Celebrating stagnancy

As Nepal readies itself for a second election to a Constituent Assembly, to be held next month, there is much excitement and hope among people. Most political parties have released their manifestoes and their candidates have started campaigning with fervour, going door-to-door in their constituencies. A few election observers from the European Union have arrived in Nepal, and more are expected to make their way before the 19 November elections. The army has started being deployed in the constituencies to provide security for the duration of the elections. 

The stage is set, and so it should be, for this is a singular moment in Nepal’s history – one that celebrates five years of failure on the part of leaders from all political parties. It is a celebration largely of their ineptitude and myopia, which has resulted in their failure in providing Nepal with a constitution in five years. The urgency of moving the democratic process forward seems to have escaped them at some point.  

In 2008, Nepal had its first elections to a Constituent Assembly. Its primary task was to write a constitution for the country that would pave the way for elections to a government that could carry out its primary task, which is to govern. None of this came to pass and the country does not have a constitution. 

This isn’t to suggest it was an easy task, for there were multiple stakeholders with diverse aims, leading to frequent clashes over ideology, over state structure and the like in relation to the elections. Yet, it must be argued that the Constituent Assembly had but one key task—that of writing the constitution—and it failed miserably at that. The state’s resources have been wasted (is there a more appropriate word?) and the tax payer has consistently been made to feel stupid.  

We now have another election funded by the tax payer, who, in several cases, will not even cast a vote. Not because he doesn’t care, but because he cannot find candidates that care enough. Conversations with scores of Nepalese, both young and old, reveal a common sentiment when it comes to the elections: “Does it matter who wins? They are all the same.” These elections are about indifference.  

Come November, the election tamasha will return to town and the country will witness a party of the leaders, for the leaders and by the leaders. Promises will be made, speeches delivered, brickbats thrown and crores of rupees spent. Hope will be sold and we will watch.

 

(This post appeared as a column in the Himalayan Times on 27 October 2013.)