Support Govt's Push For Good Governance

When someone asks the tourists who come to visit Nepal from different parts of the world, "How do you find Nepali people?" All of them answer with a smile, "They are very nice people. They are friendly, simple, innocent and kind. They are number one in hospitality." But what we are seeing these days justifies such qualities in Nepali people?  For some people, such statements are still true but not for others. You may know what I am talking about.

It has not even been two months since the Prime Minister Balendra Shah-led government has been formed. We are all aware that during such a short period of time, this government has done so many good deeds in different sectors of the country. The general people have started to realise its presence at their service. The government is just following the ruling party's, i.e. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)'s election manifesto and a 'citizen contract', which was made public in March this year. It has highlighted '100 points of policy change.' Based on this manifesto, the government's target is to complete 100 tasks within 100 days, focusing on good governance, economic growth, anti-corruption, meritocracy and many other such agendas that can lead the nation towards positive transformation.

Unnecessary comments 

What is surprising is that whatever the government is doing to bring change, the opposition parties and their followers are passing negative comments, just for the sake of comments. These comments reached the climax once the government started to demolish the illegal dwellings of landless squatters on riverbanks in Kathmandu nearly a couple of weeks ago. It was obvious to happen sooner or later, so why make too much fuss?  Weren't such structures risking the dwellers' lives during the floods in rainy seasons every year? In addition, they had made the city center ugly as well.

When the tearing down of such unorganised settlements began, people came to know that there were more fake landless squatters than the real ones. They were making a handsome living in disguise. They had created their own empire there, and only these people got aggressive to the governmental action and they were supported by the people from different political parties. The real squatters seem to be happy because they believe the Balen government will take care of them. When the issue of landless squatters was still hot, there came a recommendation of the Chief Justice by the Constitutional Council of Nepal. This incident also aroused a lot of negative remarks. It is okay to ask for clarification if something is not clear or if people are not satisfied with the decision made by the government. But is it right to be personal and attack someone mercilessly?

In both of these cases, i.e., the removal of unauthorised settlements and recommendation of the Chief Justice, the Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, has been attacked illogically. Forget about ignorant people! What hurts more is the person like Sushila Karki also does not want to spare an opportunity to make Balen her target! Many women consider Karki as their model. She has been at the height of her position as the Chief Justice and the first female Prime Minister of Nepal. Doesn't she know what sort of language she is expected to use in public? She unnecessarily dragged Balen's wife into her conversation with a journalist. Though she tried to correct her later, her cruel intention to criticize Balen was clear to the public.

It seems like Balen's enemies are intentionally assassinating his character. They are using all sorts of foul language to defame him. They can criticise his actions but not him as a person; character assassination is a crime. It is the PM's generosity that he is not taking any action against them.

I am sure all those people who are trying hard to prove Balen wrong are not motivated by their patriotic feelings at all; instead, they have their own vested interests to get one or another type of personal gain. If not so, why to point their finger at a person who works day and night to make the country a better place to live? Shouldn't we give him time to materialise his plans? Isn't it too early to judge him? The so-called critics may be jealous and scared of what Balen is doing because his actions can make them dysfunctional by exposing their selfishness.

Win people's heart

I hear the voice of a handful of people who are asking for the PM's resignation. Well, if he resigns, what will be an alternative? Haven't we seen other parties' governance for the last thirty years? Weren't people fed up of their monopoly to spark a Gen Z movement as a reaction? Therefore, it is meaningless to shout for the PM's resignation at the moment. No matter how much they struggle for this, it does not work as the RSP has got people's mandate for a solid five years. More than wasting time to criticise Balen, what is important is that the political parties should clean their damaged image by doing all sorts of good work to win people's heart and reclaim their lost trust first.

Observing Balen's working style, I think that he may be guided by the philosophy of 'deconstructionism.' He literally wants to break down everything that is constructed by the earlier failed and corrupted political systems and reconstruct them in a better way. There is no doubt that if you deconstruct something, it looks chaotic, dirty and ugly. Then, when you start reconstructing the same, it appears to be clearer and more beautiful. Therefore, let's not interfere with the government at least for 100 days. We should wait and watch if it fulfills the promises that it made to the Nepali citizens.

(The author is the director of Vidya Shilpa Academy, Damak, Jhapa.)