Meet Their Aspirations

Parmeshwar Devkota

Nepali voters are not depressed like German classical scholar and philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. They believe in their leaders and are hopeful for the future. Unlike Nietzsche, they are not nihilist. The German intellectual says, “Hope is the worst of evils for it prolongs the torment of man.”

Ignoring his claim, Nepali citizens have been participating in every election enthusiastically. They have cast their valuable votes to jingoist leaders, ultranationalists as well as the crooked ones for years. The voters have heard and recorded the deceitful speeches by some leaders for many times. In their speeches, leaders have often been found offering ‘development and prosperity’ to the people. But when they are in power, they are seen getting involved in their personal and families’ progress and prosperity. 

During their canvassing in 2017, some leaders had assured voters of supplying cooking gas to their homes through pipelines, building roads connecting the north with the south and providing jobs for the jobless. Making Nepal a prosperous country was their main agenda. But nothing of that sort happened even under the government with nearly the two-thirds majority. Amid constitutional imbroglios and power tussles, the elections to the federal and provincial legislatures were held on November 20 this year. The voters actively took part in the polls and voted for leaders of their choice keeping high hopes for their bright future in mind.  

It is said that a thousand people may have a million expectations which they themselves cannot fulfil. Therefore, Nepali voters have made a short list of their expectations to be fulfilled by the new government. The first point of the list is the revolutionary change in the procurement-related laws. 

The construction contractors should be made fully responsible for the projects they are holding on. They should be given specified number of contracts and the deadline for project completion also needs to be fixed. If any contractor fails to complete the project on time, his/her license should be nullified. Without having such a harsh provision, things may not change for the better. 

The other point is that the voters also want the present government to address the bureaucratic hassles, which are prevalent in most public offices nationwide. Though some attempts have been made to check red-tapism, but the practice of excessive regulations, rigid conformity to formal rules and delay in decision making are still in practice. In this digital age, paper works should be reduced as far as possible.

The voters also want the newly-elected government to ensure good governance in the country. Among the various indicators of good governance, accountability, participation and rule of law are very important. Every official responsible for wrong doings must be held accountable.  There should not be any loophole in laws and policies.    

The voters have also aspired for sustainable development. As the local levels have begun enjoying 370 rights, they seem to have bought dozers and other heavy equipment for constructing roads. But their unplanned use of dozers has put fragile lands at high risk of landslides and floods. So, the present government should regulate such activities. 

The three-tier of governments (federal, provincial and local) should carry on development works in tandem. The country cannot proceed to the right direction without adopting the concept of sustainable development. The voters have expected the leaders to meet their renewed expectations fully.