By L.D. Pulami
Though this article was written before the government made public its policies and plans in the forthcoming budget session of the parliament, it would be one of the greatest understatements to say that the political scenario in the country has been very volatile in the past several months. From the federal level to the provinces, the governments have been shaky and the political leaders have been at each other’s throats all the time.
In the provinces, a few governments have changed hands and petitions have been filed at the Supreme Court, by leaders on which party should constitutionally form the government and who would be the chief minister.
On the very first day of the present budget session of the parliament last Friday, it was amusing to see leaders challenging each other and even the Speaker of the House of Representatives putting his own views after leaders in the House disrupted the proceedings. Naturally, the proposed discussions were stopped, without the House being able to take any decisions as the scheduled work was not able to go forward because of the disruption made by the main opposition party, the Nepali Congress.
It seems that close observers, experts and most media outlets seem to be up in arms against the constant squabbling among the political parties, which has created instability in the country. Most importantly, the general people have really become disgusted with the way the political leaders are behaving and constantly busy only with the aim of getting to power or staying on in the government is disturbing them. Such developments have been making the general people dwell on the question of whether the present system was really appropriate or not. This is an alarming situation, to say the least.
It is also amusing to hear almost all leaders telling how the present system is being attacked by ‘regressive’ elements and how a conspiracy is being hatched against ‘loktantra’ and a republic system by such forces. But the people are now curiously asking, who are such forces who are thus attacking the nation, is it the ‘regressive’ elements or the political parties and leaders themselves?
It has become difficult to begin from where these crimes against the country have been ‘hatched’ by the political leaders. The common masses who have had to bear the brunt of the callous ways of the leaders who have no vision are also seeking answers on whether a republican system and also the formation of so many provinces in a small nation like Nepal has any benefits for the development works needed for the country and the welfare of the citizens.
This is a very dangerous turn in which the nation is at the moment. The two major parties in the parliament are at loggerheads with one another and the third largest party which is presently leading the fragile government along with smaller parties, have also joined in this scramble for power. In this manner, instead of concentrating and putting their minds on different ‘goals’ this impoverished nation has to achieve, they are only engaged in acts for fulfilling their own personal greed for money, promoting nepotism and not following the right path for good governance. None less than Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal himself always boasts of keeping good governance at the top of his priorities while formulating policies for the nation, but ironically it is he himself, who has been involved in corruption, nepotism and using his powerful post to fulfill only his own interests.
Not that the other ministers in his government are any better. The deputy prime minister who also controls the powerful home ministry, Ravi Lamichhane, has been accused of being involved in the ‘misuse’ of the deposits of the people in cooperatives, and which in fact is also the main reason why the Nepali Congress did not allow even the first meeting of the parliament to move ahead, and says it will stick to this stance until a committee in the parliament is formed to investigate this case. This naturally has had a fallout in the splitting of smaller parties and which also has developed a climate of uncertainty in the functioning and understanding of provincial governments.
The list of relatives and near and dear ones being rewarded with plum posts begins with Prime Minister Dahal himself. He has made one of his daughters the mayor of Chitwan, another daughter his ‘escort’ in important meetings within the country and also during his visits abroad, his daughter-in-law a minister and his brother the chairman of the national assembly.
Former prime ministers, starting from late Girija Prasad Koirala, who headed the government soon after the very first general election held after the re-ushering of multi-party democracy in the country, to the presently president of the Nepali Congress, Sher Bahadur Deuba who has made his wife a member of the parliament, though she has been accused of being involved in many corruption cases and many other heads of the government and any leader with some clout in the government and their respective parties, have been involved in such damaging acts in putting their close relatives in plum jobs and also appointing them as the diplomatic envoys of the country in foreign countries. It is another fact that most of these ‘gifted’ individuals, actually have no expertise in any field, whether they get lucrative government jobs or become ambassadors representing the nation abroad. So till the time of writing this piece, it was not possible to say what actually happened in the parliament on late Tuesday, but it is only certain that a disturbing environment for conflict has been invited and not the wrongdoers, but the common people will have to suffer from such irresponsible acts of the parties, whether they are in the government or the opposition benches.
While we are uncertain of what will happen while the government tries to make public its policies and plans for the next fiscal year, we can be certain that the country and the people will have to suffer due to the unstable political scenario, bad governance, a recession-hit economy, a rising number of criminal activities and irresponsible political leaders who are working to break and not make Nepal become a better place to live in.
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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