Submit your Article

As November 20 elections draw near, political parties and their candidates are busy canvassing. They have unveiled their election manifesto with a slew of populist programs designed to attract voters. As election fever grips the country, some candidates have been found engaged in a disinformation campaign to discredit their rivals. Even the top leaders are in it. Social media is awash with false information against candidates. For a free and fair election, it is imperative that political parties encourage their candidates to make their campaign fair and transparent. They must try to win the hearts and minds of voters through noble visions and ideas. Spreading false information in order to manipulate voters is not good for a democracy. It will not allow voters to make an informed-choice. In Nepal’s context, where digital media literacy is minimal, many voters are prone to believe whatever information they are beamed onto social media. This could affect the outcomes of the elections. While the Election Commission (EC) has taken some measures to curb the spread of misinformation in the run-up to the November 20 polls, its moves have also generated the debate on freedom of speech and expression. The commission has been criticized for trying to muzzle free speech. Yes, people should be allowed to express their opinions, but in that process, they should not spread misleading information in violation of the poll code of conduct. Major political parties and civil society organizations also have a role to play to ensure a healthy election process. Parties should instruct their candidates and cadres not to strictly adhere to the regulations set by the EC while campaigning. Civil society organizations, meanwhile, can run their own campaigns to educate voters about the dangers of disinformation on social media, and urge them to trust only those information that have come from legitimate sources. In an ideal democracy, people should be allowed to exercise their franchise with their conscience, in a free and fair environment.

The system—if there was one—that major parties adopted to select their candidates for November 20 elections has not gone down well with their rank and file, least of all the voters. The candidate selection process was entirely dictated by top leaders. Despite instructing the grassroots and local members to recommend candidates, the top leaders did not consider the name list. Under the proportional representation category, the same old faces who have been in power politics for more than three decades, got nominated. Those close to top leaders also got election tickets, while the deserving candidates were sidelined. There are also reports that there was a heavy influence of money in the candidate selection process. Under the first-past-the-post category, top leaders of major parties, such as the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN (Maoist Center), have denied tickets to those party members who have been known to be critical of them. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli refused to hand the election ticket to his rivals Bhim Rawal and Ghana Shyam Bhushal. In the Congress, the likes of Minendra Rijal and Swarnim Wagle were excluded. And in the Maoist party, its chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal is facing criticism for picking those party members near and dear to him. The candidate selection process has once again brought to the fore the absence of democratic culture inside political parties. For a democracy to prosper, it is imperative for parties to lead by example. But this has never been a case for Nepali political parties. Parties that identify as democratic resemble feudal enterprises. Their top leaders are drunk with power and thereby racked with extreme insecurity. And so, they surround themselves with lackeys and toadies and plot the downfall of their detractors. It is for this exact reason why deserving party members do not get election tickets. The faux-democratic parties of Nepal might be right. When a leader ascends to power, he takes the same approach to governing his party and the country: like a mad dictator. True democracy will never prosper in Nepal, unless parties and their power-addled leaders learn to listen to and acknowledge opposing views, for dissent is essential in a democracy. Young leaders and members should take note and take the initiative to reform their parties.  

The 32nd annual report of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) reveals an alarming corruption situation in local bodies. Of the total complaints related to corruption received by the CIAA, 33.14 percent was related to corruption in local bodies followed by the offices related to the education sector. At the provincial level, Madhes is the most corrupted in terms of both data and public perception. Of the total complaints recorded, 28 percent were related to Madhes.  Government data and various surveys show corruption is more prevalent at the local level than at the center. Two years ago, the CIAA conducted a 15-district survey aimed to study the public perception of corruption. Of the 3,000 respondents, 67.6 percent reported increased corruption at local units and 14.9 percent said they paid bribes to officials to get things done. Respondents said corruption had increased after the formation of local units in 2017. Nepal elected representatives for 753 local governments for the second time in May this year. These subnational entities have no doubt become instrumental in providing services to the people and decentralizing power. But they are also becoming breeding grounds for corruption. Misuse of resources in local bodies has become a major source of income for political parties. Candidates of local governments are known to spend millions of rupees on their election campaigns.  Political protection of corrupt officials and party supporters, opaque election financing and toothless law enforcement agencies have all contributed to corruption culture. Everyone knows corruption is rife in local bodies but no one seems bothered about it. Constitutionally, the CIAA, as an anti-graft agency, is responsible for monitoring and controlling corruption. But the highly centralized agency can hardly do anything to monitor the goings-on in municipal offices. The CIAA is essentially receiving complaints when they are made. It is not working proactively to stem bribery and financial misappropriations at the local level.   The anti-corruption body is also ineffective due to heavy politicization. In many cases, it has shown reluctance to investigate large-scale corruption scandals linked to political parties and their leaders.  Time has come to think about a new mechanism to monitor and check malpractices in local governments. Unchecked corruption is already crippling local governance. 

The festival travel rush is well under way. Every day thousands of people are leaving Kathmandu and other major city areas for their hometowns to celebrate Dashain. But for many people, traveling is often fraught with accident risks. The number of road accidents surges during the Dashain holiday. This is mainly attributed to vehicles carrying passengers beyond their capacity, high speed and reckless driving. The risk is further compounded by the poor state of the road, particularly in the hill and mountain regions. Like in previous festival seasons, this time too the government has implemented a ‘time card’ system to discourage speeding mainly on major highways. Additionally, it has decided not to allow vehicles to carry passengers beyond their capacity. But if past experiences are anything to go by, these measures are hardly implemented or followed. There is always a shortage of public vehicles during the festival time because the number of people traveling is very high. So, the authorities concerned cannot make people not travel in crowded vehicles. People want to reach their homes to celebrate the festival with their loved ones. Moreover, the government has issued travel rules targeting major highways when most accidents during the festival times occur in rural roads. Already in bad shape, the condition of most roads leading to small towns and villages of Nepal are further deteriorated by monsoon rains. These roads are seldom repaired. They have to be rendered completely impassable for the authorities concerned to take notice. What is more, old and outdated vehicles ply these roads, making travel all the more dangerous. The government and its concerned agencies should bear in mind that by just merely issuing some rules and guidelines weeks ahead of the festival cannot prevent road accidents. Instead, they should prepare well in advance, get to the root causes of road accidents that happen during the festival season and implement the safety measures. Rules that are ad hoc and short-term are not going to work, and most definitely not going to prevent road accidents from happening during the festival season.