OBSERVATION

Long-awaited and crucial session

The 16th session of the Parliament began yesterday. This session has been a long awaited one and it is crucial in many ways. It is the first session after the Third General Election. It also is the session, which after more than four years, is seeing a majority government at the helms. And lastly it is also the first parliamentary session to be attended by the newly elected Members of Parliament.

Right on the first day the session opened with some sort of a theatrics not inside, but outside the Parliament. A group called Jayatu Sanskritam held a demonstration in front of Singha Durbar, near the Bhadrakali temple, which it called a "Welcome Fast".

A member of the organising committee informed this writer that they were not organising any protest or demonstration. "This is only a pressure campaign," he said. The organisation distributed pamphlets which had 21 points that they felt the new MPs had to address. "We want to raise awareness on the problems faced by the nation even as we welcome the new MPs," the organiser said.

This sort of a trend, in trying to create awareness among the masses and also the politicians, is a welcome one. AWAKE whole heartedly supports such moves both from organisations and also from the general people.

In the recently concluded General Election, many formidable politicians, though with tainted images, lost and virtually all the people expressed happiness at the result. Organisations, including AWAKE, had campaigned to tell the voters not to cast their votes for such politicians. It is not that the politicians lost because of such campaigns, but it is an encouraging trend that people from different sectors are saying enough is enough and not supporting corrupt politicians.

To come back to the ongoing session of the Parliament, the people will be closely observing the behaviour of the MPs. However this time, more than looking for symptoms like floor crossing and ditching one’s own government, the people will be looking at the performance of the politicians.

How much they participate in parliamentary proceedings and committee meetings, what they speak, how they deal with issues of national interest and how they work for their own constituencies. These will be the traits that will be watched.

‘The parliamentarians must realise that they have been elected by the people when the nation is at an important crossroads. After four years of political instability and a growing insurgency problem in the form of the Maoists, the country is in crisis. The economy is in tatters, corruption is rampant, inflation has sky-rocketed, people feel insecure and their faith is wavering on how much the politicians can do to straighten things out.

So the first task will lie with the majority government being able to function well and with clear cut and definite policies. The government cannot afford to fumble around as it seems to be doing now. In this regard, Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai has done well by defining what his government aims to do to fulfil the promises his party has made to the people.

His "message to the nation" came at a right time, when rumours of different kind were floating around regarding Bhattarai’s ability to administer well. A newspaper even wrote that he was suffering from severe amnesia and thus he could not remember things. But now, with the Prime Minister indicating that he has matters well under control, the government should be able to move ahead smoothly.

But of course, the much talked about expansion of the cabinet of ministers must also be seen to ponder over how much Bhattarai can satisfy the different groups within the Nepali Congress. If there is non-cooperation from his own party members, then there is little hope that the government can do anything. This is specially so, considering the fierce opposition that it is going to face both within the Parliament and also from the streets.

It is sure the CPN (ML), which failed to put even one MP in the House of Representatives, will have a field day showing their strength from the streets. Several of its leaders, including general secretary Bam Dev Gautam has been indicating that they will now make their voice heard from the streets. In fact just on Saturday, Gautam told in a TV interview, "We have come to realise that street politics is the most effective way to make our voice heard and we will do this very effectively". There seemed to be an undertone of a threat in his words.

To come back to the 16th session now, one of the important task before it is to unfurl and pass the budget estimates for the forthcoming fiscal year. What is there in the budget, will be crucial to indicate what the government wants to do about pressing problems like the Maoist insurgency, unemployment, inflation, the sick local industries and other productive sectors.The MPs can play a constructive role regarding this also. If they feel there is a shortcoming in any sector, they can speak about it during the discussions about the budget. If it is logical and feasible, then the government also should not be reluctant to incorporate such demands.

Like it is said "The morning shows the day," this session of the Parliament could also throw light on what course politics will take in the coming years. It will be the responsibility of both the ruling party MPs as well as those in the opposition to assure the people that they are serious about fulfilling the heightened expectations of the people.