The Degradation of Parliamentary Democracy
We had the unruly spectacle of the leading opposition party the Nepali Congress (NC) hampering the working of the parliament for many days.
The NC had a grudge against the chairman of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and wanted a special parliamentary committee established to probe his alleged [corrupt] deals in a cooperative. The RSP and the ruling coalition also composed of the other main parties: CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN-UML and CPN-Unified Socialists were dead against such a procedure, probably as some wags claimed, the RSP had something to hide.
The NC continuously obstructing the smooth running of parliament was by no means the correct and democratic way to achieving their aims. It just shows how the ‘grand old party’ which was instrumental in introducing democracy as such into the country, has fallen from its democratic antecedents. This was definitely a grave wrong made by the protagonists.
However, the ruling coalition, flush with power, also showed no inclination to cooperate in any way. The ‘arrogance of power’ has now prompted them to prorogue the winter session of parliament as a so-called ‘elegant’ way to get out of the morass. This was surely the second serious wrong committed by the antagonists.
The Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Rekha Sharma, who is also the government spokesperson has given all sorts of implausible reasons for interrupting the parliamentary session when important bills were to be discussed. Minister Sharma claimed that the government was not afraid of any other political party, and its decision was “based on regular practices and necessities” (TRN/The Rising Nepal, April 15). If one is to believe Ms. Sharma, the government was only prompted to prorogue parliament because of the urgent need for “making preparation for the policy and programmes for the new fiscal budget.”
And this time around, the government was also preparing to make public the budget in a different way and with different programmes from the previous ones.
Does this not sound hollow and quite fishy? What we have to really understand is: ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right.
However, this all makes clear that the political rot has long set in the political system and there is urgent need for total reform.
And this is where Rajendra Lingden and the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party come in.
As with the entire government, parliament is also in a state of dysfunction. We will only waste valuable time by waiting for the next general elections.
The RPP has to take urgent action NOW! Regime change and system change are the need of the hour.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.