Post poll period could be more dangerous

Well, the local level elections seem to be finally over and many new faces have taken their oath as chief of metropolitan cities and also the grassroots level of ward chairman and its members.

The Nepali Congress has emerged as the largest party followed closely by the main opposition party the CPN (UML) led by former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and the Maoist have come third. Many independent candidates have also won in key cities like the capital Kathmandu, Dharan and also some other politically important areas.

For now, the local level election results indicate that no party will win convincingly in the forthcoming general elections if or when it takes place. The Election Commission has said the election for the House of Representatives and also leaders of different provinces will have to take place within midNovember, as the term of the members of the House of Representatives will expire before this time. The same holds tenure for the chief of different provincial governments and other leaders of the different provinces.

Going by the results of the local level elections, it is virtually certain that no single party will be able to get enough votes to form a majority government at the central level on its own. In the provinces also, this has already been proved. And from the coalition governments since the snap election called by late Girija Prasad Koirala towards the end of 1994, it has been proved that parties in power will work only for self gains and not concentrate on any development activities for the nation and common people on the streets.

The only exception was that after that memorable election, a minority government led by the late Manmohan Adhikari, the then president of the CPN (UML), some efforts were made to provide relief to the people. It was not surprising that this ‘do good’ government lasted for only nine months and a scramble prevailed on who would lead the next government. Fortunately for the RPP (Rastriya Prajantra Party), but unfortunately for the country, became a catalyst in the forming of the next government no matter who led it. The Nepali Congress had also split in two and the splintered party was led by none other than present prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, one of the most incompetent prime ministers the nation has seen after late Girija and his band of ‘merry men’. As mentioned earlier, this happened when no matter who came to power, the nation and the people suffered. In fact, this could be called the beginning of the disenchantment of the people with the major political parties. The RPP, which was considered as a party supporting the institute of monarchy, thus thought of as ‘untouchables’, benefited the most at this time of political uncertainty with two men late Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand being the prime ministers though their party was way behind the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML) in winning popular votes and thus the confidence of the people. Such a time could come again with independent candidates winning more seats and RPP going forward and joining hands with them with the support of the NC, UML or even the Maoists. This again would be more unfortunate for the country which should have been moving ahead in full throttle but is moving ahead with a lot of burdens, not the least being the five day a week work schedule for bureaucrats, unwanted unions, a slow work style of administrators and constant interference of the judiciary which should be giving justice to the innocent people but are doing exactly the opposite. If readers can recall, this writer had questioned in these very columns, what type of scenario can we expect after the local level election. This was when almost everyone, including the major media outlets, was making reports that there might be violence and irregularities during the election but they were not talking about the postelection scenario. Neither the media nor the so-called ‘experts’ and political analysts said anything about this. But we did say that there would be more trouble after the election than before it happened. Now we don’t need any experts or analysts to tell us about the changed scenario that would come after the local level polls. The leaders themselves are answering our queries and worries about what will happen after the ‘circus’ that the elections will bring to the fore! Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress has something to say, former prime minister, KP Sharma Oli has other things to say, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) has other things to say and former prime minister Madhav Nepal leading the splintered UML has another thing to say. All these boastings and even threats have confused the common people, who are seeing steep inflation and uncertainty in the nation and the general populace have to work for a pittance just to meet their daily meals. They have to bear the lies of the political leaders while the latter are living a comfortable life and enjoying the benefits the government provides them with, while the common men on the streets suffer.

Prachanda has made a threatening remark by saying that the Maoists can ‘take care' of the Nepali Congress as it did with the UML, actually the two biggest parties at present. If he really means what he said, then we can guess that the country is on the verge of seeing another violent confrontation between the government and revolutionaries no matter what political background they come from.

Meanwhile, other leaders in the Nepali Congress like Arjun Narsing KC, Gagan Thapa, Jhalanath Khanal of the splinter UML and Barshman Pun of the Maoists have their own versions of the differences in the five-party alliance which fought the local elections against KP Oli’s CPN (UML).

The leaders of both the alliance and the opposition have been at each others’ throats and spilling the beans about how they would have fared if they were to contest elections on their own. The threat from high levels is frightening the people when they had finally seen peace in the country.

For now, we can only hope that better sense will prevail on these leaders who are saying such nasty things not only for their personal benefits but also for the benefit of powerful foreign powers who guide them.