If PM Oli just considered how the barrage of lies and insults landed Donald Trump in a disgraceful position he finds himself today, he would probably realize the consequences of his actions as well.

Donald Trump spent four years in office lying to his country and the people at home and abroad. According to The Washington Post count, he has made as many as 22,000 false or misleading claims over nearly four years. He had his own way of running the administration. He derided his opponents, antagonized the media by calling every bit of information and news coming out about him as ‘fake news.’  He incited violence by provoking his supporters. He would not accept the results of the election and instead incited the mob to storm the Capitol Hill on January 6.  His arrogance, hubris and one-upmanship displayed in the last four years was unparalleled in the history of the United States. How did it all end up? The House of Representatives is mulling impeachment a week before his term ends on January 20.  He has brought onto himself the disgrace unimaginable for any occupant of the White House.

In some ways, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has come to resemble Trump. Like Trump, he tries to hide his incompetence and defend his position with false and misleading claims. Take some instances from his address to the National Assembly on January 10.  PM Oli spent considerable time deriding the media and intellectuals who spoke and wrote critically of him. He claimed to have huge majority support in the party and the parliament, and yet he said, in another breath, that he had to dissolve the House of Representatives on December 20, 2020 because he was facing threat of ouster from his own party colleagues. He claimed that under his leadership the country witnessed unprecedented development unparalleled in history. He claimed that he dissolved the House for the sake of stability, as if stability is synonymous to only him remaining in power.

While, in a rather threatening tone, accusing his opponents, four former chief justices and members of civil society and intellectuals of influencing, rather pressuring, the Supreme Court on a sub-judice case, he himself declared from the National Assembly that the House dissolution was a purely political decision and that the Court should nullify the writ filed against the decision.  He (mis)interprets the constitutional provisions related to House dissolution but cannot stand others interpreting those provisions differently. He claimed that his opponents plotted to oust him precisely from the point when Nepal revised its map to include the India-occupied Nepali territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in June 2020 whereas the truth of the matter is that there was an unprecedented unity among political parties, media and intellectuals about this matter. In fact, he was praised by all for the historic move.

The truth is that PM Oli failed to deliver on development and governance, he failed to manage the party and his colleagues as a result of which he started to face challenges inside the party. Instead of making efforts to put his party in order to save his position, he took the step to dissolve the House, the step that, in all likelihood, will be suicidal for political stability, constitutional stability and even for the whole political system. By arguing otherwise, he is misinforming the people and the international community.

If PM Oli just considered how the barrage of lies and insults landed Donald Trump in a disgraceful position he finds himself today, he would probably realize the consequences of his actions as well.

 
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