Nepalis seem to be ever-ready for fresh protest thanks to the success of recent popular movement but we are misusing this energy in wrong direction
By Raju Adhikari
Recent protest against the petrol price hike in Nepal forced the government to revoke the price hike after two days. Does the outcome of the protest yield any positive outcome for Nepal and Nepalese in long term? Answer may vary according to people’s philosophy. Question is also remained unanswered what will be the future of state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) which can not pay all of its debts by its own means.
Students from all student unions protesting against the hike in price of petroleum products by burning tyres and blocking the road at Putalisadak.
Students from all student unions protesting against the hike in price of petroleum products by burning tyres and blocking the road at Putalisadak.
What makes us wonder is very irresponsible and cheap remarks from responsible leaders of political parties. Almost all major political parties who are now representing people in the government established by recent popular movement and the Maoists have issued different statements with similar tongue condemning the price increase in petroleum products. Though it has not been stated clearly about Maoists’ contribution in the recent popular movement, it is crystal clear that without Maoists’ participation, the 19- day movement would not have come to a successful end. Hence Maoists’ are also the part of the current government and they should be committed to provide this government their full support.
The immediate reaction from many Maoists’ affiliated organization regarding the petrol price increase was not what was expected. It is a political practice and norm to issue statement and put across opinion about any major activities in the nation but the neutral or cautiously structured statement would most fit in this fluid situation of the country. What is positive is most senior leaders of all major parties are silent until now which definitely shows the supporting sign for government on its recent decision.
The price increase in the petroleum product is beyond the control of a government like Nepal. Even US government, which is financially strong enough to curb the price and Chinese government, which has all the powers to fix the price neglecting international trend, are unable to control the oil price as it fluctuates according to international market.
Oil Price increase in Nepal is inevitable when there is any adjustment in price in international market especially in India. Recent oil price adjustment in India had made it clear that Nepal can not control it any longer. The price adjustment in Nepal has pulled the price in both the countries in similar level. Economically speaking it must be done sooner or later in the situation like Nepal and India which share common open border. Black brokers may benefit from this if there are any price discrepancies of any product along the border. Going further to international oil market, the trend in recent years has always been upward slope. Even in the oil producing countries like UAE, the petrol price has skyrocketed in recent years. Comparing to all developed and under developed countries, the petroleum price in Nepal is in the medium level. Almost all countries in the world are not untouched by this trend and no major protest have been seen against any of those government’s decision to increase the oil price.
The Hrithik Roshan protest, protest against killing of 12 Nepalis in Iraq are some of the examples which dealt a blow to the already shaking country’s economy. Vandalizing public transports, physical properties of nation and individuals do not yield any positive outcome.
Nepalis seem to be ever-ready for fresh protest thanks to the success of recent popular movement but we are misusing this energy in wrong direction. Some political leaders who are outside of the government are utilizing this chance to secure their political future and sideline their rivals from inside and outside of the party by issuing cheap and popular but misleading statements. Being a leader is not to mislead the public. It may benefit the leaders in short term but will harm them in long run. It should not be very strange in any country that political leaders are opportunist and are clever to grab any opportunity they are given to develop their political career but the degree of such mean attitude in politics in Nepal is growing.
The current protest is led by students groups, which are always in the front line of protest of any kind. Politics among Nepali students is so deeply rooted that its immediate uprooting is impossible. While politicians are benefited by injecting politics among students, the country and future of most of the students gets infected by it. There is no vile in organizing groups and speaking for the benefit of the group (like students) but it should not be targeted to benefit another bigger group (political parties in this case) by neglecting their own interests.
Students are among the educated groups of the society. They should analyze the situation and the result of any action before they take it. There is no doubt that poor in the countryside are the hardest hit by the price increase but pushing back the decision, which may cause collapse of the NOC, by force (political or physical) can not be justified in the changed situation. All of us have option to protest against the decisions which are not in favor of people and we must utilize this right to make sure that our leaders and policy makers would not be indifferent with the interest of the people. But there are many policies which may look against the public interest but eventually will benefit them in long term. Saving the ailing NOC is one of the long term goals of the government. There might be various options to save the corporations but most feasible and quick result yielding option was the price increase.
No one may question that the recent condition of NOC is caused by corruption and mismanagement right from Panchayat era which did not improve in the 15 years of democratic practice. NOC was incurring a loss of Rs 830 million per month due to unprecedented price hike in the international market. NOC owes about Rs 8.7 billion debt to IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) and another Rs 3.5 billion to a number of banks in the country. The government has one daunting task how to make it profitable in the future. This takes serious research and policy should be made in such a way that it will not fail. But before doing that the government has to run this state owned corporation whose alternative is not available at the moment. Closing down the NOC or giving it to some other institutions to operate are not intelligent decisions. The semi privatization of NOC might be one of the best solutions that government could propose but the political decisions may result disastrous ending which have been the case of privatization of many state-owned companies immediately after the restoration of democracy in the 1990s.
The recent protest has once again proved that how weak the current government is and how unorganized our political leaders are. Any decision made without deep understanding of the situation and without consulting concerned parties would yield similar result at any part of the globe. The decision to increase the petroleum price should be the political one rather than based on imagination or analysis of a couple of policy makers. It should involve all political parties and leaders from concerned groups like civil society and students. The oil businessmen are now dazzled by the indecisiveness of the government and possibilities of ‘artificial scarcity’ are obviously very high. It will create another unrest in the market sector.
Recent political developments, which aim at accommodating Maoists in political mainstream, is a good harbinger of upcoming peace in the country. The time is for unity. We should work together in any given condition. The country has seen many such protests in the past for different issues which sometime has caused the life of innocent people. The Hrithik Roshan protest, protest against killing of 12 Nepalis in Iraq are some of the examples which dealt a blow to the already shaking country’s economy. Vandalizing public transports, physical properties of nation and individuals do not yield any positive outcome.
The involvement of so called ‘nationalist groups (Mandales)’ to benefit from this situation can not be denied as they are seeking opportunities to smear the reputation of democratic forces. The attack on some online news sites even after the decision to nullify the price increase proves this fact.
Country needs unity now. We should have learned enough lessons from past 15 years of democratic experiences. We need long term vision to direct country towards political, economical and social development. We must be aware of any major activities in the country but also have to be patient enough to bear some short term losses to make the country a better place to live in. We all want peace, stability and progress of our country. If we start in similar way what we did in 1990s, we will be in the same deep ditch from where it will be more difficult to get out and another rebel group of different nature will definitely arise.
(A PhD candidate on International economics at Donghua University, China, the author can be reached by email at [email protected])
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