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Nepal: Let the Nation Move Forward with the Unity of Majority

Prakash Bom - 3/13/2008

Neither it is enthusiastic enough nor euphemistic for people to have hope in constituent assembly elections if election campaign starts with out-dated and unnecessary tactics, political propaganda, dirty politics, lack of law and order, and practice of impunity that encourages violence. Failing to campaign CA elections with the objective to accomplish the mandate of people to create a new democratic Nepal will be disenfranchising people from the democratic process. Whatever the political ideology of the contestant political parties or of the participant electorates is in the CA elections should not be the matter at all. Even the landslide victory of a single political party cannot overrule the mandate of people for democracy.



If, for example, the leaderships of a democratic political party such as NC are still obsessed with the cold war anti-communist McCarthyean suspicion against democratic communist parties then it is nothing but to contradict with the current democratic process. In the first place, it was the interest of the international communities and the major political parties of the nation to bring communist rebel (Maoist) into the mainstream politics.



That is why their role in the people's movement II cannot be wiped out of the history whether the rest of so-called rightwing democratic parties cannot trust Maoist commitments with the democracy. It is therefore unreasonable to fear and suspect that if Maoist communist party or the alliance of communist parties has landslide victory in the CA elections then communists might override the democracy. Even they have landslide victory they have no power to ride roughshod over the people's mandate for democracy.



Therefore, the campaign must be for the national unity and trust to establish democracy despite the political differences with the ideologies – leftist, rightist, or moderate. Truly, there is no place in the socio-political and economic context of Nepal for the far-rightist Tories to gala CA elections except for the Hindu feudal goo-goos to take the arms against will of the people. Those who fear the victory of the communist parties in CA elections must have lost their confidence in the primary objective of CA elections. The self-reflected nightmare of such is the result of their lack of faith in the federal democratic republic establishment for eradicating the feudal elements from the entire government practices.



Political party that is addicted with the power and cannot put up with the term of loss or less power until the next contest in the democratic discipline is not truly a democratic party. The role of a minority political party as a matter of fact is more crucial in opposition than of a party in majority in the democratic practice.



In fact, CA elections should be win-win occasion for all political parties and for all people of Nepal. There should be no loser and no winner out of the CA elections because the fundamental objective of CA elections is to establish institutions of multiparty democracy that can culture competitive electoral democratic practices in the workings of the government. This is the cause of inevitable change that is occurring in the socio-political evolution of Nepal. Only thing this is demanding from Nepal and Nepali people is the structure to yield long-term success for generation to depend on its foundation.



Democracy thus gives preference to proposal of the political party(s) to run government on trial and error basis under the scrutiny of people. Therefore, neither a political party nor a leadership can govern democracy permanently. Democracy gives chances for party(s) with term limit for their leaderships to govern the nation. But it does not give a party permanent license to rule the nation. If so then that will end up with the oligarchic rule of hierarchy.



CA elections are the democratic process for establishing the institutions of democracy. This is what Nepal is devoid of from its governance structures. It is time for the political parties to let go their ideological differences for the sake of national unity and trust to establish institutions of democracy. Their vision or manifesto for institutionalizing democracy with certain structure of governance that could bring changes can uplift people's hope to participate in CA elections enthusiastically.



However, people's movements have evolved with the historical success since April uprising in regulating nation's interim government, Parliament and constitution with the constitutional provisions for the federal democratic republic setup and federal government structure. But it means little yet it is the right of the one of the communist parties to oppose federal government system during the CA elections. Likewise it is the democratic right of the feudal royalist parties to oppose republic setup. Nevertheless, all those political parties democratic or communist, leftist or rightist, ethnic or homogeny that are committed to the federal democratic republic and its government structures must unite and trust each other to institutionalize democracy for generation to depend on.



The manifesto of Maoist party in fact does unite the nation and seeks the trust of the political parties and the people of Nepal. Communists are ideologically less committed to the federal structure of the government with the right to self-determination even they rhetorically speak for the people. Therefore, from that perspective the manifesto becomes the subject of scrutiny to find out about the provision of the popularly elected president in the bicameral multiparty Parliament under the federal political structure.



Naturally, the popularly elected president of the federal democratic republic will be more powerful than the party(s) nominated Prime Minister of the government. This is politically disturbing aspects of Maoist manifesto for the advocates of the Parliamentary multiparty democracy because in this system the president is just an honorably ceremonial. However, rest of the aspects of the manifesto is euphemistically promising, particularly the aspect of the 'industrial capitalism' under socialism.



The most successful option for the multiparty parliamentary democracy to have stable cabinet in the government is to have popularly elected Prime Minister for the term of four years even though members of the Parliament are elected in every five or six years. With this option the midterm election for the members of the Parliament can be set to recycle the representatives of both lower and upper house every three years. However, the president must remain an honorably ceremonial national figure with no power.



The popularly elected Prime Minister should be the commander in chief of the nation under the federal political structure of the republic. Popularly elected Prime Ministers of Canadian and Australian federal system of governments are the examples. The British aristocratic Parliamentary system of party based nomination of the Prime Minister of the multiparty democratic Parliament in the 21st century has become the most instable cabinet of the government. Remains of such system are mainly yet barely stable in the United Kingdom, in the feudal federal republic of India, and in the nations of under developing counties of Africa and South Asia.


Nonetheless, it should be the agenda of the alliance of the democratic parties to purpose such political changes with the modern political elements of the multiparty parliamentary democracy under the federal political structures. It is their utter waste of time and energy to babble in the nightmare of the outdated cold war anti-communist McCarthyean phobia. The challenges that have confronted the democratic communities of erudite Nepali in the academics is to make these democratic political leaderships fully aware of the consequences of CA elections, if they failed to lay their vision for the change in the multiparty politics of Nepal with the most modern yet serviceable political system that prevails around the globe other than in the politics of South Asian nations. If intellectuals contribute to sharpen the minds of self-semi-educated so-called democratic political leaders and cadres of Nepal the national unity and trust can be established for the successful CA elections. That will be the national pride and glory.