Almost five years after that historic victory; two years and eight months after the election of the first ever Constituent Assembly (CA) of the nation - the euphoria has died. We are buried deep in anxiety.
We are gripped by fear of the future even before we could shake off imprints of nightmares of the past.
The danger of yet another era of violence in the name of distant ideologies looms ahead of us. Violence has set in the society as an atavism threatening peace and prosperity. It has started appearing persistently in its different avatars; sometimes a call for ethnic representation, sometimes an ideological dissent or sometimes merely anarchism being used as an instrument for individual ambitions.
If we look around for examples, emerging out of conflicts has never been easy for people anywhere. It takes time. It takes a clear path or action plan. It also takes a lot of political will driven by strong yet pragmatic leadership. More often than not, it needs inspiration and influence, both internal and external. And when things don’t work out, outcome is devastating. Here, the situations yell at our face - something is amiss in Nepal.
In retrospect, the reasons turn out to be glaringly obvious.
In the beginning, the approach to the elections as just another parliamentary election and the pursuing delay had done enough to raise the tentacles of the skeptics. Though it proved right from the start that it all originated from a flawed process without any political congruence between the stake-holders and without adequate political awakening among the people, there is some more to it.
Firstly, the very modus-operandi seems ridiculous. The elected CA, whose job is to write the constitution, is also to be the interim parliament. This meant that government was to be formed by the members of the assembly. This has resulted now that the people who are supposed to write the nation on to the world map are busy always on the lookout for immediate power and ministerial posts. Instead, a caretaker government formed by national consensus separate from the constitution making body could have evaded a lot of harm. But alas! Only if they seriously meant to write a constitution.
Secondly, given the situations, the initial time limit itself was overoptimistic. It was not an easy task before the members of the CA. Drafting guidelines for ruling a country with such ethnic and cultural diversity in two years was too much to expect when it was sure they had to occasionally fight for power too (pun comes unintended). And soon, the initially agreed schedule went for a toss and a miserable exhibit of ineptitude followed. What could be more shameful for the nation than to face a situation when its parliament held unsuccessful elections almost every day to choose a prime minister?
Add to this the chimerical leadership and we get what we have today.
The elected CA, whose job is to write the constitution, is also to be the interim parliament. This meant that government was to be formed by the members of the assembly. This has resulted now that the people who are supposed to write the nation on to the world map are busy always on the lookout for immediate power and ministerial posts.
As an example, let us talk about evolution of Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Before he made his heroic entry into Kathmandu, he was a phenomenon carefully created by the party. He was a mysterious character known to the world through just one photograph in a military fatigue. Many cynics even floated a conspiracy theory that it was just a created hype and Dahal did not exist. But finally he arrived and surprisingly for many, his party also did arrive in a big way in the elections.
But, Dahal became a victim of the hype created around his personality. When in power, as the ex-rebel leader turned Prime Minister not able to move things as much as he desired, he started getting disappointed too early and this made him do strange things. Out of power, fear of losing control over his own party drives him to do strange things. And he has a very simple philosophy of tackling with problems - let controversies simmer so that the latest one overshadows the previous ones and makes people forget all eventually.
And when the largest party in the CA declares - to the amusement of the whole world – India as its principal enemy, we become a laughing stock. What is remarkable for the people is that other political parties are also equally blessed in terms of leadership.
On what issues are our politicians keeping themselves busy in such crucial times makes a lot many things clear. At the heart of such behavior lies a deep disregard for the aspirations of people and the nation. Individual parties and individual’s domination over them has become of supreme importance to the peril of the nation and the people.
But to whom should the nation turn for leadership at difficult times? Whose responsibility is the constitution after all? In the world surrounded by ‘imagined enemies’, looking for an outside inspiration to solve our problems will not help. The answer lies in the telling example of the voluntary peace rally of May last year that forced the Maoists to stop their act of encumbering the nation.
The peace process will be derailed if the parties do not go in for an immediate course correction. If anyone is really serious about the constitution, then the time to act is now. The CA must define the key issues and go to the people right away.
There is no alternative to a referendum on the structure of the state. Even the members of the CA do not have the right to force their views on people because the elections were approached just like any other parliamentary election. And the people have the right to decide how they want to govern themselves in future.
It is clear that even the extended deadline will not be met and we will need more extensions. But that is a small price for the long term stability of the nation, if at all it comes.
The obligations of the political parties, the media, intelligentsia and the people are clear. For constitution to be written and for peace to come it is time for them and all of us to live up to our responsibilities.
dinkar.nepal@yahoo.com
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