THE CONTRADICTION
The last one year for Nepal has been a period of turbulence, confusion and on the whole interesting with some hopes and lots of disappointments. In Janaandalon II, all the major parties promised a “NEW NEPAL” to the people. It would be a Nepal where there would not just be legal but substantive equality that would assure meaningful participation and human dignity to all people in the country under a pluralistic democratic framework. So far, we have failed in this historic challenge. The three main political parties that had taken the responsibility of institutionalizing a republican form of governance under a democratic framework have ignored their commitments to the people. After putting an end to monarchy, all the three large parties that never tire of flouting their so-called “revolutionary credentials” have ignored the main task of drafting a constitution in line with the democratic aspirations of the people. What has emerged in the last four years is a contradiction between the objectives of Janaandalon II and the power ambition of the main political parties including some Madhesi regional parties. The people want to see peace and development institutionalized through a new constitution within the stipulated two-year time period. The main political parties, on the other hand, have not shown any interest in meeting the time deadline; for them who becomes the prime minister and which party is in power has remained the most important issue. The divergence in the interest of the masses and the political parties is the most serious contradiction of Nepali political scene at the moment. This problem has assumed serious proportion because the Maoist vision of democracy seems to be different from the concept of pluralism that other parities have assumed all along since the time it was enshrined in the preamble of the interim constitution and the comprehensive peace agreement. Now it seems that the Maoist democracy has taken a new turn from providing leadership “to capturing the state”.
The emerging contradiction between the interest of the common man and the power-at-any-cost strategy of the political parties has led to a situation of disorder and political turmoil in the nation. People are apprehensive of the future.
To put the state capture concept in practice, the first step in the Maoist strategy has been to oust the Madhav Kumar Nepal government at any cost. Normally, in a democratic system, the opposition tries to achieve its objective of coming to power through constitutional process and this means registering a no-confidence motion in the parliament. Nepali Maoists, however, are not willing to accept this constitutional provision. They have openly declared that they want the Madhav Nepal government to hand over power to them quickly or face revolt from the streets. It is this “street power strategy” rather than the constitutional process that they are determined to pursue with dogged determination. So far they have failed but the struggle continues with both sides fully oblivious of the fact that it is eroding their political capital. The people see the ugly fight for power with no heed being given to the drafting of the new constitution. They are gradually feeling ignored and betrayed and the level of frustration and anger is rising.
The emerging contradiction between the interest of the common man and the power-at-any-cost strategy of the political parties has led to a situation of disorder and political turmoil in the nation. People are apprehensive of the future. The government is concentrating its energy not on the problems that concern the masses but in countering the game plan of the Maoist party. Similarly the Maoists have virtually abandoned the role of the opposition sensitive to the interests of the people. It is remarkable that as the main opposition party in the country, the Maoists are least interested in problems of inflation, capital flight, liquidity crisis, shortages of essential commodities, rising level of corruption and the general breakdown of law and order in the country. The only one theme that has consumed their whole energy is the ousting of the present premier to be replaced by their own leader no matter what it means to the constitutional process.
Conflicting political objective between the Maoists and the non-Maoist political parties is gradually leading the country to political chaos. The most damaging effect of this trend has been reflected in the economic sector. Businessmen and industrialists are reluctant to think of new investments that would generate new jobs for the thousands that enter the job market every year. Increase in money supply is not reflected in bank deposits indicating that people are loosing faith in the banking system, thus leading to hoarding of cash or export of capital. This fact coupled with a significant rise in credit /deposit ratio has drained the potential of the financial system to promote new investments and maintain credibility before the people.
THE SOLUTION
The solutions to our problems are surprisingly not very difficult. It consists of four different steps. First, we must agree on a moratorium on the present avalanche of mud slinging against each other while trying to present our political posture as the most reasonable to the people. Even ordinary citizens have now realized that the mutual finger pointing among different political parties is nothing but a thin veil to hide their failures. Second, major political parties must agree on a common set of priorities. Is it going to be the change in government or an agreement on the causes of the failure so far? Which one of these two goals should be the first priority? Common sense indicates that they should seriously engage in a series of self criticism – a technique that the communists are so proud of as their political culture – to see where they have failed in implementing the peace agreement. Perhaps all sides are at fault. If this is so, it must be accepted and remedial measures discussed. But this process will not start unless we give up our conviction that it is only the other side that is wrong. Third, the process of self-criticism should not be a private affair. It must be transparent and it must be made apparent that political parties are serious about the drafting of the new constitution even if it means admitting failures before the people. Sincerity and humility instead of duplicity and arrogance is what the nation expects from the leaders. Fourth, once the process of genuine self-introspection and self-criticism gains momentum, the question of who leads the government will start falling in place. It could be the Maoists or some other political party. The essential point is that the alternative to the present government has to emerge out of a consensus based on an open assessment and evaluation of the activities, intentions and failures of all the leading political parties in the parliament.
The four step process that has been suggested may seem idealistic. But the alternative that is currently being tried will ultimately lead to a conflict where all the political parties will loose. Ultimately it will be the Nepali people that will have to bear the ordeal and trauma of failed politics because of the inflated ego and myopic vision of a few political leaders. On the other hand, it is still not too late for correction.
(Writer is co-chairman of Rastriya Janashakti Party.)
prakash_dr@hotmail.com
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