JUL 08 -
Is Nepal in that great Gramscian moment when the old political establishment is dying, but the new one has not yet taken shape? By old I mean the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, the UCPN (Maoist) and some others. It might sound a bit too presumptuous to make this claim. After all, they are still the major political forces in the country, and new elections have not yet happened. But it is a reasonable guess that their popular legitimacy has plummeted to an abysmal level. The ex-king Gyanendra is obviously trying to fish in the muddy water of politics, but other than the ‘look, they-are-worse-than-me’ logic, he has absolutely nothing to offer. Most know that going back to the corrupt royal rule is not an option, but he is not the only actor trying to enter the political ring.
No other time could have been more appropriate for Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin) to organise the “Adivasi Janajati National Political Conference” in Kathmandu on July 4-5. Nepal’s Janajati and Adivasi activists have given themselves a month to figure out whether or not they will launch a new political party. A few among them, who are formally with existing political parties, seem to still harbour some hope that the leadership within their respective parties will change enough to uphold their identity-based demands. The CPN-UML, on the other hand, has summoned its errant Adivasi/Janajati leaders to clarify their recent engagement in anti-party activities.
The position paper circulated during the conference is unequivocal about the need for a new organised political force. “Without our own party, we could not raise our voice strongly,” it laments. “It is painful to remain at the mercy of others.” And, therefore, “there is no alternative to building political force of Adivasis and Janajatis.” Most of the over one thousand participants of the conference have backed this idea.
In a month from now, we will know whether Janajatis and Adivasis will form a new party or not. If this period is an ultimatum to existing party bosses to behave, we should be certain that we will see the birth of a new political party soon. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the thick-skinned leadership of existing political parties will change in any substantive ways. The most they might do is resort to what they are used to so far: tokenism. They might adopt new resolutions in their party policy. They might reshuffle their party organisation to accommodate a few new Janajati and Adivasi faces. Adivasis and Janajatis seem to be too determined to be fooled by tokenism this time.
The position paper indicates that they are aiming for nothing short of qualitatively transforming Nepal’s political landscape. The party finances will be made transparent, it reads. It has done thorough self-assessment, as well as the assessment of existing political forces it has to compete with. It has accepted democratic political process as the legitimate route for transformative politics. It explicitly argues for inclusive organisational structure for the future party. In all these counts, the new political force has the potential to beat the existing ones. But that is not enough.
Transparency and inclusiveness are great for building a new political culture, but much more than intra-institutional operation is at stake. As a force aiming to run Nepali state, it has to thoroughly grapple with some concrete issues. For instance: what position does it have on Nepal’s agricultural transformation? What are its plans for addressing basic needs for all? Does it have any concrete analysis of the potentials for generating economic opportunities in different sectors? How does it view water resources? Urban centres have emerged in every region, and they pose serious challenges for human settlement planning. Do they have any vision for urban transformation? Health service delivery is another major sector that has to seriously be dealt with if it genuinely wants to emerge as a better political force. The disruptive effects of changing climate have added to the complexity of challenges that political actors face. Let’s be even more specific: do Newa lead ers have any concrete ideas about bringing Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers back to life? Have they thought about transportation planning in Kathmandu and other major cities?
These are not easy and simple issues. The existing political parties are too inept to even think about them. If the position paper is any guide, it appears that Adivasis and Janajatis are attempting to move from a group making demands on Nepali state to one aiming to run and transform it. This calls for thorough deliberations on issues of everyday life. Creating an inclusive federal structure might be an immediate goal, but that in itself does not address the multiple challenges facing the bottom 70 percent it wants to represent.
A new political force with concrete transformative political programmes is the only way to break the stranglehold of utterly inept and undemocratic leaders of existing political parties. But this force can inspire a broad spectrum of citizens only if it is based on concrete actions. It is a historic opportunity for Janajatis to take the lead.
Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/08/oped/will-janajatis-pull-it-off/356790/
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