Voters’ Expectations

Parmeshwar Devkota

Though the counting of votes of the elections to the federal and provincial elections is still underway, the results which were made public as of this writing have challenged predictions made by political leaders and pundits. 

Prior to the polls, the political parties were divided into two fractions and played tactics of various types against each other. They formed alliances to woo the voters, ignoring their own ideological integrity. They tried their best to prove that they are right and the other group is wrong. But their message hardly impacted voters. Both groups’ various tricks show that they are strong, but the voters proved that their tie-ins were apparently cosmetic, impractical and mere opportunistic. Nepali voters are not meek and simple as some top leaders think. They are rather calculative, clever and progressive.

Nepalis apply their conscience and voted for those leaders who show better future prospects. In many places, they opted for candidates of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and refused to vote for the alliances. The young and fresh contesters from newly formed parties, and independents stood against those unenergetic leaders, promising to root out corruption and red tape, and ensure rule of law. As a result, the people voted for them, making a dramatic shift in the national politics. A significant number of candidates from the new parties won the polls.

As Vincent Lombardi says, ‘Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.’ So, the independent members of the federal and provincial parliaments must start working on their agenda from day one.  The newly elected RSP’s candidates and other independents should concentrate on bringing about transformations in the nation. They must focus on three aspects of national life. 

First, they need to identify lapses in the laws and by-laws and correct them.  The legal system of the country is so complicated and confusing.  One law overlaps the other and it does not give clear a way out to the tricky issues. As the legal provisions are complex, the civil servants have to take risk on making decisions which they do not want. On other hand, some civil servants may be money minded and have ill intentions. To end the bureaucratic rigmarole, the lawmakers from young generation must work together to amend the laws as per the nation’s need.

Second, the leaders must gather courage to correct themselves. They must not be mired into corruption scams as general perception is that most of the politicians are morally defective. The new lawmakers must refrain themselves from the corrupt practice and conduct.

The last and the most important task of the lawmakers is to monitor the economic activities of the local levels. Most of the local levels are marred by anomalies and misuse of funds, because local level leaders are behaving as if they are above the laws and no one challenges their misdeeds. The local levels, according to the federal constitution, are sovereign but not the local level leaders. So, new and enthusiastic parliamentarians should work wisely to create a corruption-free society and put the country on the right track instead of wasting their time in debating the agenda of kingship and supremacy of certain culture and religion.