Pushing it

Published On: April 17, 2017 12:45 AM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


Federal Alliance protests 
As we have repeatedly said in this space before there is absolutely no reason why the local election cannot be held in two phases, with the first of the two to be held on the scheduled May 14 date. But it would be dangerous to postpone the whole election, for then it will be nearly impossible to complete all three sets of elections before the January 2018 constitutional deadline. Moreover, people from right around the country have expressed their overwhelming support for the May 14 local election.

This is because without elected office-bearers at the local level, they have had to face many hassles in getting something as basic as birth and death certificates. Most local-level development projects have ground to a halt. Corruption has flourished. This is why strong and empowered elected local level units are the need of the hour. But by the looks of things people’s right to pick their own representatives to look after their day-to-day concerns could again be cruelly taken away from them.

And they have already waited for 20 years to cast their ballots in local election. Yet the Federal Alliance, a grouping of small Madheshi and Janajati forces, seems determined to foil the May 14 election. 

It has just announced a spate of protest programs targeted directly at the May 14 election. In fact, it will be imposing an indefinite Nepal banda starting four days before May 14. Banda is a very crude political instrument that is best avoided. It cripples people’s day-to-day lives and has a devastating impact on the economy. Whatever the pretext it is hard to justify a measure that coerces people to obey the diktat of this or that political force. So the alliance must reconsider its banda programs, which will be extremely unpopular among Pahade and Madheshi communities alike. There are other options. Instead of holding the whole country hostage to their demands, the alliance can agree to a two-phase election, whereby the first phase is held in half the country and the second phase in the other half. Holding the second phase in the regions from where the Madheshi parties are contesting, among other areas, will give the constituent parties of the alliance enough time to prepare, starting with their registration with the Election Commission. This will be an unmistakable proof of their democratic character and show that they are ready to play by the rules of competitive electoral democracy. 

Of late the Madheshi parties seem to be getting more and more inflexible, constantly shifting goalposts, and endlessly confusing common folks. We are sympathetic to many of their political demands and still believe that a middle-way constitutional solution is possible. But instead of constructively engaging with the major parties, and negotiating in the spirit of give-and-take, they rather seem bent on forcing the major parties to agree to each of their demands—and nothing less will apparently do. They also seem to be forgetting that in a democracy, if certain political issues simply can’t be resolved, there is no option to going to the people with these issues and judging their popularity. The path of endless protests and bandas the Madheshi parties want to put their country on will imperil the nascent Nepali democracy and the unpopular move will be politically counterproductive for even these parties. 

 


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