Stability amid change

Stability in politics amid change is what Nepalis want and wish. The same gets reiterated as fresh coalition drives Singha Durbar under the continued leadership of PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The same is expected as new opposition steps into the house of Representatives under former Premier and NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. That, however, is what people cannot be assured about most of the time. Any change in political track and combination or alliance engineered by senior politicos creates both hope and disappointment for the people. Hope for comfortable change in life, meaningful switch over in policies! Disappointment for some worse practices to follow! Senior leaders understand the point very clearly yet for some or other reasons they cannot continue maintaining the political stability. They know this affects multiple aspects of national development and citizens’ lives. Yet for unexplained reasons of transactional politics they pursue the path towards instability. Analysts see in that trend a sort of disconnect between politicos and people. Had those in power been able to understand that, sweeping change in politics would not have been possible in a short span of a year and a half. The nature of hung parliament and politicos’ compulsion of being in power to do something substantial could have inspired the latest change. Those who have got responsibility for presiding over the change should understand a few realities in clear terms: the country today demands uninterrupted move for development works to expand production and economic capacity and generate employment; the trend for corruption, and  abuse of authority has not yet been addressed properly; the task for bringing about social change with equality and justice has remained unattended and expects immediate focused action; and the democratic institutions in the country including the civil service should be inspired to function with professional competence, independence and efficiency. Issues related to the same could neither be ignored nor sidelined. Politicos who would like to make a difference in governance and performance from seats of power should understand the sensitivity of the issues. Policies and programmes which would address the problems effectively should be worked out and implemented with a sense of honesty and commitment. Resources essential for such endeavour should actually be ensured and used appropriately and efficiently. If special care is not taken in this regard, people will lose trust in politicos. The political parties which consider themselves established should take the point seriously. They will have to face the electorate in course of time – in year 1984 B.S.. Voters had given political parties some message in the past general election. They will do the same in future polls. As politicos change their course they should take the points mentioned above seriously.