The stand of Nepali Congress whereby it insists that the reconstruction authority bill cannot be tabled in the parliament without also tabling of a concomitant bill on constitutional amendments is hard to understand. These are two separate issues with vastly different levels of importance. The passage of the reconstruction bill will greatly help with the delivery of relief materials and construction of permanent shelters for 2.8 million Nepalis who lost their homes in the earthquakes earlier this year. The Congress-sponsored amendment bill, on the other hand, is meaningless. Congress says it wants to table the amendment bill to help diffuse the crisis in Madhesh. It will do no such thing. The Madhesh-based parties have clearly said that the bill proposed by Congress is 'insufficient' and a 'ruse' to divert attention from their bottom-line of two Madhesh-only provinces. Even if the government is ready to table the bill, the Madheshi Morcha will vehemently oppose it. So for Congress to insist that the twin constitutional amendments on proportional representation and population-based electoral constituencies must go through, at any cost, just doesn't make sense.It is strange that Congress, of all parties, should obstruct the house and block the passage of the all-important reconstruction bill, a matter of life and death for millions of Nepalis who have been put up in temporary tents that offer little protection against the biting winter cold. Each day that is wasted in needless political wrangling at the center translates into untimely deaths of small children and the elderly. The United Nations has already sounded an alarm about an impending humanitarian crisis if urgent steps are not taken to get help to the earthquake-affected. So why is Congress so keen on prolonging the suffering of these poor and helpless people? In all likelihood, Congress lawmakers believe that if the UML-led government passes the reconstruction authority bill, it will miss out on many lucrative reconstruction contracts. Since billions of rupees will change hands in the process, both Congress and UML have been keen to lock in the controlling stake of the authority. This is the reason the authority, which should have been formed immediately after the earthquakes, has been in limbo for the past five months.
It is depressing to witness our two biggest political parties engage in such a dirty game of one-upmanship when millions of lives are on the line. There is no reason for Congress to be so suspicious because even after the reconstruction authority bill is passed it can still stake a claim to important posts in the authority. But in the big picture, who gets to lead it is beside the point. The wrangling over the authority, above all, indicates the immaturity of our political parties that seem unable to look beyond their petty interests. Earthquake-victims have started dying for the want of even basic amenities—and here are our big political parties bitterly fighting to benefit from their misfortune. A party with a rich democratic legacy of Nepali Congress ought to behave more responsibly at this difficult hour for the country.
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