FEATURES NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

By Yuba Nath Lamsal

ONE of the basic tenets of democracy is the competition among different political parties. Parties compete, contest and quarrel to grab state power. They seek state power to implement their policies and programmes, which they consider best for the interest of the nation and the people.

Without conflict and competition, democracy cannot function and flourish. At the absence of competition and opposition, chances are that even elected government and democratic leaders may turn authoritarian.

In Retrospect

It is said "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Even today, many rulers want to hear what is music to their ears. Criticism is bad word for them and do not want to hear dissenting voice. It is not the democratic behavior.

It is the organised opposition that opens the eyes of rulers and prevents the government from going off the tract. Opposition is, thus, regarded as the protector of democracy and people's rights in democratic polity. Any genuine democratic leader always respects opposition and listen to dissenting opinion more seriously and carefully.

Nepal is a unique case. We started our journey of democracy 12 years ago. The multi-party democracy was ushered in by the popular movement in 1990. To think and analyse in retrospect, the new found democracy has been badly bruised by bitter power struggle among political parties. The 12 years of multi-party political system clearly showed that the only objective of political parties and politicians was to grab power. The battle for power was not for the interest of the nation and the people but for the personal and partisan interests.

Nepali Congress remained most of the time in power. CPN-UML ruled the rest of 12 years. Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party(NSP) also went to power at different times and played an important role in the national politics in the past. However, the nature of all these political parties was not found fundamentally different. The attitude of all our political parties was to see all is well when in power and every thing bad immediately out of power. This tendency really afflicted our political system.

Nepali Congress represents landlords and upper class people. Although CPN-UML publicly claims that it is the party of poor and working class, its policies and activities never addressed the real issues of the downtrodden people. RPP's and NSP's role, too, did not appear very much different from that of the other two big parties. RPP tended to serve the interest of the rightwing, while NSP always championed the sectarian issue like rights and interest of Terai community but not the nation's burning problems. In practice, all political parties, more or less, served the interest of the same group.
There has to be healthy and democratic competition among political parties. However, last 12 years saw most unhealthy and undemocratic behavior for power that eroded people's faith on politicians and parties. It by no means provides a favourable environment for democracy to flourish and function. It, rather, harmed democratic process and also brought economic, political and social ruin to this country.

Politicians became political bosses but never tried to be statesmen. They regarded the people as their subject but not citizens. They least tolerated opposition and criticism. Those who criticised them were often termed as anti-democratic. They are under the false notion that their political future is safe only when they are in power. It has caused a great deal of frustration, worries and cynicism among general people.

In our 12 years' trek to democracy, we enjoyed freedom and open society. We have, at the same time, seen much of the political contradictions, and economic downturn followed by terror of violence. Corruption has become perennial features for public life. This is the product of misrule and good governance.

Political parties provided the people with little or no choice in terms of policies and programmes. Even when governments changed, people hardly felt any fundamental difference in governance. When both ruling and opposition parties serve the same interest groups, there cannot be healthy competition. When mainstream parties fail to provide genuine political and economic choices to the people, it sometimes gives rise to extra-constitutional elements, which, at present, has badly and seriously affected our country.

Who is responsible for this sorry state of the country. Ordinary peasantry and poor workers, who constitute almost 75 per cent of the country's population, never created this situation. They are doing their work honestly and regularly. They are paying tax to the government and are always law -biding citizens. They have nothing to gain or lose from any political system. Their only concern is good monsoon and timely rain so that they could harvest good crops. They are least concerned with the political changes in the country.

Restoring Peace

Recently, this ordinary peasantry has also been disturbed by violence and terror. Their only expectation from the government, now, is restoration of peace and security. However, the governments in the past failed even in their basic duty of restoring peace and maintaining law and order.

It is the so-called educated populace and elites always benefited from the political system. They are the ones who spoiled the country's situation. These elites and educated ones have dominated politics, business and bureaucracy. Corruption rose due to the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen. Ordinary people are, now, paying the price of the corruption and misconduct of the so-called elites and intellectuals.

Some people blame democratic system for the present situation. However, failure of politicians and parties should not be equated with the failure of democracy. Global experiences have shown that only representative democracies can deliver goods and address problems of the people. But today's need is to eliminate all forms of contradictions and evils that are in practice in the name of democracy. For this, an independent press, vigorous civil society and an informed citizens are a must.

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