I've been guilty of wasting a lot of time recently – whether it is queuing up for fuel, watching the latest Salman Khan bore fest or the worst of the lot – listening to our Prime Minister Oli address the nation. While queuing for fuel was a basic compulsion and enduring three hours of Sallu a marital one, the last instance was entirely of my own doing and is the one period in particular that I wish I could reclaim. In hindsight, I actually regret the sad wastage of my last bottle of Dashain spirits whose fast receding levels were only matched by the quick pace of my dissipating optimism as the televised address wore on.
To be honest, all of us in attendance were already inured to the breath-taking incompetence of the Oli government, but hoped against hope to perhaps hear something that would provide us succour in these difficult times. Instead of offering up hope or details of efforts and any progress at finding a resolution, he ended up making some ludicrous promises and sought to inform us of what we already knew – that the blockade is cruel and inhuman. But then what did we really expect from a man who took over a month to get a grip on his party people and their cabinet aspirations while the country plunged deeper into the mire? The end result was (is) a joke of a cabinet with a 'futsal team' of deputy prime ministers and barely literate ministers who are expected to lead us for the next two years.
Mr Oli gives the impression of a man overwhelmed by the weight of a nation's hopes, ill-equipped to handle either the unrest in the south or the rampant black marketing and brazen impunity of the people in the administration. Whatever sliver of hope and defiance his appointment had brought about has all but vanished. You know you've hit rock bottom when people long for the return of Sushil Koirala in the government.
Anyway, the boozy consensus amongst all at the end was that the country needed a change – a 'new power'. It has only been 25 years of multiparty democracy but it feels old and stale and that is before we even get to our leaders. It's quite another matter that all the main parties – the two pseudo communists, the centrists and the liberal conservatives – tout some form of revolutionary credentials in spite of the fact that all those events have been false dawns. Our change, if it is to come, must be from outside the mainstream and will be made possible when we have choices. Therein lies the problem, we don't really seem to have any.
The 'nayashakti' of Dr Baburam Bhattarai (and his 40 odd colleagues) is likely to be old wine in a new bottle. A new power may be a necessity but a person who has waged war against the state, helmed a largely unsuccessful stint as the Prime Minister and still spouts the same old Marxist hokum doesn't exactly inspire positivity. His perceived closeness to the Indian establishment, sporadic whinging on the constitution (one that he helped promulgate) and opportunistic attempts to ingratiate himself with the marginalized Janjatis, Madhesis and Tharus isn't something that would endear him to most people including his target group. But I suppose we could do (and have done) worse, so it's not entirely implausible that the second coming of the 'messiah' may herald a shakeup especially if the alleged rumours of Indian funding hold any water.
It will all depend on his party structure and whether he can rope in civil society leaders, thinkers, intellectuals to his cause because he may find that the benefit of the doubt he enjoyed during his first stint due to alleged party constraints might no longer be forthcoming.
Another 'nayashakti' in the distant horizon is still a long way off from making their presence felt on the national stage. The Bibeksheel Nepali party is one that is making all the right noises, having positioned themselves on the centre of the political spectrum. While they have the advantage of starting on a clean slate and appeal to the urban youth and professionals alike, they lack the grassroots penetration of traditional parties in rural areas where 'masubhat' power of goons and cadres still reigns supreme during elections.
They may stand a chance of making inroads if they campaign on an anti-corruption platform à la the Aam Admi party in neighbouring India, but for the moment they are set for a protracted learning curve. Then there are numerous other small parties that may have a say in national affairs when we well and truly enter the era of coalition governments in the federal structure, but for the moment we are stuck with 'Olikoboli'.
Meanwhile, it's not uncommon to hear the refrain about how it's only a matter of time before our simmering anger makes us lose our patience, blow our lids and take to the streets to protest. We haven't as yet because the 'Indian injustice'card has been liberally played up by the government to shirk from their responsibilities. Yes, the blockade has hurt us but what does our government have to show for their efforts? How much worse does it really have to be before people have had enough? Mr Oli may soon discover that our nationalism, much like our patience, is starting to wear rather thin.
gunjan.u@gmail.com