People’s patience put to test!

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala must pleasingly shoulder all the responsibilities for all sort of the maladies that have gripped the nation of late. He must do so simply because he is the one most triumphant Nepali who has remained most of the time in the saddle of power since the appearance of what is being called the "democratic system" in the country since a decade or so. However, the Prime Minister appears not in a mood to accept his sequential failures in all the possible fronts, be it in the social, economic or even the educational sectors and above all in the diplomatic front. Last but not the least the all pervasive escalation of the Maoists insurgency of late and his government’s utter failure in initiating meaningful talks with the insurgents who have been scoring points after points over the law and order machinery by their increased violent activities specially after the Dinesh Sharma episode. The governments’ unbending attitude in not preparing the ground works for the talks with the insurgents have undoubtedly panicked the national population to the extent that they have been shifting their sympathies from the government side to the insurgents. Whether it is the real sympathy towards the insurgents or out of fear are two different things warranting debate in the intellectual circle. Yet what is for sure is that the government is slowly but steadily losing the sympathies of the innocent civilians who were till the other day remained appreciative of the establishment. However, since they have to live in perennial panic for fear of the State policemen during the day and of the insurgents during the night which now forces them to conclude that the State is not at all interested in giving them security which hopefully is their basic right as per the constitution now in force. The net result has been that the situation in the country has become out of order which was best illustrated by the last attack in Kalikot district by the rebellions that saw the ghastly killings of the policemen and some innocent civilians as well. The continued killings of the Nepali policemen predictably might too have caused panic among the security personals as well. However, the duty-bound men in uniforms have been obeying the orders keeping high the illustrious traditions of the force in which they serve. Perhaps our head of the executive will not accept his failures rather would prefer to shift the burden onto the heads of others. In doing so perhaps he thinks that the lay men would go his way. However, things have become different now as the common populace too possess the brain as to which Prime Minister in the country did what for the benefits of the people.

The education sector is in very bad frame. The economy is in a state of rupture. The law and order synopsis is clear to us all. The social sector remains divided on partisan lines. Nation’s academia most unfortunately stands in a clutter. The bureaucracy is sinister to the extent that with the rumor of a possible change in government or party leadership, they keep their pens down thus hitting the nation very hard. The leadership in the government apparently feels that while being in government they should amass wealth for generations and generations to come with the possible fear whether next time the voters will prefer them or not. The coterie in and around the ministers and the Prime Minister is also talked to be highly corrupt. The very core parliamentary organs, which have been allowed by the constitution to issue strict directives to the government for do’s and don’ts, have either been neglected or thrown to the waste basket summarily. The most glaring example being the grand entrance of the LAUDA AIR in Nepali land despite the warnings served by the Public Accounts Committee not to let it enter until all the needed requirements were fulfilled by the Royal Nepal Airlines-the ever ailing flag carrier of the nation. Predictably the landing of the Lauda Air in Nepal smacks foul play. Most unfortunately, the guardianless nation possesses no authority to penalize let alone investigate as to which were the real men behind this supposed scandal.

The ground reality is that Nepal’s Prime Minister voices his concern over the growing rate of corruption in the country and tells his fellow leaders within and without to begin soul searching act as to in what conditions they had been ten years back and what they were now. However, the moot point is that the members of his own cabinet and their hangovers were committing corrupt practices. The acts of corruption were taking place right under his nose and he remains ignorant or poses to be ignorant. How that could be? It is time that Nepal’s Prime Minister keeps his house in order first and then initiates penal actions against his own cabinet members who have been declared corrupt by his own party men.

All that he needs is the courage, which he possess in abundance but will not presumably use his authority till the Pokhara meet for obvious reasons. To attack the corrupts perhaps he would ask his voters for yet another round of Presidency and that too five years after Pokhara meet scheduled early next year.

Be that as it may, the Prime Minister is thus advised to take stringent actions against the corrupts and bag accolades from the population. In our opinion Premier Koirala can achieve this success provided he fastens his belt and embarks on this path with full determination. Or else the people’s patience will come to an end. The rest should be clear.

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