Sovereignty Should Lie With the People - But It Lies With the Parties and the Maoists

(Courtesy: Mr. Ripley)

The battle cry following King Gyanendra’s ill-conceived takeover was that a country’s sovereignty’s rests with the people. And, with the help of violent Maoist and democratic party-led agitations and International pressure, King Gyanendra was finally forced to concede power to Parliament.

With the Constituent Assembly Elections in doubt, the euphoria of that time has passed into the shadows.

People are already forgetting the excesses and stupidity of King Gyanendra and Paras and whispers of retaliation are growing louder. People now are fully aware the Parties and Maoists no longer behave as representatives of a democracy but are a craven, self-centered lot, whose purpose was never to help Nepalis but to enrich themselves further and entrench themselves in power.

The fundamental test of whether people possess sovereignty is whether they can exercise their vote in free and fair elections. Despite the Maoists and the Political parties having raised the people’s expectations to giddy heights – the masses have had no input in the peace process since the uprising and the notion of the Constituent Assembly elections is turning into a farce with potentially tragic consequences.

The parties, who last contested elections in 1999, while hanging by a thread of legitimacy through their travails under King Gyanendra’s shenanigans have are now illegitimate pretenders.

The Maoists, always illegitimate, who tell us they already know what the people want and see no point in elections simply wish to declare a republic with no input from the people and then wedge themselves cancerously into government and institutions in the hopes they will eventually rule Nepal themselves.

That the Bahuns dominate the leadership positions in virtually all power centers could begin to lead to permanent rifts in Nepal society and the attendant bloodshed could destroy any shared vision of Nepal.

The “sovereign people” of Nepal have no input into any important decisions ranging on matters fundamental as their own constitution, their security, and economic policy. The decisions coming from Baluatar or Naya Bazaar have an odious opaqueness that trumps the various decrees that came under King Gyanendra.

To blame the usual suspects: Civil Society, woeful intellectuals, worthless UN and NGO workers, and the political parties is getting tiresome. The failed democracies around the world tell us democracy is a tough master and the failures of the Nepali champions of democracy (who presumably have experience since the 1950s) tells us something about their inadequacies while also giving us an uneasy indication that we’re not quite ready for self-governance.

Its becoming evident we are lacking in the skills, culture, economic strength and a sense of a unified history to enable us to achieve the democratic vision we pursued.

The Greeks were wise and tough mountain men, who went regularly to war to defend their freedom and were the first to exercise key concepts of democracy. They figured out a way to get rid of Kings and Monarchs we are told and in its place establish democracy – or more accurately, are accorded that special honor of innovating democracy and, being wise and reflective, also strived to understand human nature, conflict, and various forms of governments.

We are also mountain men but perhaps for us our destiny is to be one of the sad characters in Greek mythology – Sisyphus – the tragically cursed King who has to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity.

Related Posts:

We the People
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/09/we-people.html

Ordinary Nepali Realities vs. Extraordinary Nepali Dreams
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/08/ordinary-nepali-realities-vs.html

Nepal's Constituent Assembly Elections - It's not Just a Matter of Security
http://nepaliperspectives.blogspot.com/2007/08/nepals-constituent-assembly-elections.html