POLITICAL ACUMEN
Kathmandu Post
4 June 2017
POLITICAL ACUMEN
It is unfortunate
to see political parties bargaining for their own interests rather than for the
nation’s. After the second people’s movement, parties wasted almost 11 years in
political bickering and they were not able to hold local level elections for
almost 20 years.
However, the Dahal-led government
should be credited for successfully holding the first phase of local level
elections in three provinces. The second phase of local elections in the
remaining four provinces were scheduled to be held on June 15 but have been
deferred until June 28 (‘Phase II local polls to be held on June 28’, May 31,
Page 1). This will help the Election Commission (EC) complete all the necessary
preparations and will enable the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) to
officially register its party in the EC and obtain its election symbol.
The RJPN seems
undecided about participating in the polls (‘RJP-N fallen between two stools’,
May 31, Page 1). However, there seems to be no other option for the RJPN than to
be flexible in its political standing and let voters exercise their voting
rights. Alternatively, there has to be some face-saving political way out for
RJPN to participate in the second phase of local elections. For this, the UML
needs to soften its political stand and help the government to bring the RJNP
on board. Otherwise, the chances of holding the local polls in four provinces
on the rescheduled date will be slim. It is hoped that the political parties
will use their political acumen and come to a consensus for holding all the
remaining elections—local, provincial, general—within January 2018.
- Rai Biren Bangdel, Maharajgunj
Published:
04-06-2017 08:32
