Work for the long term

Following the 2006 political changes, I have been continu­ously visiting various parts of the country. Before that, I used to make such visits to prepare for polit­ical movements. After 2006, I have been going to far-flung areas to find out what people are thinking about the big political changes. Every year of the past decade witnessed a sort of political uncer­tainty. In the initial years after 2006, there were concerns about the fate of the peace talks with former Mao­ist rebels. After signing the Com­prehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and the subsequent promulgation of the interim constitution in 2007, we were worried about the prospect of the Constituent Assembly (CA) election—whether or not it would take place.

When the CA election was com­pleted, there was uncertainty about constitution-writing and I found that similar worries were echoed at the local level during my visits. Again, there were concerns about how to tackle the ethnic and caste issues that had emerged during constitu­tion-writing.

Amid the climate of uncertainty, we completed the major tasks of con­stitution-writing. Except a few issues that remain unsettled, we have han­dled the peace process almost per­fectly. Even on the remaining issues of the peace process, we are on the right track. Now, we have emerged from the visible and invisible politi­cal uncertainty the country faced in the past decade.

We tend to look at our day-to-day affairs, but if we see the larger picture we have also averted a big crisis in this period, which is a huge achievement. There are many coun­tries that have failed to tackle the issues Nepal handled successfully. Some of these countries are still reeling from religious and ethnic tensions even though they have resolved their political crisis. But Nepal successfully handled all those issues, which was not easy. This is another big achievement.

Another positive development is that we have successfully man­aged our social diversity through political arrangements, and the society is gradually accepting the change. Nepal’s status as a multi-cul­tural, multi-lingual and multi-re­ligious country has now been accepted both in the constitution and on the ground.

Diversity has gained widespread acceptance. In many countries, minorities are still neglected, and norms and traditions to manage social diversity are gradually break­ing down. But Nepal has been a unique case because we success­fully managed this diversity. Several times, we were on the verge of eth­nic and religious conflicts, but we were successful in averting them. Our constitution also provided a strong basis for the management of a diverse society.

 

 Another positive development is that we have successfully managed our social diversity through political arrangements

 

To grassroots democracy

Another encouraging devel­opment is the flourishing of grassroots democracy with the formation of local governments after a long hiatus. The issues of taxation, corruption and other mis­management at the local level have drawn our attention. Such issues must be resolved. At the same time, local governments and their lead­erships are relentlessly working to improve the health and education status of their communities. In this period, I met some local level lead­ers and found them eager to do something good in their constitu­ency. Despite the lack of resources, local representatives seem keen to undertake development works, which is a positive change at the local level.

Finally, when it comes to the per­formance of the incumbent govern­ment, in the past one year, it should have done more to institutionalize the federal structure. But we see lit­tle progress. Only now is the govern­ment forming various commissions to carry out the remaining tasks of federalism. But recent progress in related law-making suggests our provinces would be more functional in coming days. We have already met the constitutional deadline for formulating key laws required to implement the constitution. Yes, we could have done more, but the government is still on track.

People had high expectations from this government. Its failure to deliver has created a sort of pes­simism at the grassroots level. But there is still a silver lining because people have not given up hope.

We finally have a government with a strong mandate for five years. But it does not seem to be working with long-term goals in mind. Earlier governments were unable to think long-term because their tenure was always uncertain. But although this government has five years, instead of working for the people through­out its term, it seems confident it can influence the voters by its fifth-year performance alone.

Political decisions are not being implemented because we do not have strong and vibrant institu­tions. Every government wants to complete the national pride proj­ects and do something positive in health and education. Yet there does not seem to be any long-term strategy for this.

In its initial days, the govern­ment had made some good deci­sions, including ending syndicates in public transport and speeding up infrastructure development. But these initial initiatives have petered out. I suggest that the Oli government work to strengthen our institutions and come up with a long-term vision.