On/Off the Record
By P.R. Pradhan
If we recall the past 73 years since the introduction of democracy in the country, the 30 years spent by the panchayat system is considered to be the best era although people associated with the political parties believe that the then system lacked individual freedom and democracy. However, the definition of democracy, human rights, rule of law depends upon the attitude of the people. Whether two-time meals or freedom of speech is important, depends upon the individual thinking. A hungry man may say the two-time meals are the individual’s right, whereas, a person with a full of the stomach may believe he should be able to speak whatever he wants. Believe it or not, the panchayat democracy, which lasted for three decades was significant for the development of Nepal.
In 1990, the country adopted multiparty democracy. Along with democracy, the political parties started to rule the country. Within six years of the multiparty democracy, the Maoist “people’s war” was launched protesting against rampant corruption, mal-governance and foreign intervention among other anomalies. The 1990 constitution was claimed to be the best constitution in the country. Even by throwing away that “best” constitution, in 2006, following the 12-point Delhi agreement, “loktantra” was introduced. In 2015, a new constitution was introduced defining “democracy” as “loktantra”, which has been transferred into a ‘loot-tantra”. In the 10 years long “people’s war” above 17 thousand people were killed and many development infrastructures were destroyed pushing back the development of the nation five decades back.
The 2015 constitution, drafted by our foreign puppets in the interests of the foreign powers, introduced seven provinces plus 753 local governments declaring Nepal a secular federal republic. The very system has become a white elephant for the country as it is unable to feed the elephant from the government’s regular revenue.
Although, they, who claimed the 2015 constitution is the best, are unable to criticize the present constitution, however, they have also felt that the country cannot sustain the present political structure. The Finance Minister cut down the expenditure ceiling after reviewing the six months’ financial performance in the current fiscal year. The nation was unable to collect revenue targeted by the budget. The country’s foreign trade is continuously dominated by imports on exports. Foreign debts have inclined above the GDP ratio, which is a negative indicator. If the debt will continue to increase at the present ratio, very soon, the country will face a debt trap. The only option left for the government is to reduce general sector expenditure and it is possible only by removing the provincial structures and reducing the number of local governments and stopping unnecessary political appointments including appointments of dozens of advisors in every ministry and formation of different commissions just to provide salaries and allowances to the political appointees.
On Falgun 7, the nation observed the 73rd Democracy Day. We threw away the panchayat system saying that it was an undemocratic and autocratic system. We introduced a multiparty system. That system also could not function, instead, rampant corruption and mal-governance were institutionalized. Now, we are practising “loktantra”, which is more worst than the multiparty democracy introduced in 1990. More dangerously, the present system is going to bankrupt the country’s economy and it has become a threat to our national sovereignty and independence. Now, to save the nation and the Nepali identity, it has become obvious to scrap the present political system as soon as possible.
We have concluded that our political leaders are more responsible for making the system non-functional. We have also concluded that we need a monitor to judge right and wrong deeds committed by political leaders. Understandably, we are thus advocating for the restoration of the institution of monarchy performing the role of a monitor and giving full hands to the people’s representatives. In the past 73 years, we were unable to enjoy political stability, therefore, we believe, democracy with a check and balance mechanism is important for sustainable democracy in the country.
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