For missed shots or lost points that are entirely a result of the player's own blunder and not because of the opponent's skill or effort in tennis we call that to be an “unforced error”. The term especially used in the game of tennis suits much to our Nepalese politics and for leaders too. Repeatedly failing to deliver as per the aspiration of people in large is nothing but the result of leaders’ unforced errors in the form of their vested interest, visionary approach, intra and inter party differences and so on. To quote Einstein, “insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” So, unless our leaders quickly re-correct themselves and refrain from making their own mistakes, it is just an insanity at its best to think of any positive outcome. 

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”In contrast to this famous notion of Abraham Lincoln, our leaders thought people here could easily be fooled at their wish and still are showing no sign of backtracking on their prime obligation of people and country first.

People here gave leaders repeated chances for correcting themselves from the time since 2007 BS to present, as everyone knows they played a vital role in the restoration of democracy and ensuring us political freedom and basic rights. But was it enough? Any system is neither good nor bad in itself, but it depends on how we make it. Failure to abide by moral ethics, norms, values and political cultures, our political actors are really failing to meet the real core of the system resulting in mass dissatisfaction and frustration among the people. At a time when our neighboring countries Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are facing some sort of political turmoil, the NC and UML – the two largest parties in the parliament – have formed the new coalition government. Generally, hung parliament in multiparty democracy does not believe in the first and second largest party forming the government. But in the backyard of instability seen in between the post general election scene, people here have no alternative than to give once again the benefit of doubt to these octogenarian parties – the NC-UML coalition. But while saying so let us also not forget this is going to be a decider. In their own words, the ball is now in their court whether they choose heaven or head for hell. Amid the mass frustration creeping in the society and touch of the evolving current scenes in neighboring countries, governments have no liberty but only to act to regenerate the hope and belief in and among the people.

So to begin with, the government must show zero tolerance to corruption. In contrast to their show of theatrics, they should clarify that they are not here to cover up the issues raised but to ensure that anyone found guilty, regardless of their party, position, or rank, is punished according to the rule of law. Secondly, the government should focus on reviving economic activities which are going from bad to worse day by day. Some sorts of changes in policy making can really be the call of the hour to attract different stakeholders to invest and to make the market economy vibrant to some extent. Likewise, the government should also be very much alert and keep concerned authorities in check as opportunists are looking to cash in the people’s dissatisfaction to their interest. As said earlier, because of their unforced error, minor political activities could lead us to a similar situation like the recent political unrest in Bangladesh.  So, both coalition partners should be very conscious about the current state of the nation and world affairs, especially what has emerged in the neighboring countries out of the blue. Therefore, coalition parties respecting each other’s differences should develop mutual understanding and work together for prime reasons why they have come together. As per their agreement made public, they are said to be walking for the long run keeping their differences aside for the betterment of the country and people at large. For that, they are also advocating for some sorts of constitutional amendment to the proportional electoral system, blaming it to be the root cause of hindering the formation of a majority government. 

While I believe that the constitution can be amended when necessary and as contexts change over time, the current government should not attempt to alter it merely based on their numerical strength. Undoubtedly, mistakes and weaknesses can be corrected, but the real question is whether the numbers they gained in the last election should justify amending the constitution on certain topics.

So, if the ruling coalition is truly serious about constitutional amendments, they should aim to pursue them after the 2084 elections, with the approval and mandate of the people as reflected in their votes. 

The havoc caused by the court verdict on quotas in Bangladesh is a recent example witnessed by the world. The Sheikh Hasina government had tried to ignore public sentiments arguing it was merely upholding the court’s verdict, and the rest is history. 

So, to be grand slam champions like Federer, Nadal or Alcaraz, one has to work very hard to minimize unforced error besides forcing the opponents for error. Likewise, if our octogenarian parties want to head for heaven they must avoid their repeated unforced errors and lift their game standard.

 
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• constitutional_amendments
 
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