Emerging Pressure Groups
Generally people talk of lack of leadership, but it is not only the leadership but emerging pressures groups – some parasitic and some popular – that are changing the course
By KESHAB POUDEL
If recent trends are any indication, emerging pressure groups are showing their detrimental role in the party politics. From largest Nepali Congress to CPN-UML and even CPN-Maoists, there are emerging pressures groups who are putting a lot of pressures on party leadership making a difference in the decision making.
Among two pressure groups, parasitic –with no popular grass root support but its sources of finance and its source of inspiration through dynastical or familiar relationship – is now in driving seat. As they thrive even on the linkage with the external power groups, prolonging instability will favor them..
On the other hand, there is another kind of pressure group with a strong grass root support and base. Popular pressure group is not merely silent followers but are in a decisive position. Whenever the time comes for the party to test its real strength through the elections, political parties require their support.
“Our aim is to uphold the principle of the party but we are ignored by party leaders in the political process,” said K.B. Gurung, general secretary of Nepali Congress. Gurung was elected from Ilam in 1999 elections.
Similarly, Maoist leader Prachanda, in his recent interview to Nepal magazine, revealed that his party is not in a position to ignore the voices of popular pressure groups at grass root. “We have to follow the pressure of popular leaders of grass root,” said Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
In politics, parties have a greater role to play about the forms of government and its policies. Similarly, in each party, there are persons and groups who are counted as more than silent followers.
Parasite and Popular Pressure Groups
The strength of any political party lies in getting the widest support from its base as far as possible. In each party, the persons and groups who carry powerful and effective pressure are counted much during the popularity test. Such pressures groups have upward as well as downward contacts and roots.
“One type of pressure groups consists of persons with popular grass root and closer with the common people’s feeling and aspirations. This can be understood as a pressure group having base at the grass root. But political party may have also its sources of finance and its source of inspiration through dynastical or familiar relationship. Some may have linkage with the external power groups and covert agencies. All these categories of politicians can be bluntly put into the category of parasite politicians,” said a political analyst.
According to the analyst, parasite politicians themselves don’t have any essential and entrancing quality to emerge as a leader. Due to the dormant nature and passive attitude of the people at the grass root, the leaders, who represent grass root, are easily sidelined by dominant class of parasite leaders.
Many leaders in Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist with strong grass root base are sidelined by such category of leaders. In Nepali Congress, all the leaders like K. B.Gurung, Govinda Raj Joshi, Binaya Dhoj Chand, Sunil Bhandari, Laxman Ghimire, Khum Bahadur Khadka and Mahesh Ahcarya are sidelined whereas many untested faces are dominant in prime minister’s decision making. This is similar in all the political parties.
“More the democracy is there, more the grass root leadership comes out in its real leadership role. For that a stable process of democracy is needed with associable law of governance and justice, periodical elections to elect or unseat representatives in the legislature. All these essentials require exercises of fundamental freedom,” said the political analyst. “In such a democratic society, the parasitic leadership is pushed behind and put into oblivion,” said the analyst.
The political sky of Nepal at present is of unusual nature. Nepalese people have not been able to cast their valuable votes to elect their representatives, to make the law and run the government.
“We must give due respect to the grass root leaders. They are the leaders who counted much in unification process,” said former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
“In this unusual situation, no political party needs the leaders with popular vibrations in the grass root but what one can see is the dominant and determining role of parasitic class of politicians,” said the analyst .
Political Alliance and Reliance
Nepal has gone through several momentous ups and downs after the last general elections of 1999. All political parties have changed their roles within this period. Governments led by G.P. Koirala, SB Deuba and others termed Maoist as No 1 enemy when they were in government. Getting out of the power, all sided in the alliance of Maoist insurrection. Nepal set unique record where previous no 1 enemy now shares all the powers of the state.
“As it is said there is no permanent enemy and friend in politics, Nepal has glaring examples of that. In such a confusing political mess one has to walk wisely and carefully. It is not only the wisdom of Nepalese which determines the course of its history but its typical geo-political adventure which has assured one thing, there is no other way to Nepal and its neighbors except to live and let live as independent nations,” said the analyst.
Whatever one can say in the process of making alliance, none of these political parties can hold recognition as a force by ignoring their mass base which gives them much needed legitimacy inside the country and abroad.
Some European countries recently invited Pushpa Kamal Dahal for political contact not because he has arms with him. In similar way, another communist leader Madhav K. Nepal enjoyed the same kind of treatment recently in several European countries. But all those political parties have a mixed set of characters in their organizations. Both these communist leaders have time and again admitted that persons of right or left leaning are working together with them.
Similarly, parties like Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Rastriya Jansakti Party (RJP) too have divergent groups in their fold- some are confirmed monarchists whereas some are leaning towards republican model. But, the leadership is not in a position to ignore them. Nepali Congress too has the same position with various pressure groups working for various alliances.
Liberal and Illiberal Trends
Though there are several parties in the country but some basic trends remains. Generally, there are two major political trends in the country. One is of liberal and another is illiberal.
Liberals of all political parties have a broad based consensus. Illiberal of all political parties bring out the same consequences, disruption, violence and devastations. In effect, it is immaterial whether the person is in extreme right or the extreme left, they bring out the same negative kinds of results as both of them are illiberal.
All these political parties are competing for leadership. If the people at the grass root are allowed to assume their political freedoms, opportunities and exercise their franchise, a realignment of forces will emerge on the basis of their attitudes.
“Let the liberal trends at the grass root emerge as a consensus task for all the political parties who have a strong mass base or who hope to regain it. Let all political parties look to the people and reach into consensus to fulfill not their personal or petty interest but needs and desires of the common people at large who are their real hope for success,” said the analyst. “The emerging liberal trends is the positive trend of the people and it has the potential of delivering useful services to the people whereas the illiberal have tendency to promote more and more illiberal trends in politics which may ultimately bring out all kinds of negative results.”
In the process of adjustments and readjustments with various pressure groups, leaders of different political parties are switching their stand. Some prominent political leaders like prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, Maoist leader Puspa Kamal Dahal have become favorite for cartoons as a clown because of their unstable and vacillating posture.
“They are not such light vain character. What makes them appear so unstable is due to their role representing extreme opinions in their party. All these persons have conflicting lobbies with contrasting views and programs while they have to maintain the unity and command trust and respect of all. In the process, they have lost their personal stands and emerged as compromised personality of conflicting trends,” said the analyst.
For Nepal, it is the election where a genuine grass root based pressure group can be decisive.
