NC General Convention
Three recycling musketeers
There are many theories on why Nepali Congress was able to make a resounding comeback in the second Constituent Assembly elections held in November, 2013. Some believe that it was natural for Nepali people to fall back on Grand Old Party with a watertight record of always standing in favor of democracy since its founding in 1947. In this reading, 2013 marked the end of the short-lived romanticism of the Nepali people with the Maoist party and hence their switch to the tried-and-tested Congress. In our view, this reading is only partly correct. Yes, many people who had voted for the Maoists in 2008 did then vote for Congress in 2013. But this was less because people started believing in its high-minded idealism—’democracy with socialist characters’—overnight and more because they had run out of options. As an alternative to the Maoist party, which, while in government, seemed intent on promulgating a ‘people’s constitution’ and hence reverse all the recent democratic gains, people went back to the moderate forces in Congress and CPN-UML. At least the country under Congress and UML, with all their flaws, would not be turned into a totalitarian dictatorship or little ethnic ghettos.
The vote for Congress, as such, had little to do with their ideological orientation. And this is why as Nepali Congress is headed for its 13th General Convention, the delegates who will assemble in Kathmandu for the four-day jamboree starting March 3rd must engage in some serious soul-searching. A political party whose ideological underpinnings are doubted is perpetually under the risk of being swept aside by a populist wave, either from the right or the left. The party’s drubbing in the first CA elections in 2008 was the perfect example of this. There is nothing wrong with Congress party’s goal of democracy with socialist characters. In fact, for a country at Nepal’s stage of development, the state will continue to have a big presence in vital sectors like health and education, while at the same time other areas of the economy are gradually liberalized. But after the 1990 changes Congress uncharacteristically seemed in a hurry to let the market forces loose on the nascent democracy. This wasn’t democracy with a socialist face; it was liberalism run amok. It created deep social divides as the rich got richer and the poor poorer still, thereby creating the perfect breeding ground for the Maoist insurgency.If the party is to stay relevant to the vast majority of Nepalis, it must again start practicing social democracy, not just preach it. The Nordic countries, which regularly top global human development and quality of life indices, show what is possible with the right blend of democracy and socialism. This is why it is rather depressing to witness the same old faces contesting Congress leadership once again. Indications are that in the fray for party chairman this time will be the current chairman Sushil Koirala, the old opposition candidate in Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel, who is looking to straddle this establishment-opposition divide. All three are currently busy trying to scour support for the upcoming leadership contest. None of the three has much to say about where he would like to see Congress in 10 or 20 years. All that’s ever discussed while canvassing for votes is who will get what post in the party in the event of a Koirala, Deuba or Poudel win. It is disheartening to witness such dirty horse-trading in a party that claims to be the byword for democracy in Nepal
