Editorial
‘Castle in the sky”, as the king has called a democracy bereft of patriotism (read ‘nationalism’ an edged out term these days) in his democracy day message which was nothing but scathing in its perceptive comments on national conduct and political status today demanding rethought and review of the prevailing system in totality. Never perhaps has a royal message (revealingly once again emanating from Sri Panch Maharajadhiraj) been so scathing in its assessment of the prevailing state of the nation. A state gripped in the spiral of confused government, a destroyed parliament, a spoilt judiciary, a convoluted election system and a fragmented society does certainly compel questions on the course Nepali democracy has enmeshed itself in. This is especially when the streets are aroused by the conduct of political parties in parliament and outside aroused by what should otherwise have been normal conduct of foreign aid and relations given the country’s longstanding experience in such mundane development matters. The king has said it. The naked summarization does, however, prompt the question: What now?
The erosion of painstakingly built national capabilities, as we have been lamenting for decades now, is thoroughly exposed. The American Millennium Challenge Compact, so surreptitiously brought to focus in the Nepali political process has exposed all. Looks like virtually all major parties and their leaders have had a hand in welcoming the cash dole in seeming unawareness of its actual consequences on the Nepali system. Both the American injunctions regarding the compact’s adoption by Nepal and the Chinese reservations and response to these injunctions make naked that the state of affairs can no longer be dismissed as normal to the country. What transcends normality further are the various responses of the principal state actors prompted by the national debate. As has been pointed out, it is unprecedented that parliament must adopt a foreign aid contract in this manner. But the ‘Bill?’ has been tables and comes up for discussion and, even maybe the vote today. This is despite the opposition in the government coalition and the streets outright.
Indeed, even the manner the bill is being sold in approach is unique. Responsible members of parliament who oppose the MCC are on record that they foresee the possibility of parliamentary adoption which will facilitate their standpoint at the time of elections without jeopardizing their place in the election government. Such glib talk only escapes their cadre, it seems, since they have been fielded in opposition with brickbats on the streets wooing the wrath of the very law and order machinery they wield. The MCC vote has very conveniently turned into partisan election strategy while its contents will wreak the havoc it is allegedly designed to wreak. Surely our democracy is an exercise in nefarious dramatics that impinges on sanity and logical transparency. It is all talk-talk and welcomes the fight-fight. A despondent population can only watch aghast.
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