Responsive
Governance
IT has been almost a decade
since multi-party democracy was established in the country after a popular
peoplesí Movement. The people had high aspirations from this new
political system and yes, the people did get their fundamental rights and
other guarantees of individual freedom with democracy. But in terms of
economic development, they have not received much. While initially, the
country did see progress on many fronts, economic development floundered
when the country suffered from a fragile political situation in the last
couple of years. And when the economy suffered, it was quite natural that
the people in general too experience hardship with it. Also, quite
alarming was the fact that, because of the economic slump, people were
losing faith in the whole political process and also in the political
leaders. But now with a majority government in power, efforts should be
made by the leaders to eradicate any such doubts in the minds of the
people. Like mentioned by His Majesty King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev in
a reply speech at a dinner hosted in honour of Their Majesties the King
and Queen by the Diplomatic Corps here the other day, ěThe Nepalese
people over the years have expressed their faith in the democratic process
of the country and we must all ensure that this faith is not brokenî.
The people of Nepal face
similar socio-economic problems, like that of the peoples of other
developing nations of the world. So providing them with basic necessities
of life should be one of the major tasks of any government. Besides the
political freedoms that they enjoy, it has to be ensured they are
economically well off too. However, good governance is essential if the
economic hardships of the people are to be mitigated. In this regard, His
Majesty clearly pointed out that the confidence of the people in a
democratic polity will be enhanced only if those in responsible positions
carry out their responsibilities scrupulously. There is no doubt that a
huge responsibility rests on the present leaders of the country, both
those that are in the government and those in the opposition, to ensure
that the hard won democracy is consolidated by all means. It can be hoped
the country will see such responsible politics and governance in the
coming days for the sake of the nation and the people.
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