With less than a week to go for the provincial and parliamentary elections, op-ed editors of broadsheet dailies published in Kathmandu on Friday have paid more attention to the poll-related issues rather than any other topics. Former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s interview published by Annapurna Post has also received attention from political observers.
Who has a roadmap for federalism?
With the constitutional deadline to elect a new parliament and provincial assemblies round the corner, the government decided to conduct both the central and state-level elections simultaneously. This decision has overshadowed the importance of the provincial elections as political parties and voters are more interested in the central elections as it is related to the formation of the new government. In this context, Dharmendra Jha, in his article for Gorkhpatara, says that even the leaders of Madheshi parties who launched various agitations to establish the agenda of federalism have been reluctant to present a roadmap for implementing it. He says none of the election manifestos has addressed provincial issues, and most of the senior leaders are not interested in provincial elections.
Is it the rule of people or rule of elections?
Lok Raj Baral, in his article for Kantipur, says candidates contesting the elections are spending their own money on their campaigns. He says that people hope that the elections will usher in an era of stability and prosperity. However, their are many reasons to doubt this. The way political parties wrok and hold will determine the durability of the whole process
If we are to look at the provisions of the new constitution, we can see that the chances that a stable and effective governemnt will be formed after the elections are slim.
One of the main threats to democracy is the amount of money that is being poured into the elections.
Oli’s interview
Annapurna Post has published an interview with UML leader KP Oli, focusing more on ‘personal’ rather than the ‘political’ aspects of his career. In the interview, Oli says that it was grave mistake on the part of the Maoists to take up arms against the state. He says that there were numerous peaceful ways of launching a struggle. He says that because the monarchy had been limited to constitutional status and the UML even led the government. This would have been a good platform for those who wanted to do away with the monarchy. Asked if he is ‘anti-India’, Oli says that anyone who wants the best for Nepal can never be ‘anti-India’. However, this does not mean we need to stay quiet when India does not give us the respect we deserve.
