Nepal’s politics has remained painful in the past in general, except for a few historic safe-landings. We believed that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s taking-off and Nepal’s political landing both would be safe. Oli, is the most powerful prime minister in the democratic republic of Nepal. He is the captain of ‘the aircraft Nepal’ with around 30 million passengers on board. He has a veteran copilot Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other enough experienced crew members as his ministers. The only need is to choose an appropriate runway for taking off the aircraft and another appropriate runway for landing after the completion of a safe journey.
Politically, the prime minister is an experienced captain. He is believed to be in the cockpit for a complete journey of five years. His long struggle for a prosperous democratic republic in the foothills of the Himalayas has made him more experienced, no doubts. But, any forceful taking-off or confused landing is always risky. We are the best witness of many political crashes in the country.
I wonder why Nepal needs a government with the two-thirds majority support. Why do we need a big council of ministers at the centre? What makes the prime minister feel insecure? From whose pocket do the names of the going-to-be ministers come out regularly?
Oli’s political growth model should neither be based fully on a communist or a non-communist manifesto. It should socialism-oriented with democratic control on it.
The Rostovian model of economic growth with a non-communist manifesto portrays five stages from a traditional society to a society of high mass consumption. We are still lacking in creating a pre-take-off condition, both politically and economically. A society of high mass consumption is our dream. Let us reach a stage of maturity first.
We have already taken part in the world economic race. Our membership in the WTO and SAFTA, our liberalised economy, and the entertainment of globalisation cannot give us the privilege to remain slow in any process of economic rivalry. But, economically and, of course, politically, we still do not have any idea how to walk. A child needs to learn how to walk to run and to walk, the child must be able to stand up. We are trying to walk politically, but yet not making any remarkable effort to stand up economically.
We have limitations. The open market and liberalised economy, China’s cost-effectiveness in production, and Nepal’s quantitative consumption are the economic challenges. Our trade deficit with India is widening. Economists warn us about our economic growth and our export-import ratio. Nepal’s domestic product will not be able to compete nationally, regionally, and globally. Our democracy made multiple promises to us, but still, it lacks plans of action to increase productivity, create employment, and generate revenues. This is still a national challenge.
I wish, dear captain, please choose the perfect runway for your taking-off and the most suitable end for landing once you complete the flight for this crucial period of time. You have both ends open. Please decide the safest one. Be aware if you feel that you receive any bafflement from your control tower during your flee. I wish my prime minister will be a perfect captain of Nepali politics. I read senior captain Bijay Lama, “There is no second chance for a pilot.” And I do support him.
Upadhyay, PhD, is an assistant professor of sociology as Mahendra Morang College, TU, Nepal.
