Surprisingly, the same people who were successful in discarding the 240-year-old monarchy system endure the political mess of their leaders. The people who made the old political leaders heroes lack courage to shoo them away and inject energetic and dedicated young leaders in their place. This has thrown the country into a marsh of four-party dictatorship. Because of the four parties’ bullying, 33 political parties say, they have been forced to boycott the forthcoming elections. So they are threatening to disrupt the 19 November elections. They concede that elections are the one and only way out to break the political impasse, but claim that the four parties have prevented the evolution of a conducive environment for the vote.
Though preparations for the elections are set in motion and the political parties have finalized the list of their candidates, people are still wondering whether elections will actually be held. Shrewdly, the Mohan Baidya-led 33 parties also seem to be clamoring to settle the dispute before going to the elections. Faking eagerness to take part in the polls—if some corrective measures are taken—might be their tactics to disrupt the elections. The present political scenario is clearly confrontational—one set of parties pushing for the elections vigorously and the other vowing to disrupt them. Both sides have not considered the consequences.
The CPN (Maoist) has already announced a country-wide strike from November 11-20. It has decided to obstruct the programs of top leaders of the big four in districts, and has planned to dispatch youths to all electoral booths to boycott the elections. On the other hand, the government is bent upon holding the CA II elections even by deploying the army. The Chairman of the Interim Election Council and the leader of the agitating parties call each other’s action plans ‘bubbles of water’. Instead of seeking a mutually amicable solution, both are acting bull-headedly. Given the mistrust among the government, the big four, and the agitating parties, it does not look easy to sort out the problem. Yet, there is still some hope with mediation.
stanford.edu
Such mediation must be handled with due care and tenacity due to the complexity of the problem. Political parties must show political acuity and honesty about the challenges ahead, and shared determination. Though there are plenty of pitfalls, there is also room for potential success.
While peaceful organization of polls is a big challenge, the cost of the elections is colossal. “The expenditure of the CA I elections in 2008 was only Rs.2.81 billion.” In the midst of an economic crisis, “the expenditure for the CA II elections is expected to exceed Rs. 30 billion” (Himal Weekly, October 6 2013). Of this amount, a huge sum will be spent on security agencies. According to news reports, Nepal Police has demanded Rs. 5 billion, the Armed Police Rs. 4 billion, and the Army Rs. 3.14 billion. Besides, the government needs budget for temporary police force. On top of it, the Election Commission alone is spending Rs. 8 billion. I am bewildered as to why the CA II election costs have increased more than 10 folds compared to the CA I election. How can this increase be justified?
Inflation rate does not justify it. It is swinging between 8 to 10 percent from 2008. This may justify 60/70 percent increase, not more than 1,000 percent. This is proof of why Nepal is listed as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. A friend affiliated with election matters expressed his utter disgust about the way the money is being spent, like looted booty. It is difficult to fathom the estimated expenditure for the election in a country where large numbers of people go to bed hungry, millions of children suffer from malnutrition and lack of primary education; where more than 25 percent of the population live below the poverty line, 60 percent of population don’t have access to electricity, and 53 percent are deprived of tap water.
Is it appropriate for us to spend haphazardly in the elections? Can’t we enforce austerity measures and use already available resources? What happened to the ballot boxes, vehicles and other materials that were procured for the last CA elections? I don’t think all those materials were for one time use only. Or are we seizing the opportunity to meet our personal requirements in the name of elections? Nepal Army has asked the government to expedite budget allocations citing limited time available to purchase necessary communication equipment and vehicles. Can’t the Nepal Army use its existing vehicles and communication equipment for this purpose. If not, can’t it procure them more economically?
Besides, is it democratic to hold elections by deploying the army? The Army is basically used for the external security of the country. How far will it suit a democratic country to deploy more than 61,000 army personnel one month before Election Day? How could we claim that Nepal is truly democratic while the CA II elections are being held with army planes hovering above elections booths and an alliance of 33 political parties boycotting the elections and imposing a nationwide strike during? Will people be brave enough to come out to cast their votes amidst such fear and trouble? In such scenario, even if the elections are held, they would be something like the polls held by former King Gyanendra’s government in 2005.
Currently, the country seems to be directionless. The Chairman of the Interim Election Council was asked by many persons in the country, including the President, to consider cancelling his trip to the UN General Assembly. But he went nonetheless, and has returned with a great victory of reading a ten-minute speech, spending millions in the process. Like political leaders, he pursued his personal priority over the country’s needs. The country and people need the settlement of myriad political problems and economic woes. They need relief, which has been promised several times but never delivered. People who had hoped for a change for the better after the People’s Movement II have felt that extremism and dictatorship is thriving in the country instead of democracy.
Interestingly, even foreigners are now preaching to us about whether elections should be boycotted or accepted. A few days back, CPN (Maoist)-affiliated National Youth People’s Volunteer Forum gave a platform to an Irish citizen, where he delivered an anti-elections speech. Later, the government searched for him, as if it was he who had organized the scene. If the government wants to punish someone for spreading the message of election boycott, it should punish the organizers of the program, not the poor Irish guy who expressed his opinion when given the platform. We need to put our house in order before blaming others. If our house is in a mess, others can interfere in our internal matters.
On the face of it, if election preparations are taken ahead without accommodating some of the grievances of the agitating parties, the country will face a spiral of street protests, indiscriminate violence, prolonged political paralysis, and heightened economic difficulties. We can change many things by dialogue and discussion. The existing political crisis must be sorted out before going to the elections.
Author is former foreign secretary
Related story
Elections will be held as scheduled, no reason to postpone: PM...
