EDITORIAL

Since the Maoists in the bloody war joined the comprehensive peace process following the Indians drafted 12-point agreement in 2005, the size is continuously declining. The Maoist party could show its huge strength in the first constituency assembly elections in 2008 bagging 120 seats from FPTP and 100 seats from proportional election securing a total of 220 seats in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. The number was enough to form the Maoist government. Since then, in all the elections, the Maoists are continuously losing their size in Parliament. In the 2017 general elections, the Maoist, through an alliance with the UML, was able to bag 53 seats from FPTP plus 14 seats from the proportional election. In the 20 November general election, despite an alliance among the five parties, the Maoists have been able to bag just 18 seats from FPTP and more likely above 14 seats it is going to add from the proportional election. If this trend will continue in future, surely, the party may disappear from the mainstream of the Nepali political arena. 

Maoists and the Tarai-centric parties, namely Pushpakamal Dahal, Baburam Bhattarai, and Upendra Yadav, among others, were the main designer of the present federalism, secularism and republicanism. The Indo-West forces were active in this mission and the foreign agenda was imposed on Nepal. The Nepali Congress and UML followed the foreign agenda carried by the Maoists. So far, with the patriotic slogans, UML chair K.P. Sharma Oli was able to attract the voters in the 2017 elections, whereas, with the strength of the ruling alliance, the Nepali Congress, which had become the second largest party in 2017, has emerged as the largest party. Nevertheless, even after a jumbo alliance among the five parties, the Maoist Center could not improve, instate, it was shamefully declined its seats through FPTP. The party’s popular votes have also declined compared to the previous results. If the parties in the alliance were contested without an alliance, the result could be unfortunate. In other words, the Maoist Party and its agendas have been rejected by the voters. Sure, the voters have wished for a political change. A dramatic entry of the Rastriya Swatantra Party lauding against commission and corruption and reemergence of the pro-monarchy, pro-Hindu and anti-federalism party RPP with above a dozen MPs are the messages for a political change. If present stakeholders will try to undermine the present message of the voters, surely, they are going to invite a confrontation and finally disappear from the political scene. Nevertheless, the nation and the people will suffer a lot as the present system cannot sustain itself financially as well.