By Deepak Joshi Pokhrel
It is said politics itself is not dirty but the politicians are dirty. The saying is more relevant in our context as politicians resort to any tactics to fulfil their vested interests. From larger parties to fringe parties, we have been endowed with so-called politicians who joined politics not for the betterment of the people but for the fulfilment of their personal agenda.
Across the globe, politics is the art of governance for the betterment of the people. It is the way the government makes the rules and laws to manage society properly. Conversely in Nepal, politics seems to have lost its virtue and vigor. Politics is no longer a virtuous vocation. In fact, it has degenerated into making and breaking the government for the fulfilment of a sinister agenda. It is used as a tool to fulfil their means. As a result, citizens have lost trust in politicians and political parties which does not bode well for a nation like ours which is still transitioning to democracy.
Ever since the dawn of democracy in Nepal, politics has been defined and re-defined as per the interest of the politicians. Nepali Congress ruled the country several times. But sadly, it never tried to understand the nerves of the people. The leaders were coping with the internal politics and power sharing leaving them no time to address the day-to-day problems of the country. While the people were seeking an alternative force, the Maoists weaved a story that the Nepali Congress had done nothing good for the people. The story was sold successfully. The result is that people gave them a mandate to govern them. But now it is manifested that even the Maoists who sold the lofty dream joined peaceful politics for their vested interest and not for the welfare of the people. The other major party- CPN (UML) – is no different either. It has been grappling with internal politics.
At present, the Nepali Congress, the largest opposition in the parliament, has been disrupting the session of the house until the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate cooperative frauds involving Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane. No saner mind would criticize the action of the Nepali Congress as the largest opposition. It is the responsibility of the opposition to raise questions over the malpractices of the ruling government. However, the primary question is that whether it is raising the question just for disrupting the house or with genuine intentions. I will leave it to the expert par excellence to explain whether the Nepali Congress which is known for unethical internal politics should disrupt the session of the house.
I would not do justice if I just blamed the Nepali Congress for indulging in dirty politics. If we assess our experience with democratic exercise, we will find that almost all political parties and their leaders have been restoring to dirty politics for political mileage. As long as these dirty politics continue and thrive in political parties, our dreams of a prosperous Nepal will just remain an illusion.
Common sense tells us that political parties and politicians should always be friends, companions and guardians of the people. They should be guided by shared values and goals aiming to serve the people. This will lead to healthy politics and eventually lay the foundation for the overall development of the country. The biggest irony is that this has not been the case in Nepal as our leaders have failed to rise to the occasion and morphed into arrogant, immoral, unaccountable and ruthless after being elected.
Adolf Hitler, too, enjoyed overwhelming popular support and came to power constitutionally through democratic means. But he ultimately turned out to be a notorious dictator. The nature of power is coercive. Once one goes to power he or she tends to be coercive as one sometimes may be required to be so. This may alienate politicians or parties from the people. This is how authoritative tendency slowly rises and eventually engages in making politics dirty.
Of late, we have heard the news related to high voltage scams, abuse of authority, corruption and human rights violations. We also hear about an exodus of skilled and competent youth to other countries in search of better opportunities. This is the outcome of poor governance arising from dirty politics.
Over the years, our present politicians have begged for an apology for not being able to clean the mess resulting from the dirty politics. It is not understandable what led them to utter such words. Dirty politics is not imposed by external factors. It is the making of our so-called politicians. So should they be appreciated for their honesty or held accountable for not fully fulfilling their roles and responsibilities?
We are solely responsible for making our politics a dirty game. No democracy is possible without political parties and leaders. Election is key to any functioning democracy. We held elections on a regular periodic basis to elect our representatives to govern us for the next five years. Strangely, we lose our critical and rational thinking and judgment during elections and as a result, we elect the inappropriate person. Consequently, these immoral, unethical, ruthless and unaccountable leaders will resort to any tactics to meet their vested interest making the politics filthy.
Politics with virtue and vigor can ensure our socio-economic and political development. But this remains to be seen when our politicians will understand and adhere to this reality.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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