People’s voice ahead!

People are scheduled to decide on the next five years as they participate in the local level elections throughout the country. All are looking forward to the direction they prefer to take in matters related to governance, development and various aspects of public service delivery. The representatives they choose on the day will steer the municipalities – rural and urban – for the second cycle of federal Nepal. That is why the participation of people in the Friday polls is both historic and decisive. It is historic because it is a landmark in the exercise of democracy in federalism at the local level. It is decisive because the representatives they pick up will have a role to design the development process of the municipalities. That is why the polls cannot be taken as just another event. The campaigns for the polls are over and the silence period prior to the polling day has started. This quiet moment should be best utilized by voters in making up their mind in as cool a way as possible. Exercising the voting right has high value in democracy and it should be institutionalized. Nepalis have learnt a lesson in two decades prior to 2017 when they did not have any elected representatives at local bodies. The direction that the local bodies lost in service delivery and shaping development during the period created a number of problems such as waste of financial resources and spread of financial irregularities. The three periods of elected representatives in local bodies that Nepalis experienced in the past 32 years suggest the relevance of the same. Continuity of the same trend in 2022-2027 would be further beneficial for all Nepalis and their municipalities in all 7 provinces in Himal, hills and Terai. Presence of elected bodies is an asset for the people and the country from the standpoint of connectivity and accountability. The office bearers elected by the people at the local level have to be accountable for what they do and do not do. The same will ultimately be helpful in offering good governance and undisturbed delivery of public services to people at the grass-root level. Taking into consideration the high value that local polls have people should make it a point to vote on Friday. There should be no excuse for not voting. Participating in the governance process through ballot boxes, all should remember once again, carries huge value for both the country and the people.