Bhupa P. Dhamala

With the two recent verdicts of the Apex Court in Nepal, myriad waves have surfaced on the political ocean of Nepal. Whereas the verdict for reinstatement of the House of Representatives (HoR) had brought the ruling party into a sort of unity albeit technically, another verdict has separated them legally. The two opposing factions of the formerly united now separated parties have stated that they would follow the judicial verdicts despite their political overtones in their announcements. These two major verdicts of the Supreme Court have nevertheless seemed to have made the political actors think in future more seriously before what they decide and how they go about.

Genuine questions
A number of genuine questions have emerged in the field of Nepali politics now. Among others, two are prominent - what is politics for and how it should be undertaken. One might quickly retort that politics is for the public good and it should be conducted by following political principles and rules. This maxim has been an established discourse since long ago but if we see its course more closely, we cannot find this discourse truly followed by the political actors. This is as applicable in Nepali politics as is elsewhere.
What would happen, for instance, if the CPN-UML and CPN- Maoist Centre then had conducted series of discussions on the principles, programmes, and policies before they got united seemingly with a view to simply winning more seats in election? What would happen if Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led faction had not forged a plan to table a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister Oli in Macbethian manner? What would happen if the Prime Minister Oli had not dissolved the House of Representatives hastily in Othelian manner? Do these actions suggest that politics is for the public good?
Any independent thinker can easily understand that these actions are as unscrupulous as tending to lead the actors to fall into their own tragic quagmire. These actions have posed a serious challenge to the political actors to retrospect over their own attitudes and behaviours if they really want to do politics for the sake of nation and people.

Utopian Desire
There is no denying that the leaders of any political party do have the noble motives. They make a blueprint in mind of a prosperous nation where all people are happy leaving nobody unhappy. Needless to doubt, the democratic and communist leaders in Nepal were initially involved in politics with their noble desires. Some of them even sacrificed their lives which paved ways for democratic changes, many others were put into prison, and still others suffered in the hands of rulers in one way or the other. What more can a sane political leader expect than to see their nation turned into an earthly paradise?
To our dismay, however, things have gone awry. There is a huge gap between expectations and achievements. No matter how hard one tries to reach the target, they are pushed back to be entangled in the jungle of barriers even if they are motivated by the sense of public interest. There are multiple forces that hinder them to easily reach the destination. No road is smooth enough to always drive without hurdles. We have seen many leaders with good spirit in different phases of history. They achieved the goals only through incessant struggle to overcome the hardships.
Although the political lines and principles are clear, they cannot yield desired fruits if the attitudes of the political actors are not positive. Despite their positive attitudes, they cannot be realised if their behaviours do not follow the principles. The general people in Nepal are quite frustrated with the way political actors are thinking and behaving. Many are beginning to doubt if the actors have fair attitudes to politics and the people for whom they say they are doing politics.
How then can we go through the bumpy road ahead? There is no need to much worry about. As we have known from history, unfortunate events had happened several times in the past. Some of them have caused devastating effects on the life of people and the nation causing utter despair but hope has never been defeated. Dismayed though we may be at present, we do not give up hope. If there is poison, there is its antidote too. As the sky sometimes seems to be covered by dark clouds, we can also see that the bright sun is looming on the horizon. As the saying goes, if winter comes, spring is waiting behind to make the flowers bloom.

Need to change
Even if there is hope in the womb of despair, it cannot act without human effort. On the one hand, there are dark sides of politics where some leaders are entangled with foul politics, but on the other hand, there are also others who may follow the rules of fair game. At present Nepal is in a state of need for adequate discussions on what are the root causes of Nepali crisis. We have to seriously discuss whether there are pitfalls in the ideologies and principles or in the political practices.
The time now has come for urgent change in attitude and behaviour. The political leaders, cadres, and followers have to rethink over what they thought and how they behaved in the past to rectify the situation. There is no other option than to sit together and seriously discuss what best can be the political principles and how they can be materialised in the changed context. They should understand the political dynamics of the region and of the globe also but they should put Nepali nation and people first depending on their own strength which they indeed have. It is better late than never.

(Dhamala is the chairman, Molung Foundation)