Unstable Opinions And Political Instability
The role of opinion builders is so inconsistent and contradictory that they have confused the people
By KESHAB POUDEL
From ideology to their political base, there are many uncommon things among opinion builders like politicians, elites and media houses. What they have in common is inconsistency and contradiction in explaining the country's situation.
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PM Koirala : Caught in contradiction |
Whether octogenarian prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala or CPN-UML leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal , Bharat Mohan Adhikary or CPN-Maoist leader Prachanda and Dr. Baburam Bhattarai or rightist leaders Surya Bahadur Thapa, Rabindra Nath Sharma, Pashupati Sumsher Rana or Dr. Tulsi Giri, their commonalities are inconsistencies and contradictions in expressing opinions.
Among media houses, whether those running with foreign investment or indigenous investment, they do not have much differences so far as covering inconsistencies and contradictions about the country's situation is concerned. It seems that the role of opinion builders is to express unstable opinions and to promote political instability.
From half a dozen of TV channels to about 200 hundred FM Radio Stations and number of broadsheet dailies with wider reach, they are the foremost opinion makers. However, media –which is supposed to disseminate accurate and objective information – are too full of inconsistencies and contradictions. They don't care about the opinion of common people but work to protect the interest of promoters. Not analyzing the events and trends impartially and objectively, media spread inflated and sensational ideas and jargons into the society.
Whether in promulgating new interim constitution or proposing amendment on it or declaring republic, opinion makers' remarks are full of contradictions and inconsistencies and there is virtually no voice reflecting the actual opinion of common people. They impose their imported views and ideas to the people.
CPN-UML
Among many leftist leaders, CPN UML leaders have set a record in delivering inconsistent and contradictory opinions. Bharat Mohan Adhikary issued two inconsistent statements on interim constitution within a week.
"If the interim constitution need to be promulgated as it was presented to the cabinet, otherwise there will be bloodbath," said Adhikary who was one of the members of the constitution drafting committee of 1990 (February 12). Next week he said, "The interim constitution needs amendment to address the problems of Madhesis and Janjatis (February 25)."
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Gautam : Points of agreement amid contra |
Nepal has undoubtedly been facing very serious crises in its long history as the peace has been disturbed and progress has retarded. The institutions related with education, administration, economy, security etc have received a serious setback. Unstable opinions and political instability have done further harm.
"One of the first requirement for the society is to get in-depth stock-taking of the events that require objective analysis of the situation. The second requirement at present is to find out real solution of the pressing problems that also require a detailed analytical opinion to be generated in the society. Unfortunately, that is not available to the people as they generally feel one thing at their core of the heart but that is not reflected into the expressions of media persons, elites and political activists. In a traditional society with a typical Nepali character, there are contradictions between the realities and aspirations for the change," said a political analyst.
According to the analyst, had people been the only real determinants of political events, those contradictions would have been understandable. But due to its peculiar geo-political situation many unseen and ulterior interests enter into the situation, which make the contradictions more complicated to understand. This problem is with everybody who has a role in the formation of public opinion.
The class of political activists always appear to be inconsistent and vacillations in diagnosis of situation as well as prescriptions of the solutions. Take a case of CPN-UML general secretary Nepal who too is inconsistent in analyzing the situation.
"The monarchists and regressive forces are trying to sabotage the elections for Constituent Assembly elections," said CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal . (In Gulmi on Thursday). "Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoists are trying to postpone the elections," he said in Palpa on Sunday.
CPN-Maoists
CPN-Maoist leader Prachanda too has similar problems. "Monarchists are main hurdles to hold the elections for Constituent Assembly," said Prachanda addressing the mass meeting in Nepalgunj. "Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are hatching conspiracy to prevent the elections for Constituent Assembly,” he said while addressing a rally in Pokhara.
The most sensationalized leader of CPN-Maoist has also demonstrated a very interesting conversion from revolutionary ideologue to revisionist parliamentarian. CPN-Maoist leader Prachanda has renounced the violence but he is yet to regret the atrocities committed by them during their armed insurrection.
One of the top theoreticians of that party Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has in his book “Monarchy Vs Democracy” published from New Delhi presented his set of contradictory statements. Whatever views they held before the Royal massacre of June 1, 2001, after the event they made their earlier stand irrelevant. Dr. Bhattarai expressed his views thus, "Despite differences on many issues, an important contribution of Shah Kings (from Prithvi Narayan Shah to King Birendra) has been to preserve Nepali independence and sovereign status from the hands of British imperialism and later from Indian expansionism. The contribution made by Kings – from Prithvi Narayan Shah to King Birendra – will be valued highly by the Nepali people for ages.”
Published in June 2005, the book Monarchy Vs Democracy consists of various articles written by Dr. Bhattarai. In his article “Let's Not Legitimize the New Kot Massacre,” Dr. Bhattarai adds, "There should not be any doubt that RAW which had already found their Lendup Dorje (the Sikkimese leader who collaborated with India during the annexation of Sikkim) in Girija (the current pro-Indian Nepali Congress prime minister), aligned the new Jigme Singay with their Lendup Dorje for the Bhutanization of Nepal, with a goal of eventual Sikkimization of Nepal."
There were times when Maoists were lavish in their expressions in the praise from King Prithvi Narayan Shah to King Birendra but now the institution of monarchy is the only hindrance between them and the prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
Koirala As A Republican
Although Maoist leaders including Prachanda seem to have confusion about prime minister Koirala's conviction on republic, Koirala, however, converted into a republican just after the dissolution of House of Representatives in 2002. Koirala, who renewed his own views against the monarchy in his home town of Biratnagar on March 12, 2007, honestly and boldly expressed his inner conviction long time back giving up his earlier stand as a constitutional monarchist.
As prime minister Koirala has multi-faceted image of a monarchist, whether ceremonial or constitutional ,or Loktantrick or Republican, in his recently published image building publication “Simple Conviction,” he expresses his inner conviction about the monarchy.
"The moment I heard of the dissolution of parliament, I had the impression that it would be really difficult to give continuity to monarchy in the country. I concluded that monarchy was to end with the dissolution of parliament. Monarchy seemed to be at its deathbed owing to King Gyanendra's folly. The King saying he believes in democracy had been meaningless," said Koirala to his interviewer journalist Sital Koirala in April 26, 2003 .
Evergreen Leadership
In other countries, leadership change in the new context but it is only in Nepal where politicians remain at the leadership despite changes in the issues and priorities. "The same leader continues to lead the line of national reconciliation consisting of King and democratic forces and between democratic forces and extremist communist shouldering republican slogan. Whatever the political change, the same politician maintains his supreme position in the leadership by leading a front of all republicans against the institution of monarchy," said the analyst.
Not only centrists and leftists, the rightist brackets of politicians like Thapa, Sharma, Rana, and Dr. Giri, too, have similar characters. In almost half century of political experiments from party-less Panchayat system under active leadership of King to these new versions of Loktantric democracy with absentee monarchy, they always claim to be right. As history itself is explicit, it is not necessary to go into details - though inconsistency is the essence of their politics.
The politicians of left brackets, too, are always in the leadership. The two top leaders of CPN-UML general secretary Nepal and Adhikary who were in the drafting committee of previous constitution which functioned well till the Maoist insurgency created an abnormal situation in the country – held power in the King's government declaring that induction of leaders of CPN-UML in the government was a partial correction of regression.
During the direct rule of King Gyanendra, CPN-UML leader Adhikary and his colleagues were in coalition government shouldering major portfolios of finance, trade and industry. "Now not only the same party but the same persons, having the same privilege in the leadership, take it for granted that the people have no memory of their involvement as the active leaders of the King’s government. Today they do not feel responsible for the derailment of constitutional experiment as the monarchy was an easy scapegoat for them, too," said the analyst.
South African Experiment
For foreigners with a western education background, they can easily explain the reality. Although this was his first encounter with Nepal 's constitution-making process, a scholar from South Africa Nicholas Haysom spoke the fact of Nepal . He was much closer to the reality than any talked about elites and academicians of the country.
"I don't know the situation in your country. It will be largely on the people of Nepal to decide whether to retain the monarchy or to introduce the republic," said Haysom (See Spotlight March 9-15). “Writing a good constitution is easy as we have knowledge to do it. Making it good is going to be important."
"A new born democracy in South Africa was able to stabilize democratic process. Not only due to the wise leadership of Nelson Mandela but because of presence of such elites and opinion builders of that country," said the analyst. “Because of them the democratic process has been stabilized and economic prosperity of nation materialized. It is not possible for those scholars to prescribe a suitable model of constitution in Nepal . South Africa is among several models of democracy but all these models were strengthened by the presence of balanced and enlightened class of opinion builders."
Unfortunately, Nepal lacks those kinds of institutional support in its search for an appropriate model of constitution. Nepal has lost recently a most appropriate constitution not by its inherent deficit but due to the lack of appropriate awareness and conduct to make it success.
"Till these draw backs of inconsistencies and contradictions remain in the body politic of Nepal , no substantial gain can be recorded by merely changing the constitution and forms of government," said the analyst.
Points of Agreement
Amid Contradictions
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Parliament : Plethora of voices |
One of the silver linings of present crisis is that there are points of agreement in the postures of disagreement. There is a consensus within the contradictions. Opinion leaders of the country are horrified by the lurking threat of disintegration and chaos in the country but unfortunately all have different outlook for the solution. There is consensus among political leaders that the integrity of the country is much more endangered since the change in April 2006. But if that is correct, who is to blame?
CPN-UML leader Bamdev Gautam and Rastriya Janshakti Party leader Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani represent two opposite viewpoints. Dr Lohani is know for his liberal ideas and has Panchayati background while Gautam is an extremist leftist within CPN-UML. One was supposed to be the loser by Jan Andolan II and other was on the victorious side of that movement. But both are alarmed over the crisis of nation's survival. But unfortunately, they cannot find out a common solution within a concept of national reconciliation.
Surviving in Equilibrium
Although opinion builders are inconsistent and contradictory in their statement, Nepal 's own geographical reality has no contradictions. Whether Nepal becomes republican state or monarchial, no one can change its geo-political situation.
"As Charles Dickens has mentioned in his book Tale of Two Cities, it was the best as well as worst of the times in the history. It may be sheer day-dreaming for the best of time, because our everyday life has been going through the worst of times," said the analyst. "Despite all difficulties, Nepal is neither East Timor, Cambodia nor Afghanistan . As long as block headed leaderships, who are there in Beijing and New Delhi , care for their own national interests, Nepal could not face a tragic end. In this space of peace, the world community especially democratic west has come out with enormous empathy and support to the people of Nepal and for the appropriate management of the crisis at this critical and unusual juncture," said the analyst. "As long as equilibrium between two juggernauts is there and as long as this space contributes something to the people of Nepal , but it will not be wiped out from map of the globe.”
