and dedicated personalities in our country as well. The only thing is to find them and hopefully the time will bring such charismatic personality to light. It should not just be our wishful thinking rather we should be making ground for it and sooner it comes the better it is.
In the past we had few personalities like King Mahendra and a leader of quality BP Koirala; unfortunately these two did not get along and could not work in tandem for the greater interest of our nation. That was the lost opportunity. In the same period of time we had a wonderful and charismatic civil servant by name Chandra Bahadur Thapa, who became famous for exercising strict time discipline and law enforcer. As the first chief secretary of democratic government after 1950 Rana rule, he went to the extent of closing the main gate of Singh Durbar soon after 10 a.m. and that was popularly talked about then as "Chandra Ghanti". He served as the chief of the police during Rana regime, and then it was widely rumored that Chandra Bahadur will be persecuted by the democratic government; but instead he was awarded a rank of honorary Brigadier General by King Tribhuban for his sincere, unbiased and just duty. Famously known as Chandra Bahadur Jarsab, he was a strict discipline enforcer through 'rule by law' and a terror for those not abiding by the 'rule of law'. He was equally admired by BP Koirala. It is believed that he was the person who initiated the slogan - "Nepal Ko Dhan, Hario Ban"(correct me if not right). Had he not protested as a concerned member of civil society, the "Bhugol Park" of today would have turned long time ago to a municipality building/complex. People like him can always make the difference in trying times.
This is the time the nation is desperately looking for a leadership who can run the country firm handedly exercising the Rule by Law and at the same time maintaining democratic values in conformity with our need and context. A shrewd leader with acumen and determination must come out, may whatever party the person belongs to; he/she will get a great support of all kinds and from all quarters. We have many dedicated and capable person in every walk of life - be it in civil service, business community, technocrats, professionals, media person, civil society, social worker, free lancer, diplomat, and security bodies or the NRN.
Based on proven examples of the world, one does not need many people to run and give direction to a nation; what one needs is a leader of vision and drive along with a few dedicated and competent people who understand the important elements of national power of Nepal and knows how to use it.
Hence, some leader or group of leaders should dare to come out and take charge of the nation with a network to identify the right and trustworthy people to run the country. At this juncture it will be worthwhile to paraphrase the scholar Shiv Khera's saying - "One should not wait things to happen, rather one has to make things happen"; and it is equally true that - we Nepali should not wait for things to happen; rather we should make something better and creative things to happen. It is possible and we can do it.
kesharbh@gmail.com
Published: "News Front weekly", March 08, Monday 2010