Editorial
The Nepali Congress scored on democracy this week. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba returned as Party president with a convincing vote over his rival Shekhar Koirala after a series of deft compromises in the second round of elections to the post that promises to make imminent behavioural changes. Deuba now not only must cope with Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi who packed in his favour after what must have been hefty promises, but he must now also coordinate with Shekhar Koirala who, one must note, also gained votes in the second round one to one race for the party boss. Overall, the Congress polls swept under the carpet quite serious charges of voter manipulation in the districts where the choice of delegates was muscled into by Deuba supporters meaning that Deuba must tend to his internal organization fast to prevent the new party coalition from sliding against him to reduce this newly gained support. Though, the Congress convention scored points as a democratic party where the exercise of the vote has put a second-generation leadership firmly in control with future eyes going towards Shekhar, Nidhi and Singh, all three having a better say than perhaps Ram Chandra Poudel who seems to have been elbowed out of the leadership race.
At another level though, the Jamboree brings into focus the high spending media glitz of partisan politics diverting public attention of mounting national problems not the least of which was demonstrated once again by a legislature unable to cope with the disruption imposed by the UML opposition that postponed parliament once again on the day Deuba was elected party chairman. K.P.Oli now firmly ensconced in his party office after an equally glitzy convention in Chitwan pursues the point that he intends to take the system to national elections despite current constitutional restrictions and he has ensured that his party is squarely behind him in this venture. For Deuba and his shaky coalition, the latter not favouring early polls, speculation that he must talk with Oli for a degree of systemic coherence to emerge will seem a practical imperative that must smoothen the deadlock in the constitutional process. Indeed, given that Prachanda’s Maoists will now only hold a lower profile meet to endorse his leadership, it is either the streets or elections that remain the only options.
And, so, eyes must turn to the streets which, unabated, gather in numbers. While the Congress jamboree gathered party crowds in Kathmandu’s city center, even the partisan media could not but help cover larger crowds protesting the MCC and the waning legal tussle in the judiciary asmuch as it did also have to cover the postponement of the parliament session. It is such damaging issues that threaten the System and signals are that the issues will mount reminiscent of the fumbling days when parliamentary infighting could not allow coherence in tackling the Maoist problem. It is not for nothing therefore that Media must turn to the only other partisan democratic exercise, that in the RPP, which actually succeeded in wreaking a leadership change with a suggestion of changing the party agenda. That democratic change, significantly enough, is being undermined by its former party leader who would rather account for his loss to extra-party manipulations rather than his party conventioneers’ votes. Such charges should rather be dismissed as undemocratic traits no doubt. But, for sake of the emerging streets, extreme care should be taken to assuage the calls that no self-seeking functionaries and other affiliates conducting ham-handed apolitical manipulations be allowed to sabotage the popular spontaneity. Only last week, for example, shenanigans at a Hindu organization meet brought similar charges to the fore.
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