Creation Of Election Atmosphere

Narayan Prasad Wagle

The constituent assembly (CA) election is a mere three months away, but the major political parties are still reluctant to interact with the people in their villages and towns. It is time the leaders of the political parties were at the doorsteps of the people, often dubbed the source of sovereign power. While the security problems in the Terai remain more or less the same, it looks as if the major parties themselves may cause trouble in holding the election within the stipulated timeframe. The eight-party alliance that was mandated by the people to institutionalise peace, prosperity and parity in the country seems to be embroiled in the same old problems in new ways. The petty political interests have emerged dominant upon the burning national issues.

Monarchy

Following the expanded meeting (plenum) of the Maoists, the monarchy, the most debated topic ever in the history of Nepali politics, has taken centre stage. The Maoists have made it clear that they want a republican order in the country before the CA polls. Similarly, their demand for a fully proportional representation system of election has ignited fury among the parties as it was a settled issue in the eight-party alliance. If the demands are meant to satisfy the disgruntled cadres and use the hot slogans for election purposes, there is nothing wrong. But if they are meant for evading the polls for fear that they would be defeated, it will be disastrous for the country. Although the demands they are making hold some water, it is too late to take a stand on them as a precondition for the constituent assembly election. So it is better for them to learn lessons from what has already taken place in order to master the tactics of peaceful politics.

The reluctance on the part of the Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress-D can be logically attributed to their split. The sooner their unification takes place, the faster they will become ready to face the election. Apart from the apparent issue of unification, taking a clear stand on the issue of monarchy has been equally challenging for them. The difficulty in deciding the fate of the monarchy is that a good portion of the leaders see no wrong in a democracy with the ceremonial state of monarchy, for which international support can also be easily garnered and which may help them to pursue the middle path, with the royalists and the Maoists balancing each other. Another major party in the alliance, the CPN (UML), is also not going to the people with fervour and enthusiasm. On the surface, it does not seem to have outstanding problems in the party nor has it set any preconditions for the CA election. One reason may be that this party has rarely taken a leadership role at historic moments or a firm decision. So it may be hesitating to take a lead in this regard also. Also, its unwillingness to form an alliance with the Maoists on the one hand and its fear that its voters will be divided between them on the other have made it less optimistic about the result of the polls. As we know that the constituent assembly election is different from the general elections that were held for the parliament in the past, the creation of an election atmosphere is vital. Issues of a new constitution and restructuring of the state are hard to understand even for educated persons. It is, therefore, qualitatively difficult for the illiterate people to grasp even bits out of the heap. But because it is difficult to make people understand constitutional issues and issues of state restructuring, the political parties should not be stealing uninformed consent of the people for their own sake. That will just be a mockery of the people's consent and the democratic process at large.

The political parties should have brought out their election manifestos earlier than they used to do so in the past general election so that people have a perception of the state of things. But their reluctance has indicated that they are not interested in giving the right message to the people who fought for loktantra - a system they believe will bring peace, prosperity and parity in the country and end feudalism and injustice forever. As the report of the UN Secretary-General rightly observes, "The stakes are too high; complacency or differences over secondary issues cannot be allowed to threaten to deny the people of Nepal the realisation of their ardent desire for sustainable peace."

Security

The major parties irrespective of short-term political gains must pass the test of time of holding CA election on time. Instead of haggling with the other parties over important posts or privileges, they need to focus on key issues like security, including the model of security sector reform, redressing the grievances of the marginalised people, management of cantonments and the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In order to avert the unprecedented disintegration of the Nepali society, the parties must go to the people without creating one pretext or the other and render the CA election a success.

Source: The Rising Nepal, August 14, 2007