COMMENT

Struggle within NC

Once more an intense power struggle is taking place within the ruling Nepali Congress party. Barely four months after Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was ousted from power, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is too feeling the heat from none other than his own ministers and MPs. At a meeting organised at the Prime Minister’s official residence at Baluwatar on Monday, Nepali Congress MPs admitted that they had indeed started a signature campaign for change, “though it was not against the Prime Minister”, some tried to explain. “It was just to ensure that one person did not hold two posts and it was also to oust tainted Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi”, the Congress MPs pointed out. However, the blunt man that he is, Prime Minister Koirala reportedly told the ministers and MPs present that if a majority of them went against him, he was ready to resign. He also sacked Minister for Water Resources and Housing and Physical Planning Khum Bahadur Khadka, who it is believed, perpetuated the rebellion. This is a very sad situation for the country to be in, specially at a time when there are many challenges that could be dealt with only by a strong government. If nothing, this has gone on to prove that the majority of one party in the House of Representatives does not necessarily mean there is political stability.

The sad part is that, such political instability has come when the nation is going through one of the worst periods in its history. There is a frightening problem of spreading insurgency, the economy is in shambles and the people have no confidence in the political leaders. When such outstanding problems, that could adversely affect the nation’s destiny had to be tackled, the powers that be are entangled in an internal struggle! They don’t seem to be aware of the seriousness of the different ills that are plaguing the country. Even senior Nepali Congress leaders admit that no work worth mentioning has been done, either by the previous Bhattarai government or the Koirala government. This means the faith the people put in the Nepali Congress, had been wrongly placed. The blame put on the shaky coalition governments for the political instability in the country was wrong. Let the Prime Minister and other Congress leaders be warned once more, if they don’t listen to reason and the voice of the people even now, they will be solely to blame for the trying times the country is bound to see in the future.

Flood management

The headlines are replete with concern and condolences of those in power towards the victims of the flood. The recent spate of heavy rains has effected more than 68 districts of the country. The flash floods have resulted in losses of more than Rs. 68 crores, death of 15, 40 missing, hundreds hurt and more than five thousand families directly effected.

Expressing the party’s feelings will not do much to relieve the victims’ misery. We need efficient disaster prevention and management body to look after such tragedies. Adequate funds should be channelised so that the resources reach the victims immediately and without half the funds disappearing down the line.

It is amazing and a matter of concern that nobody thinks of a flood before the rains come. Why do not the government as well as the public  think of the precautionary measures before the rains begin? Why have we not realised the importance of preserving the forests and other basic steps that would prevent or lessen the impact of the disasters?

It is not a problem of the heavy rains alone. Everything is inter-related. A river diverted, a dam built, trees chopped down, they all have an impact over a period of time. We must not forget that. The dry seasons should be used to build in the awareness required for prevention and management of floods. Doing nothing or just making a show of doing something and spewing a barrage of platitudes is not going to help those who need it the most. It is time for action, not words! 

Political consensus or politically conspicuous?

By Kalyan Bhandari

In the aftermath of restoration of democracy, Nepalese politics saw unprecedented cessation in trust and understanding between major political forces of the country. Every respective government was unable to convince their agenda and act, to the political forces prevailing in Nepalese society which eventually led to failures of most of programmes initiated with good intentions.

The forces that were once united for democracy were confrontational in their approach to every issue. Every government decision attracted more attention than required. Though it is their role to warn the government of the dire consequences of its decision, the relation of opposition parties with the ruling should not necessarily be like that of a cat and a mouse.

 Protests, bandhs and strikes were rampant as the result of lack of consultation with the opposition and misunderstanding and mistrust between the major political forces and over politicisation of issues. Lack of internal exercises and inability to accommodate broader views  might have contributed to the bitter political relations.

 An underdeveloped country like ours needs reform in almost all its machinery for which it needs decisions critical for the development. We can not afford to waste our energy on arguing .  Any decision, if taken with the consensus of the opposition can have a synergetic effect.

The government should take opposition in confidence before deciding the conditionalities of various donor agencies that ultimately has multiplier effect to the economy. Similarly, the negotiations of various foreign aided projects can be informed well in time to all the political players so that no alteration in version occurs even in case of change in government.

The all-party consultation on the agendas for the visit of PM to India can be considered another step towards consolidating the Nepali political forces.

The recent reforms made in the organisation of civil servants including the decision to cut down the number of civil servants, increment in the perks and introduction of new organisation structures in some of the ministries are highly acclaimable. The government’s commitments to control corruption, commission, mal-utalisation and  mismanagement of the foreign aid and check the activities of various NGOs should be supported by the opposition.

The environment of confidence and mutual understanding in government and opposition builds the favourable environment for the foreign investors to make investment decisions.  The reforms in various segments of trade and industry can be introduced.  The untapped hydropower projects can be actualised. The dream of providing good governance can be visualised.

It is the responsibility of every political force to fight against the elements that resists the development of the country.  It is the concerted effort of all that gives the governance that we expected  and deserve.  It is time to realise and consolidate our hard earned democracy with the mutual trust and understanding between all the political forces; else we will be further left behind in the race of human dignity and economic security.

A high level of political, institutional reform and intellectual manoeuvring is needed from all sections of society to come to the point of agreement on  recognising, identifying and rectifying various constrains  of our development. For this the Nepalese politics has to transition itself from politics of dominance to politics of national interest and from politics of confrontation to the politics of consensus.

After a decade of  restoration of democracy,  the recent changes that are seen in the approach and aggressiveness of parliament and parliamentary committees give us ample  hope for the future. The same aggressiveness is expected of all the political players in our fight against evils plaguing our developmental endeavours. Lets hope the transition  in the approach, style and  behaviour of our political forces takes place soon.

A slippery road to modernity

By K.C. Bhatt

Recent developments in the country have precipitated in the rise of an ultra-nationalist and jingoistic sentiments among a section of the intelligentsia of the country.

Indeed, it may be true that  governance  remains elusive even after a decade of democracy. However, it would be unfortunate if xenophobic and jingoistic element of the society would raise its head on this pretext and the country would be denied of a decisive thrust towards modernity and plurality.

Harping on the present, while romanticizing the past is no answer to the inevitable complexities of the future. In the world of morrow, multi-ethnicity and pluralism will be characteristics of the successful societies of the world. Hence, facing the future with a monolithic attitude may prove self-destructive.

In fact, such xenophobia has always resulted in a prolonged suffering of the people and the consequent destruction of their societies. There are plenty of instances in the history to prove that moderation and tolerance is the best tonic for the vitality and longevity of a civilization.

In fact, in every human society there are two forces: one that is willing to change and the other that is always wary of the changes. The fantastic developments in the field of science and technology during the modern times hold enough promises for a brighter future of the human kind. However, if we choose to remain impervious to them and their socio-economic implications, they may not bring laurels to us at our doorsteps.

To be able to anticipate the changing trends needs an open mind and a rational attitude as a pre condition. It can only be achieved if one is able to shrug off the loads of prejudices from his shoulders.

The choice therefore is entirely personal: weather one wants to pull his socks up and participate in the big show of the humanity, going to take place in a genome mapped future or prefers to remain sitting on the fence. Sadly, on the question of modernity, most of the current politicians were found to be dumbfounded. May be, because they continue to belong to the by-gone, inane and arcane age of political ideologies.

However, the time appears to be changing and no single ideology seems enough to envisage the aspiration on entire human kind and instead ideologies are proving mere tools in the hands of the petty politicians to function with the sole objective of perpetuating them in power.

In fact, ideologies are no less divisive than religion - an opium of the masses as defined by Karl Marx. This very divide seem to have enervated many to take refuge in the extreme sentiments of jingoism or xenophobia.

However, unlike ideologies, there is hardly a middle way or a third way, in the slippery highway of modernity, one either forges ahead to win laurels or slips back into oblivion.