Elect Right Persons

Parmeshwar Devkota

Renowned ophthalmologist Dr. Sanduk Ruit has appealed to the voters to cast their ballots for genuine candidates in the upcoming local elections slated for May 13. Dr. Ruit is the founder and executive director of Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology. His contribution to restoring eyesight is remarkable. He has so far restored the eye-sight of more than 180, 000 people in Asia and Africa. 

With the date for the local polls coming closer, Dr. Ruit, through his Facebook, has called on youths to assess the agenda and reliability of candidates before casting their votes. As felt by everyone, Dr. Ruit states that Nepali voters have become the victims of hollow promises and fake nationalistic slogans for years. He concludes that failing to recognise the right leaders has been one of the biggest weaknesses on our part. According to him, it has been the major reason behind our underdevelopment and growing loss of our credibility. 

No doubt, his concerns are valid because politics is the key component of governance. Politicians are main players, who shape as well as wreck the system. If politicians do not follow the core values of democracy to meet their partisan or personal benefits, the system goes down the tubes. In such a situation, people lose their faith in the system as well as political leadership. 

This is what is happening in our society at present. Reviewing the past election manifesto of any political party, one may easily understand how people were befooled through making false promises. Developing railways from the north to the south, operating a Nepali ship in the Indian Ocean, installing gas pipelines in urban homes and emancipation from the vicious circle of poverty were some pledges that some political parties made before the people in the past elections. Today, there has remained a stark gap between what the politicians promised in the past and what we are facing at present. 

So, the political parties must not repeat making empty assurances in their local poll manifestoes. The Schedule-8 of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 gives 22 exclusive powers to local levels. The parties need to roll out their vision and plans based on these rights of local units, which enable them to refrain from vain promises. Their previous commitments have turned out to be jokes today.  

Voters should also be critical towards the parties and their leaders. They should judge their deeds and performance by setting certain parameters. First of all, it is necessary to make sure that the standing candidates are close with the people and help them solve their problems. If s/he is a tourist candidate, and has no knowledge about local needs, s/he should be rejected at the ballot box. 

Personal conduct of a candidate can be another point of measurement. If the candidates are implicated in corruption cases or show undemocratic posture, they are unlikely to serve the public after making it to the public offices. Therefore, the voters keep vigil on them and punish such candidates in the polls. The next point of selecting a candidate can be his vision and activity. If the candidate is visionary, honours values and stands on his commitments, s/he must be elected.