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The Irrelevance Of Monarchy In Nepalese Elections

Prakash Bom - 1/21/2008

In the parable of primary Upanishad convoys of gods and demons take a long journey in the forest to find their identity or 'Brahman' or God. Upon the hill in a large cave both convoys see together a glow of light shining over an oval shaped emblem of a huge rock in the dusk. Demons decide to take the emblem their identity and settle with their short journey. However, convey of gods could not agree with it. So they decide to keep searching. In their journey they find nothing to identify their 'self' with a tangible object outside of themselves. Their long journey inexorably arrives to a point where they find themselves confronted with the inevitable fact about life - 'that thou art' or in Sanskrit 'tat tvam asi' – ultimately you are your destiny.

Nepali people had two and half centuries' bondage with the emblem of demon. Many of us who reasoned and observed in ourselves have found our freedom during our journey – 'in over fifty years socialist democratic revolution'. Now we want to define our destiny – not after life, but here and now. That's why we need CA elections. But, there are still many of us who do not reason to see in ourselves the demon whose identity is so gross and slavish. The demon is our state of mind, figuratively speaking, which has never been ashamed of the centuries' practice of social stratification that has marginalized humans down to a socially untouchable caste status committing many centuries' human rights violence.

Nepal has become a secular state, therefore, the seventeenth century's 'Mulki-Ain' or Hindu's single body of law must be eradicated from the practice so that secular democratic body of law can be enforced in the nation. That's why CA elections are mandatory. The institution of the monarchy that is discriminatorily Hindu with its values and practice cannot take the journey together with 'People's Secular Nation.' If it had honest wish to continue its voyage with people's secular state then it should have declared itself secular institution the day people declared Nepal secular state. It is simply illogical to the classics of democracy to try to drag back a discriminatory Hindu institution of monarchy to CA elections of a secular state.

The declaration of secular state guarantees that it is constitutionally committed to treat every creed and ethnicity equally. The first and foremost responsibility of elected constituent assembly thus is to set the statute of secular democratic body of the law that is absolutely non-discriminatory as the guideline for the new constitution of Nepal. This does not mean the institution of monarchy cannot be part of CA elections. But the logical responsibility of the institution was to declare it a secular institution in order to be the part of the CA elections. In the classics of democracy from the ancient Athenian to the modern democracy the discriminatory values and practice of a state institution must either be transformed such as in the Scandinavian countries or completely abolished altogether. The democracy cannot be burdened with the double standard. But, if it is burdened, then it will be corrupt and unjust to the people.

Time and again in history Nepali Congress Party has been one of the most vulnerable political parties in democratic principle in Nepali politics. It is usual political practice of NC to set double standards in the politics of Nepal. It is due to the varieties of understanding and misinterpretations of democracy as well as the lack of commitments of the popular NC leaderships and their non-skeptical supporters or cadres to the classics of democracy. For example, it should have been clear especially to those royalist NC leaderships that if the nation is declared secular state the discriminatory Hindu institution of the monarchy cannot continue with the secular state side by side. They should have rescued the monarchy by then declaring it also secular institution if they were loyal to the institution. But it demands thorough understanding and capability of reasoning from the perspectives of classics of democracy. That is what NC lacks honorably calling it a socialist democratic party.

Democracy is based on the premise of reasoning and logic. The premise or proposal can only become law if it is democratically endorsed by the consensus of majority either through votes or by historical popular movements such as French Revolution. In the contemporary Nepali politics those political parties and political leaderships who did not lead the 'People's Movement II' but remain silent or opposed the movement cannot become part of the political consensus or decision making process before CA elections though every political parties and leaderships have right to compete in CA elections. This is evidential fact of the democratic movement that those who are committed to democracy must respect.

Therefore, SPA leaderships, have the mandate of people from the movement to make political consensus to address the mandate of the movement. Thus SPA leaderships are committed to lead the nation up to the CA elections. There should be no question about it as long as no SPA leadership objects the consensus. If the objections persist then there must be some monopoly of one or more leaderships. Every intelligent and responsible individual, news media, civil society, professional must oppose such monopoly. We all have that mandate to be responsible to question the supremacy of one party or one-man leadership over SPA.

Since the second amendment has eliminated the position of the monarchy in CA elections, the royalist elements in NC itself have become one of the threats to CA elections. It may be politically illogical efforts of royalists to scheme obstructions against CA elections, but this is the only choice they have at this point in history to save the monarchy by all means.

It is unfortunate that the royalist NC leaderships and their cadres have dragged NC into the conspiracy against CA elections in regard to the monarchy. Those royalists, who have been ousted by the political parties, are responsible to lobbying NC royalists in the party. Now it seems royalist NC leaderships and their cadres are extensively maneuvered for this purpose. Unless NC itself takes the action against the royalist elements in the party as it supposed to take as per the vice president or those leaderships and cadres who are committed to the decision of Mahasamiti oppose such elements in the party NC will be responsible for the consequences.

Appointment of Sujata Koirala in the cabinet, for example, is the incursion of royalist elements in the government and the suspicion of coup d'état cannot be eliminated from its probability. Her public support for the inclusion of monarchy in CA elections enforces her primary objective for being appointed in the cabinet. In the current political scenario she will not be trusted at all by majority if she has to assume the decisions of Prime Minister in case PM becomes physically unable to resume his duty.

Since the relevancy of monarchy with CA elections has been eliminated by the declaration of secular state, unless it had also declared secular institution by eradicating its all feudal Hindu practice and values in due time, the monarchy has no logical chance for recovery. It is unlikely that royalists can force triumph. Therefore, CA elections must be accomplished no matter how far NC royalists politically work against, no matter how intensely Hindu fanatics terrorize the nation and no matter how much Indian Hindu fundamentalist political party such BJP fund regressive force around Nepal and India boarders to obstruct CA elections. The fact must be politically accepted if it is not yet evidentially historic.