Just trading charges will not solve problems

By Dhana Thapa

The main opposition party, the CPN-UML, started its agitation against the Krishna Prasad Bhattarai led government in earnest from Tuesday (yesterday). Even as the Special Session of the House of Representatives requested for by the UML was about to start, UML supporters staged a sit in protest at Bhadrakali, which is right in front of Singha Durbar. The Parliament is within the Singha Durbar complex. Virtually all the UML MPs were also present at the protest programme.

Later in the House of Representatives, the Special Session began and with the permission of the House Speaker UML leader Madhav Nepal spoke about the justification of the UML move. The House now will meet on December 20 for discussions to start.

Meanwhile on Monday, calling a press conference, General Secretary of UML, Madhav Kumar Nepal had said, “Our party has decided not to accept the election result in Rautahat’s Constituency No. 4 as the polling was rigged with the misuse of administration”.

This response from the main opposition party, whose top leader Madhav Nepal himself had vacated the seat of that constituency, was expected. But it is doubtful anything much will come from this complaint. However the press conference became the first salvo to initiates the attacks against the government.

In the coming days, when discussions start in the Special Session, there is no doubt that the government will be put in a tight corner. For whatever the strengths or weaknesses of the opposition, the issue they have raised, is something with which the people can identify.

First there was the price hike of kerosene and diesel, both petroleum products which directly affect the people in general and also the commodities they buy. If most Nepalese use kerosene as cooking fuel, then diesel is used by the vehicles that carry all goods. So the sharp price hike of these two items, could be felt acutely by the common citizens.

Their woes did not end there. Soon after there was a 30 per cent increase in the electricity tariff too. Apart from the ordinary consumers, most industries too depend on electricity, so what this did to a common man’s budget and also market prices, is easy to fathom.

Thus it can be clearly seen that the government has not taken any popular decisions, as far as the people are concerned. So when these bitter facts are repeated by articulate speakers of the opposition parties regularly in the House, the government will definitely find it hard to defend itself.

But naturally the question arises whether just talking of the price hike in the Parliament is enough or not. Regarding this, UML General Secretary Madhav Nepal quite rightly said, “The Parliament is a place where the current problems of the country are discussed. And we are only trying to demonstrate the effectiveness of it. If the government does not pay attention, we will go to the streets.”

Nepal is definitely right in insisting that the parliament should discuss the price hike issue, which has been painful for the people. In this regard Speaker of the House Taranath Ranabhat also pragmatically expressed the opinion that the Parliamentary move of the main opposition is a positive thing as it has set a tradition of seeking the solution for various problems faced by the country in the House.

This is true. And also like mentioned by UML leader Nepal, the government must be serious about this issue which is making the life of the general people a hard one. Instead of talking of making the nation ‘like America’ in 15 years’ time, the Prime Minister should try to focus his attention on the present difficulties of the people. But the top level leadership in the government, has not shown enough concern to explain things to them.

The present NC government, which does not have to constantly tread on its toes, like the weak coalition governments before it, can seriously look at how the Neapalese, one of the poorest people in the world, have to pay the most expensive prices for basic essentials like petroleum products an electricity.

There must be something wrong somewhere. The government must consider it a duty to ensure the people get relief from such artificially put on burdens. It should not hesitate to pull up the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the two public utilities that enjoy a monopoly in providing electricity and distributing petroleum products in the country. They must be made efficient institutions that cater to the needs of the people and not make profits to distribute as bonus to their employees. The image of these two institutions in the eyes of the people, till now is that of  “white elephants”, where only the employees that work there benefited. It is true that the workers both at NEA and NOC, enjoy attractive perks, which employees of other corporations don’t get.

But to come back to the issue in the Parliament, what would the UML itself have done about the present crisis? Just criticising the government is not enough. Constructive suggestions must also be given. Even the complaints about the election rigging in Rautahat would have been better, if the UML had accepted defeat, but yet insisted irregularities had taken place.

Trading charges in the House will be easy, but coming out as sincere in the eyes of the public after this, will be the difficult part for both the ruling party and the opposition.