FEATURES NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Tenth NC General Convention
Many Challenges Ahead

By Prem N. Kakkar

THERE is no doubt that the 10th Nepali Congress general convention is being looked upon with great interest from all sectors of the country. Even there is keen interest abroad as to what the discussions and deliberations that are to be the part of the meet. This is all the more so as Nepali Congress is the largest democratic force in the country and commands a majority in the House of Representatives.

Privilege

This has been all the matter of interest as the Nepali Congress has got the mandate of the people for the second time to form a majority government within a span of ten years since the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990 was promulgated. It is a privilege that NC has enjoyed since 2007 B.S. when democracy was first ushered into the country with the party leading the movement.

The same situation arose when the thirty year old partyless system was dismantled and multi-party polity came into existence over a decade back. Nepali Congress with its long history for the reinstatement of democracy and its struggle for it merits great focus from all quarters.

Now that the party is in power and has a great role to play for the overall development of the country, the intra-party wrangling naturally comes into the limelight though there are matters that need to be resolved within and not made a matter of great public discussion. There are controversies within the party but with the adherence to the democratic culture and practice that exists within the party optimism exists that they will be resolved with the general convention taking place soon.

There always has been interest as to the leadership of the party. For the present, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is also the President of the Nepali Congress party. His leadership, in fact, led to the party gaining majority in the 1999 elections with Krishna Prasad Bhattarai becoming the prime minister. This itself is evidence that the Congress party has endeared itself so that the general people feel that it is one party that can play a role in not only strengthening democracy in the country but also work for the better welfare of the people.

This obviously brings to the forefront as to what the outcome of the general convention will be especially regarding the choice of the president that will lead the party in the years to come. This is particularly true when we visualise that the present economic condition of the country is very fluid and the people need relief in every sphere. There is another factor that plays a role and that is the political climate that persists in the country.

The Nepali Congress government has to overcome the problems that exists not within its party but also take into account the series of protests resorted by the opposition parties. This is a matter that deserves special attention as there is a great deal of emphasis on consensus on matters of national interest. In fact, it is the nature of the opposition to take to the streets just for the sake of opposition but the matter now is of great interest as the prices of petroleum products and chemical fertiliser has been considerably raised. There is all the more clamour over the price hike of kerosene which is leading the agenda.

The government by itself cannot control the spot price of petroleum but it can do something to lessen the burden on the common man. And this is the plank on which the opposition has been leaning on. The two price system with the coupon for the heavily subsidised kerosene may be a point but to divert a chunk of the public money only on one item may not seem reasonable as it diverts a great part of the revenue from development activities.

But it must be realised by all that giving stress on subsidies alone cannot help the nation as a whole. The government is aware to the situation but it cannot do much as the buying price of POL products is quite high at the moment. If it had been within its control, the government would not have given the green signal for the price rise of POL products. The opposition too must realise this and going for publicity on this issue alone cannot make them popular.

In this context, the 10th general convention of the Nepali Congress holds great significance. Including the Prime Minister himself, former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Shailaja Acharya have declared that they would be contesting for the post of the president of the Nepali Congress party. This shows that the democratic culture exists within the party now as it was earlier.

The ninth NC general convention must also be remembered in the sense that Koirala was elected and those who clamour for one man one post may not be right. It is not the will of one person but the general will of the members of the Central Working Committee who decide. Elections are a part and parcel of any democratic system and the same is true for the majority party. So it is appropriate that party members wanting to stand for the post of the president have every right to do so.

Qualities

Herein comes the question of handing over the powers to the second generation. It is true that leadership qualities are essential to lead a party of such a big stature and in this regard it is an election that decides. For this the 10th general convention of the Nepali Congress party will be of great interest to watch.

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