Oli has fooled the people for three solid months. The whole nation suffered quietly in the hope that his government would bring the essentials from China and also resolve the Tarai-Madhes crisis. We all believed that this man would really get down to business. But it was all a hoax. The whole nation now sees Oli as just another manifestation of the emperor naked in his new clothes.
Harsh winter in the mountain villages, destroyed by last year's earthquakes, has taken more than two dozen lives. Lack of vaccines, such as those for measles, has resulted in the loss of innocent children. People in the Tarai-Madhes are sick and tired of the months of blockade, protests and violence. The economy is in the last stages before complete collapse, and inflation has shot up to 11.6%. But PM Oli seems oblivious to all the suffering and keeps on mouthing his nonsensical plans that even a four year-old finds funny. Black marketers are having their field day. PM Oli's party cadres and close kin have meanwhile become millionaires overnight.
For the first time in Nepal's history, we have a president, a prime minister and a speaker of parliament who are all from communist parties. It is no secret that the policies championed by the Oli administration are pushing Nepal into anarchy and desperation and turning this country into a haven for black marketers. Oli's version of distributive economics can be understood as capturing the key state organs and siphoning of all one can from those agencies. We have written constantly about the abuse of authority by key individuals at Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) in the distribution of petroleum products. However, PM Oli has done nothing to stop the malfeasance. Similar is the case with many of the other state-run organizations.
The ongoing protests in the southern plains and the border blockade have visited tremendous suffering on the people. Ordinary citizens in the plains see their lives turned upside down as schools, hospitals and the entire economy remain shut. Everything has become paralyzed. Securing even the basics has become an arduous struggle for everyone across the country. Yet, the Oli government lacks the confidence and the seriousness to tackle Tarai-Madhes.
Oli's first 100 days have destroyed any hope of seeing the crisis being resolved any time soon.
If enriching their own people and orchestrating corruption from the commanding heights while ordinary folks wait for weeks for a cylinder of cooking gas is some sort of reaching out for the communist utopia that the UML and Maoists used to swear by, and sometimes still do, then it's time for a change of guard at Singha Durbar. No one individual or one party can be so important and so indispensable. What we need is dead serious commitment to end the protests and the blockade. What we need is a ruler who feels the pain of the people. What we need is a true representative of the people at Singha Durbar so that we don't have to worry about getting one litre of petrol in three weeks, and can go about doing our work unhindered, as we Nepalis are always ready to do.
PM Oli, give us a breathing space. People are done with your utopian state!
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