NATIONAL 2 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Empowering People

Though development works have not been as expected, democracy has been instrumental in making people the decisive factor

By BHAGIRATH YOGI

It is a time to take stock of the situation and reflect. Top political leaders of the country accepted last week that they had made mistakes in the past one decade while governing the country. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was forthright.

"We spent more time to strengthen our own party rather than carry on development works," said Koirala, who was appointed Prime Minister for the fourth time within the last ten years, only last month. Addressing an interaction program on "Ten Years Since the Restoration of Democracy," Koirala said there have been much progress in the sectors of education, communication, health and water supply during the past ten years than in the entire 30 years of Panchayat period. " Now, there should be a national consensus on every issue, including maintaining law and order, among political parties," he added.

People at rally : Unfulfilled aspirations

Opposition leaders, on their part, blame Nepali Congress for mismanagement in the country. "The entire problem lies in the working style of the NC. There is rampant corruption in various government programsÖthey only feed the NC workers," said Madhav Kumar Nepal, General Secretary of CPN-UML. Added Surya Bahadur Thapa, former Prime Minister and Chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, "The NC governments have failed to provide an acceptable development policy to the country despite ruling for nearly eight out of the last ten years."

The blame should go to all the major political parties and their leaders as they have ruled the country under different dispensations over the last one-decade. "Nepali political leaders consider themselves as rulers and not representatives of the people. This is why they do not understand the need to frame the purpose of governing the country," said Krishna Hachhethu, a political scientist.

With nine different governments and three general elections over the last ten years, political stability has remained anything but elusive. This has had adverse impact on development works, economic reform programs remain stalled and foreign direct investment has declined. People with spiraling aspirations in the beginning find themselves disenchanted. But they have become wiser, so are their leaders.

"We have had very wide experience in our parliament over these years. Now, we know what are our priorities and our limitations," said Koirala. "At a time when different forces are working in the country, there is no other alternative for all the parties than to move ahead unitedly," he added.

Koirala sees the four-year-old Maoist rebellion as an act of instability designed against the country's new found democracy. Fighting with the rebellion amidst widespread poverty and unemployment is, however, not going to be easy for him either. The solution, hence, should be explored from within the political process itself.

"Though we ourselves are to be blamed for not being able to weed out the ills that we inherited from the Panchayat rule, Maoist insurgency can't be an alternative to the present democratic dispensation," said leader of the opposition, Madhav Nepal. "The challenge before us is to take the present form of elite democracy up to the grassroots level and transform it into a participatory democracy."

Thanks to the opening up of the society, such a transformation has already started, say observers. "All over Nepal, countless men and women have jump started a process of sustained social transformation that is development," said Ms. Mieko Nishimizu, Vice President of the World Bank, after visiting 16 out of 75 districts of the country, late last year. "They are the change agents that will build a nation without poverty. They are the true asset and treasure of Nepal."

There are other positive indications too. "Growing tolerance, increasing communication (among different strata of people) and on-going process of democratization are the positive aspects over the past one decade," says UML legislator Raghuji Panta. "The restoration of democracy has turned Nepali people from serf into a sovereign citizen. The greatest achievement over this period of time is establishment and strengthening of people's power."

Ultimately, these are the people who can transform their lives from misery and poverty into modernity. (694 words)