By Shashi P.B.B. Malla  Inclement weather has brought out the worst in The Himalayan Republic. The utter incompetence of the ruling coalition parties and the political elite of the country is manifest. The government at the centre and the provincial and local administrations have been caught completely off-guard by the spate of flooding and land-slides. Instead of immediately taking necessary action, the acting PM first called an emergency meeting of all political parties! This was surely an indication that the government was ill-prepared. This is a time of resolute action, not mere words! No amount of grand speeches at the United Nations and elsewhere by PM K.P. Sharma Oli or Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba can detract from the dire situation back home. The poor performance by both in domestic affairs will definitely reflect on their international standing. Nepal’s vital national interests will not be served. On his return from ‘Amrika’, K.P. Sharma Oli has announced relief to disaster victims; but it would have been far better if the various levels of government had been better prepared to avoid death and destruction on a massive scale. As the saying goes: ‘prevention is better than cure’. Even the government newspaper The Rising Nepal was very critical: “Sadly, early warnings about the imminent devastation were received by the nation, yet authorities did not take timely action” (Narayan Upadhyay: “Accurate Forecasts, No Timely Response, Oct. 1). The Himalayan Republic already has a very poor international image. It is now one of the most corrupt countries in the world  and the worst in Asia, according to Transparency International! If we are to develop with sustainability domestically and find our rightful place in the world, there is an urgent need for change in the political leadership. But which path should we take? In our South Asian neighbourhood, we have the recent examples of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where regime change was ushered. We don’t have the same situation as Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina’s.Thus, we need not have a violent upheaval. Peaceful street demonstrations and protests should suffice to eject the ineffective and corrupt leaders and their supporters. Unfortunately, the smooth transfer of power like in Sri Lanka will not bring about meaningful change. We have a corrupt system of sham electoral democracy which will only perpetuate the rule of the utterly unscrupulous, unprincipled and untrustworthy political parties – on a revolving basis. After all, as we have noted before, we are being ruled by powerful Dons and their extended Mafia families masquerading as political parties. The Dons have institutionalized corruption from the village to the corridors of power in the capital. There is no place for them in the new political system, since they have nothing positive to contribute. If they have been lambasted/disparaged/ridiculed abroad by ethnic Nepalese, then they have deserved it. It’s no use even wasting crocodile tears, as my Republica has done: “Troubling trend of discrediting democratically elected leaders”(Sept. 27) [ ? ! ]. We will have to rebuild and reform from the bottom up and establish a feasible and vibrant form of political participation for all Nepalese, so that everyone is part of the national, collective enterprise. The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com