JUL 15 -
Three additional sets of actors are attempting to enter into Nepali politics: 1) Gyanendra together with his royalist coterie nostalgic about their good old days; 2) some young Nepalis who are tired of existing political parties and are discussing the possibility of coming up with alternatives; and 3) Janajatis and Adivasis who have every reason to believe that Bahun-Chhetri-dominated political institutions will do their best to keep Nepal from moving toward a more equitable and inclusive future. Janajatis have already announced that they are soon forming a new political party. Dalits, perhaps the most socially excluded among Nepalis, have not yet announced their desire to float any new organised political platform. We will also have to wait and see how Nepal’s feminists articulate themselves.
Khagendra Sangraula has dissected Gyanendra Shah’s recent political overtures very eloquently in his recent column for Kantipur daily (Maharajko Bora, The Burdened Maharaj, July 12). Anybody with a minimum level of sanity knows that Shah is attempting to fish in muddy water. He seems to be oblivious, though, of how far the country has come since his time. But the other two sets of actors are attempting to create serious alternative political platforms.
If these two political outfits are to provide viable alternatives to existing parties, they have to thoroughly work out the details of citizen’s control over the Nepali state. Federalism can provide an opportunity for that. But the problem is much more complex than simple dispersal of power and rearrangement of state institutions.
The first step is to know that the current Nepali state is a medium for Nepali elites to loot public resources. The political class has become brazen in its looting, although it gives legal veneer to its acts at times. Think of all the perks and privileges they have doled themselves.
Murari Sharma and Bhagirath Basnet have provided some numerical details of that in their essay for Kantipur daily (Garibko Tiroma Netako Moj, July 12). An ex-Prime minister spends almost four crores in five years after he (we do not have a female prime minister yet) is out of office. He gets for himself one of the most expensive luxury vehicles. He is provided with luxury residence and paid staff. He has a 10-member security team together with vehicles and fuels provided for their mobilisation. The ex-prime minister is not alone in this. The ex-chief justice of Supreme Court, the speaker of parliament, president and vice-president are also entitled to these perks. Ex-Home ministers follow closely behind in terms of entitlements. Just count
the fleet of cars provided to these VVIPs. Cutting back on perks can free up a lot of money for genuine public projects.
The Shahs and their coterie did this for almost a century before Ranas joined them in the loot business. One hundred and four years later, there was some ray of hope in the early 1950s. But ten years into semi-popular sovereignty, the Shahs and ex-Ranas were back again firmly in control. The 30 years of Panchayat was not just a time of political despotism, but also a time of consolidation of elite hold over Nepal’s resources. Have we asked how they built their business empires during the 30 years of Panchayat? Ask Gyanendra Shah, who is now projecting himself as the saviour of the nation, how his business empire was made. Who did the arms trade? Who got the commissions? Why have we not gotten full accounts of how public resources were siphoned off? Where have our old statues gone?
The thing is that after 1990, we had a new set of looters put in place. The Kathmandu-centered political party leaders soon saw that there was an extortionate amount of wealth to be made off their control over Nepali state. After 17,000 deaths and immense suffering, the Maoists have appeared nothing more than the replica of the same old elite structure.
For 240 years, Nepali state has been a serious burden to most of Nepali citizens. They provided free labour for Ranas, Shahs and their coterie for over a century. The indirect taxes they pay now go to sustaining the decadent luxury for emerging elites.
Well, it will be a mistake if we blame only the political party leaders. They preside over a vastly corrupt and unaccountable bureaucracy, judiciary and military-police institutions. The political leaders are the top beneficiaries, but there are others at different nodes of state institutions. Until now, they have been the biggest source of suffering in Nepali society. These are not just structural issues that could be solved by new rearrangements of state institutions. These are issues that arise because of virtual absence of accountability in operations. The functioning of these institutions establish the real relations of ruling between citizens and state, and that has not changed much.
If the new political actors are to articulate different politics, they have no option other than to fundamentally change the relations of ruling. Changing the rulers alone will result in the same old story.
anilbhattarai@gmail.com
Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/15/oped/agenda-for-new-politics/357167/
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