Ridiculing The Dignified Institution
By summoning the parliamentary session in the streets, politicians are ridiculing the dignified institution like the House of Representatives
By KESHAB POUDEL
As former members of the dissolved House of Representatives tried to hold their third session in the hall of the Royal Nepal Academy, the crowd, mostly party workers and some ordinary people, clapped giving support to them.
However, the police intervened and obstructed the holding of mock session in the hall forcing the seven party leaders to gather in front of its gate.
In similar second session held a few months ago in the streets of Patan, the traffic of Patan city was jammed due to the gathering of people, dozens of television cameramen, ordinary photographers and journalists.
These sessions were neither a shooting of a film nor a street humor but the mock parliament was able to entertain the common people.
Summoned by senior leaders of seven party political alliance, senior political leaders like former prime minister and leader of Nepal's liberal democratic party Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala as well as leaders of extremist communist parties including Madhav Kumar Nepal, Narayan Man Bijukchhe and Lila Mani Pokharel came to attend the third session of the dissolved House of Representatives.
For Nepal , Bijukchhe and Pokharel, leaders of extremist communist parties, this was the right moment to ridicule the parliament as they do not believe in parliamentary forms of pluralistic political system. According to their written manifesto, parliament is a place to ‘sell the dog's heads showing goats’ bodies’.
Despite its recent alliance with the extremists, it is shameful for Nepal Congress, the only liberal democratic party of Nepal , to attend the street session downsizing the glory and pride of the people's institution. Parliament is a dignified institution of the people and there is a need to uphold its decency and decorum. It should not be undermined.
By summoning the meeting of parliament in the streets, political leaders are ridiculing their own demands of revival of House of Representatives to reactivate the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990.
Common people who had seen those actions at the street will oppose any move to revive the House of Representatives. If these were the qualities Nepalese parliamentarians have learnt in the last fifteen years of parliamentary exercise, may God save them.
If this was the model of former members of parliament - who have been working for past 15 years inside the parliament building - people will start rethinking about spending money to sustain the institution.
The actions of politicians - who have been demanding the revival of the House of
Representatives to reactivate the constitution – have made their demands futile. Who are their constitutional advisors?
People in the streets may get wrong messages that their representatives were doing wrong. "Responsible politicians need entertainment but it is costly as well as very ridiculous," said a political analyst.
"These dramas have been played repeatedly but nobody seems to have been convinced by them. The street drama has not only derogated the parliament but downsized their demands."
Although majority of extremists see the mock parliament as a victory, some of them sometimes grumble in a meekly voice that the general people have apathy towards these populist shows. These dramas held up whole traffic creating havoc to ordinary citizens and such street dramas will receive similar kind of negative response in future also.
These events may provide something to write for media persons externally more than internally. Whatever arguments were floated, mock parliament has not been able to attract renowned elites and legal experts sympathetic to these parties.
Till now the Speaker of the House of Representatives Taranath Ranabhat has resisted pressure upon him to preside the session as one done by deputy speaker of House of Representatives Chitra Lekha Yadav. Had Ranabhat attended the session under such pressure, he would have lost his constitutional
obligation.
Member of the dissolved House are not under the oath of Constitution and they don't have to uphold it but speaker and deputy speakers are still under the oath of Constitution. If they go against the oath and violate the constitutional barriers, they may have to forfeit their right to criticize others including the monarch that the constitution was violated by them.
Nepal has lost valuable times in unnecessary political and constitutional disputes. The government has not been able to take confidence of the common citizens and political parties have also failed to lure the crowd. Their actions like summoning mock parliament are further eroding their own credibility.
"Enough is enough. The time has come for political parties to pursue the policy of understanding, cooperation - that means policy of national unity and reconciliation. Inventing new slogans, rhetoric and drafting provocative and impractical charts of demands to maintain the momentum of anger and agitation will only deliver dismal results," said an analyst.
They must work for real parliament not a mock one. The real parliament is possible only through pursuing the policy of reconciliation.
