15 years of dysfunctional loktantra
Saturday was loktantra day. However, no enthusiasm was seen among the people as well as government to mark the day to commemorate the political achievement of Baisakh 11, 2063 BS (April 2006), when the April Uprising ended by restoring Loktantra and stripping the wings of the monarchy.
The 19-day joint movement of mainstream seven political parties backed by the Maoists and foreign forces had succeeded to end the direct rule of King Gyanendra on this very day 15 years back. The king had fulfilled the demands of the political parties by reinstating the House of Representatives dissolved by Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002 as asked by the political parties, mainly Girija Prasad Koirala. However, the leaders utterly failed to act according to the spirit of the political movement. They declared Nepal a secular state which was not the demand of the political movements, solely at the instruction of western forces and in the leadership of UML leader and thenSpeaker Subas Nembang and Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Later, the party abolished the monarchy by breaching the agreement of Baisakh 11. Again, the leaders federated unified Nepal to serve the interest of foreign elements disappointing the people. Although a new constitution was promulgated in 2015, it failed to address the voices of Madhes and was amended twice. Five years after the promulgation of the constitution, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is now busy making the constitution further dysfunctional. The unconstitutional dissolution of the House on December 20 last year, issuance of ordinances to appoint his men in the constitutional bodies and giving protection to the corrupt are testimonies to this.
Moreover, the election system looked faulty as the party leaders have started nominating their ‘yes men’ in the parliament under the proportional representation system.
When the government and the Prime Minister started utilising the system for the personal and partisan political gain undermining international practices, people naturally have started showing their dislike to loktantra, which was apparently noticed on the loktantra day this time.