Kathmandu. The Nepal Army (NA) has taken up the security arrangement from 10:00 pm on Tuesday.
When Chief of Army Staff Ashok Raj Sigdel announced that Nepal Army would take command of peace and security, the picture of President Ram Chandra Poudel, who is also the Chief of Army Staff, was not seen in the background.
According to the Constitution of Nepal, the National Security Council has the power to recommend the mobilization of the army, the decision-making power is vested in the Council of Ministers and the announcement is made by the President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Nepal Army.
According to the constitutional provision, the Council of Ministers decides to mobilize the army after a meeting of the Security Council recommends it to the Council of Ministers.
And with this decision, the President will announce the mobilization of the army after the Cabinet recommends the deployment of the army to the President.
Constitutional provisions regarding military operations:
Article 267 of the Constitution of Nepal states that the President shall be the Supreme Commander of the Nepal Army. Article 267 (6) states that the President shall, on recommendation of the National Security Council, declare the mobilisation of the Nepal Army. As per the constitutional provision, the President has to endorse the House of Representatives within a month of the date of the announcement of the mobilization of the army.
According to clause (6) of the Constitution, when the President announces the mobilization of the army, there must be a situation where “a grave crisis has arisen to the sovereignty or territorial integrity of Nepal or the security of any part of it due to war, external aggression, armed rebellion or extreme economic disarray”.
Article 266 of the constitution provides for the National Security Council. The constitution stipulates that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is the chair of the Security Council constituted to make recommendations to the Government of Nepal and Council of Ministers for the formulation of policy related to overall national interest, security and defence of Nepal and to make recommendations to the government and Council of Ministers for the mobilization and control of the Nepal Army.
The members of the Security Council include the defence minister, the home minister, the foreign minister, the finance minister, the chief secretary and the chief of the army staff. The constitution has a provision that the Defence Secretary will be the member-secretary.
According to Article 267 (4) of the constitution, the Government of Nepal can mobilize the Nepal Army in development, construction and disaster management as per the Federal law. Since this is not the current situation, this article does not apply.
According to Article 267 (6), the Security Council has not recommended the mobilization of the army and the caretaker Council of Ministers has not taken a decision or recommendation. Even the president has not announced the deployment of the army.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has resigned from the post of Prime Minister until another Prime Minister is appointed. Despite this, the mobilization of the army has not yet received constitutional approval.
Let us hope that the country will get a temporary solution to the current political injustice within a few days by agreeing on the selection of the leadership of the interim government. If this happens, there will be an environment for the army to return to the barracks, otherwise in a democratic country, the situation of seeing the army on the streets for a long time will be a loss for democracy.
