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Kathmandu: Nepali Congress President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said the opposition party in the parliament had a significant role to play in strengthening democracy. Speaking at a party program, he expressed hope that his party would be more effective in the opposition than it was in the government. RSS

Kathmandu: Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chairperson KP Sharma Oli has said the unification of the UML and CPN (Maoist Center) could take place by mid-April. “Party unification will take place as per the need of the hour and aspirations of the people, and it could happen even before April 22, the proposed day for the merger,” he said. The prime minster was speaking at a tea reception organized at the prime minister’s residence at Baluwatar.

“The incumbent government is capable of promoting and establishing national unity, peace, stability, prosperity and carrying out development activities,” he said. On the occasion, the prime minister thanked the House of Representatives members who gave him their votes of confidence and helped him secure three-fourths majority. RSS

One historian has remarked that establishing a democracy in China at that time was not possi­ble. The country was at war and divided between the Communists and the Nationalists. Corruption within the government and a lack of direction prevented meaning­ful reform. Chiang Kai-shek, a democratic leader, saw the failure of his administration to do real work and said, “Our organiza­tion becomes worse and worse… many staff members just sit at their desks and gaze into space, others read newspapers and still others sleep.”

It looks like a replication of the restoration of parliamen­tary democracy, the downfall of monarchy and the beginning of a republic in Nepal. The level of cor­ruption, a lethargic civil service and anarchy in the administration in that era of Chinese history have parallels with what has been hap­pening in Nepal since 1990.

Bit of Chinese history

This specific period in China initially witnessed a democratic administration run by General Chiang Kai-shek. The southern part was under the control of the Kuomintang, led by a pop­ular leader Sun Yat-sen. But the north-western part, contiguous to Soviet Union, had turned into a communist bastion under Mao. When Sun Yat-sen died, the Kuo­mintang leadership went to Gen­eral Chiang and two major polit­ical forces emerged. They came together when Japan attacked China in 1937.

They stayed together until the end of the Second World War in 1945 to drive out foreign invaders. But when that mission was com­pleted, the two started fighting for political supremacy. After over four years of intense civil war, the communists succeeded in driving the Chiang-led Kuomintang out of mainland China. The Kuomintang moved to Taiwan and established a separate state.

Unity and disunity

Similarly, Nepal witnessed three-pronged hostility among the monarchy, the democratic parties and the armed Maoists during Nepal’s conflict years. It was taken for granted that coales­cence between any two of the three political forces would defeat the third force. But it was not clear for several years which among them would stay and which would be out. When king Gyanendra took over state powers in 2005, it paved the way for the demo­cratic parties and the insurgent Maoists to work together against the monarch. No sooner did they come together than they launched massive agitation against the king and eventually abolished the monarchy.

But as happened in China, the monarchy’s abolition brought about lawlessness, massive abuse of state coffers and impunity. Three political parties became dominant in turn in three successive elections, and they united and disunited in their pursuit of power. The Maoists, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML were the biggest par­ties in, respectively, the first, sec­ond and third polls held after the 2006 changes. As in China, subse­quent to the democratic exercise and internal fighting for about 30 years, the united Nepali communist outfit now exercises power over the state machinery.

Million-dollar question

The role of foreign powers in these countries is also compara­ble. Few Chinese had any illusion about Japanese imperial desires on China. Japan was hungry for raw material and wanted fresh territory to accommodate a grow­ing population. That led to the seizure of Manchuria in 1931. The ensuing Chinese fury against Japan was predictable.

Nepal had a similar experi­ence when it promulgated a new constitution in 2015. It was well aware of India’s attitude towards it. However, it went ahead and issued the constitution by defying India. Consequently, Nepal had to endure untold suffering wrought by a months-long economic blockade.

The big political parties stood together while issuing the consti­tution. But as soon as the blockade ended, they began fighting. The fight continued until the recent polls gave the communist alliance a clear mandate to govern. But the question remains: can Nepal under a communist government consolidate and develop the way communist China has done in recent times?

By ADITYA MAN SHRESTHA

New Delhi: Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada was in India this week to take part in a counter-terrorism confer­ence in Gurgaon. Khatiwada was the keynote speaker at the event that was organized by the India Foundation, a think-tank close to the ruling BJP party. In the conference, Khatiwada presented Nepal’s views on counter-terrorism. The conference, according to the organizers, was held to analyze the changing contours of terrorism and evolve strate­gies to equip the international community with the ability to counter the menace of terror­ism. APEX BUREAU