By Deepak Joshi Pokhrel
The word democracy comes from the two Greek words that mean people (demos) and rule (kratos). Democracy was very appropriately defined by the President of America, Abraham Lincoln, in the year 1863. While talking about democracy, the President said that ‘democracy is of the people, by the people and for the people’. But it is surprising to see that the best form of government is under threat in recent times.
A recent survey published by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation (based in Denmark) and the Latina (based in Germany), indicated that 49 per cent of Americans do not consider the United States to be a democracy. They consider public debates as nothing but an exercise in monopolising agendas by the elite. In contrast — and to the surprise of many in the West — the survey showed that 83 per cent of Chinese believe they live in a democracy.
The findings have sent a shockwave among the pro-democrats across the globe and in Nepal as well. It has also raised the eyebrows of many compelling them to think that is why people have been losing faith in democracy. According to political analysts, democracy is endangered as long as leaders continue to act in an authoritarian manner supported by two third equations. They also complain that a major impediment to the democratic process in the country is a lack of political culture among leaders and their failure to put people first.
Inequality in income is the most pressing issue that breeds discontent and injustice. Nepal is still a country where the majority of the people are poor and struggle to meet both ends. The country’s resources are exploited by a handful of elites while the large sections of the population are underprivileged. The resultant outcome is the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots. The sooner the gap is narrowed down, the better for democracy.
The other factor which is threatening our hard-won democracy is the authoritarian tendency of our political leaders. Earlier, the political parties had a conflict with the monarchy. Now, we are fighting against totalitarianism. The leaders have deviated from their prime duty of defending and strengthening democracy to power-grabbing.
Right after the restoration of democracy, just as power was transferred to political parties, Nepal started to see rent-seeking tendencies. By the time we became a republic, the patron-client relationship strongly emerged threatening democracy. Rampant corruption and high voltage scam and abuse of authority became the new cottage industry where the politicians and cadres started to go to any extent to exploit the country’s resources.
The people have the right to speak against the government’s anti-democratic moves and programs. They can express dissatisfaction over the program they dislike and welcome and extend support for the implementation of people-centric laws and programs. This makes democracy stronger. But this is not the case here. The opponents of the government’s move are viewed as its enemy and bombarded with toxic language.
The role of foreign hands in every big change in Nepal is no secret – in 1950 or 1990 or 2006,” we failed to find the leadership at home that could fight foreign intervention. This is the sole reason we have failed to sustain the achievements in the last 70 years and have not been able to bring changes in people’s lives.
We rather allowed more space for foreign hands to expand their clout instead of trying to become strong and independent in our decision-making. Our leaders totally failed to comprehend the fact their fight for democracy meant creating an environment where people are served. It is instead the opposite. It looks like leaders fought for democracy for their benefit.
Most of today’s leaders in Nepali politics have quite a record of their own under their belts, most of them have served jail terms fighting against the Panchayat regime and then the monarchy. There is no denying that they exhibited their unwavering commitment to democratic values, equitable society and rule of law –and above all, for the people. But the moment they get to power, they tend to forget all these.
From 1959 to 2006, we were in a constant struggle to defend and strengthen democracy. But it is surprising to see that the leaders who nurture democracy have been hell-bent to sabotage the same institution, values and norms that they came through. They do not care that people are observing their activities. Their only intention is to cling to power — no matter how it comes. Such unaccountable and untransparent leaders are a real threat to our hard-earned fragile democracy.
While Nepali politicians are blamed for democratic backsliding, there is a section that strongly believes that until Nepal defeats internal actors who are working at the external behest, it cannot attain stability and cannot make strides in socio-economic sectors.
Democracy should serve the aspirations of millions of people and it is definitely a tall order. That’s why democracy is chaotic. By building robust institutions and systems, governments can address people’s grievances and needs. That’s how democracy functions.
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