No excuses
No
excuses
The
young Republic Nepal has been facing political ups and downs for long due to insensible
acts and political egoism of major political parties. Even after dethroning the
king through the first Constitutional Assembly, these parties continue to
display irresponsible political behaviour undermining universally accepted
democratic norms and values. They have not been able to perform to the minimum
satisfaction of the general public. This is not to discredit them but to
present the ground reality to the readers of this column. In a true and
people’s democracy, the political parties are must to represent the people in
the parliamentary democracy. However, in Nepal, they have continued to play self-centred
politics. As a result, we have seen more than dozen Prime Ministers after the
first Jana Andolan that took place in 2062/63.
Even
the President had to call the big shots of seven major political parties to her
palace to remind them the importance of holding local elections within the
stipulated time “Prez urges leaders to hold polls on time” (THT, 14 Feb. Page
1). What a shame, they had to be reminded of their prime responsibilities.
Instead of coming to consensus among them on major issues, both the political
parties in power and the oppositions do not seem to budge a single inch from
their political stands which will not do well to both of them and the country.
What happens if they fail to come to consensus of holding the three tiers of
elections in the next eleven months? Are there any provisions in the new
constitution to extend the life of the current parliament beyond 20th
January 2018 like they did in extending the life of the first constitution?
There
is no other alternative in a parliamentary democracy to honour the rights of
the people to participate in periodical elections. The validity and existence
of any political parties is endorsed by the people through the polls. For the
last more than 15 years, the people have been deprived of their rights to
choose their representatives at the local level. This has caused tremendous
drawbacks in the implementations of development programs depriving the rights
of the local people to their basic needs. And the leaders of political parties
continue to boast themselves as the people’s representatives and even champion
of democracy. Time has come for the so called leaders of major political
parties to be sensible and sincere to come to consensus on major issues of the
new constitution and hold the elections on time. Otherwise, there will be no
time for them to repent and they may even lose their political existence.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharajgunj, Kathmandu
