By Preeti Koirala
The royal government headed by King Gyanendra has managed to do what four previous governments of the country just talked about: Insist upon the Election Commission to announce the actual dates of the municipal elections. In a late night announcement on the eve of Maha-Saptami, the seventh day of the biggest festival of all Hindus, the Election Commission declared February 8 th to choose all office bearers of all 58 municipalities across the country. The Commission also said that that the election process for the same will begin some two weeks in advance. On his Dashain message to the nation on October 12th, King Gyanendra went a step forward to proclaim the holding of parliamentary elections within one year and stressed on the need of strengthening democracy through parliamentary polls and inviting foreign observers to overlook the elections.
That there exists a political vacuum in Nepal is no secret, a strong motivational factor for the growth of the Maoist insurgency in the last couple of years. However, the blame must be shared by the political parties and their leadership that relishes in the game of political blackmailing and brick-batting instead of getting elected to assume power apart from the King who assumed absolute control on February 1 st. Everybody knows that it was the democratically elected Prime Minister and not the King that dissolved the House on May 2002 and subsequently dissolved all the local elected bodies thereby paving the way for a resolute monarch to try his own hand in resolving the problems before the country. Neither Sher Bahadur Deuba, or Lokendra Bahadur Chand nor Surya Bahadur Thapa could announce the dates of municipal elections, let alone the parliamentary polls. Since the last four years, the country has been swinging and drifting with nominated Ministers and officials both at the center and local levels. To make the matter worse, political parties have been regularly holding mock sessions at different nooks and corners of Kathmandu city while the international community has been calling for the early restoration of democracy in Nepal. After these elections have been duly announced, one is tempted to ask: What is the meaning of “democracy” in the present Nepali context and what entails to “restore” it?
· Elections are the backbone of any democratic polity. Elected representatives have to renew their membership once every five years. Without elections, the very notion of democracy becomes mutilated and whatever little meaning it bears on the level of the common man gets further tarnished without periodic elections. In the our case, MPs who were last elected a good 6 years ago still claim themselves to be the representatives of the sovereign people, and call upon the King to restore the old House. This is not only absurd but also a terrible fear in losing one’s privileges by shying away from the electorate. They should realize that they are “former” MPs who don’t have any legal, constitutional, plausible basis to be the voice of the people today. They may have been 90 percent of the old Lower House but that is a thing of the past. To claim oneself to be the representative of the people today, one has to be duly elected again. Everyone knows that from the last 6 years very few of them have actually gone to their respective constituencies and renewed their bond with their voters. But isn’t this the time to do so?
· In order to “restore” democracy which was invariably de-railed in the last couple of years, there is only one method: i.e. to hold local, municipal and general elections as soon as possible. This will re-energize the system, strengthen democracy and also safeguard our Constitution. Early elections will also resolve the constitutional impasse ¢ and place the constitutional players back to their original positions. There is no other short-cut way to restore democracy in Nepal right now. By appointing one of the leaders of 7 agitating parties, there will once again be a “nominated” government without the people’s mandate to govern the nation. Nobody knows what the people’s aspirations are since it has been six long years since they last went for polls.
· However, the agitating parties have been saying that “taking part in these elections would mean giving legitimacy to the king’s rule.” Why don’t the parties participate in the local and general elections, get elected and then form a democratically elected government of their own so as to legitimize themselves? If the present constitution is an issue, why not form a parliament, and then opt for a revision of the constitution thereby creating a proper atmosphere for negotiations with the Maoists? If they would like to go for a constitutional assembly why not pass a parliamentary resolution in this regard thereby formally stamping the present constitution as null and void? They have no right at the present to demand a constitutional assembly as the issue has never been approved by the sovereign people of Nepal. Some of the parties have also been saying that the elections maybe rigged. But rig for whom? None of the present government ministers will be contesting elections. The major parties such as the NC and the UML need not be scared of their electoral prospects if they claim themselves to be the main bulwark against regression in the presence of foreign observers. In fact, they are the ones excelling in the art of rigging polls a la, Bam Dev Gautam as Deputy Prime Minister and GP Koirala as Prime Minister.
The only problem till date was the government’s intention to hold municipal elections and then lengthen its tenure as long as it can. There was also a notion that the palace may simply use local elections as an eye-wash to divert the international community’s attention from the main agenda of handing over the state power to the people. However, this issue has ceased to exist after the October 12 th message of the King in which he has vowed to hold general elections for the lower house of parliament “within one year”. Going by the sudden enthusiasm of the election commission these days, it may announce the dates of the general elections very soon. King Gyanendra has also promised inviting foreign observers to overlook these poll proceedings as his Foreign Minister stated a couple of days ago and repeated by the King himself in his royal message. Therefore, it is obvious from these developments that the King is ready to handover the power to the people’s representatives.
But now, the political parties with their antics of inter-party wrangling and power struggle don’t want to participate in these elections. According to Koirala, they will even try their hand in disrupting the elections just like the Maoists do. This will not only frustrate the people and erode their credibility further on the level of the people but also allow the King to demonstrate that “look I am willing to restore democracy and hand over power but these leaders of the political parties don’t want to take it.” If elections are held peacefully, it will help the King to establish himself as the main savior of democracy even as the parties show their inclination to grab power through unconstitutional means such as brick-batting on the streets of Kathmandu and cry for a restoration of the old parliament. Disrupting the polls will place the parties in the same level as that of the Maoists. The October 12 th royal message has clearly turned the table of political chess-board of Nepal. The diplomatic community too must choose whether they are in support of “restoration” of democracy through legitimate electoral process or merely change of guard from one of the agitating political parties. If they don’t participate, the political leaders may pass on to oblivion and fade into dustbins of history as hundreds of freshly elected representatives will now emerge in Nepal that will have their own determination, resolve and vision to carry on with the business of the state.