NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Cynicism Or Populism?

Political leaders are engaged in a dangerous popularity contest by making irrational and irresponsible announcements

By KESHAB POUDEL

Following the decree reminiscent of the Rana regime Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba issued on land reform, Nepalese political leaders of all persuasions have jumped into a race to come out with cynical programs to woo voters. Former deputy Prime Minister Shailaja Acharya of the Nepali Congress lashed out at Deuba for abandoning the party’s core of landed gentry. The two non-communist opposition forces in parliament, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Sadbhavana Party, sought to outwit the prime minister by calling for ceilings on all forms of property, not just land.

Deuba talking with political leaders : Ppulism is in

No politician seems to be worried about the political, economic and social costs the country has to bear from his or her cynical announcements. If you delve deeper into what these leaders are saying, it is clear they are trying to revive their sagging popularity. A feverish race to present oneself as more progressive and revolutionary than the other has become the political preoccupation of the moment.

To press their demand for ceilings on all property, the RPP and the NSP have disrupted proceedings of the House of Representatives for over 11 days. The main opposition CPN-UML and other communist parties are worried by the way Deuba's has seized the revolutionary initiative. The UML has made clear that it would further reduce ceilings on land ownership and introduce limits on property in general.

Acharya’s demand for a committee to assess the property earned by leaders and officials who have held positions of power and privilege after the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1990 is in keeping with the intensity of the popularity contest?

Nobody knows whether any of these inane announcements can help a society that is in desperate need of change. What is clear, though, is that this mood of cynicism has badly hurt the country’s economy, politics and society. When small depositors continue to withdraw their money from commercial banks despite government assurances that it is not about to nationalize property, the seriousness of the injury to the national psyche comes into sharper focus.

"We are ready to impose a ceiling of Rs.1 million in personal property," Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the UML, said at a recent public meeting. Ten years ago, Nepalese communist parties pledged to distribute three tolas of gold and a house to each Nepalese family if they were elected to power.

At a time when political leaders are promoting such irrational and irresponsible ideas, can the common people be faulted for fearing that their property is under threat? In a situation where the government itself violates the constitution and the law for sake of populism, how can people trust anyone?

"Populism has one positive side — it make the person popular for the time being. But cynicism does bring even momentary gain," says a political analyst. "When politicians cannot find rational answers to the country’s problems, they engage in populism. What they ignore is that their cynicism is eroding the people’s faith in their leaders."

It is mystifying that Prime Minister Deuba chose to announce a drastic economic program having very serious legal implications without bothering to consult lawyers and economists. On the economic side, Deuba even ignored the National Planning Commission and its highly qualified members. No prominent lawyer, not even from within the Nepali Congress, had been consulted before Deuba made the announcement in parliament. Members of the Nepali Congress Central Committee, the party’s top policy making body, were startled by Deuba’s agenda.

This means that ruling party members don’t know whether the Nepali Congress can implement its so-called "revolutionary" land-reform program. The damage has already been done to the economy. The strong voices of dissent from within the party indicate that it stands little chance of making political gain from the prime minister’s announcement.

Deuba cannot afford to underestimate his challenge. The government will have to package the reforms in the form of legislation and then embark on the difficult and complicated task of implementing the program. "We were not consulted before the prime minister announced the drastic program which would have a long-lasting impact in the Terai," said former minister Mahanta Thakur, a powerful member of the Nepali Congress. "We will not support the land-reform move until the citizenship issue is resolved."

The prime minister’s announcement has triggered mistrust in society. In many parts of the country, family members have taken each other to court. Members of parliament have been involved such court cases. "Deuba’s program has disrupted basic social harmony in the Terai," said Acharya. "I smell a grand design to push Nepal into civil war," she added. But what about the damage done by her own populism?

Inefficiency and corruption have gripped land reform efforts since they were launched in the 1960s. Under the corrupt and inefficient system that exists, a landless peasant has to pay a heavy price to get a piece of land. No leader has found the time to pay serious attention to this aspect of the problem.

As leaders become increasingly unpredictable and frivolous, uncertainty will continue to dominate Nepalese politics regardless of who is in power.