Election of new Nepali PM
THE election of new Nepali prime minister augurs well for Nepal in more ways than one. Firstly, it has ended a long political deadlock following the general election which gave the Maoists a clear majority. Secondly, it will, one hopes, prepare the way for a multi-party democratic order in a republican Nepal. Perhaps most important is the election of a rebel leader as the prime minister and the way an insurgent group has got the opportunity of integrating within the body-politics of Nepal, after ten years of violence and disturbance. This reflects a new found maturity in Nepal's polity.
The positive aspect of the political development is that the Himalayan Kingdom can look forward to the completion of transition from blood stained politics of the last ten years to participatory democracy. What causes concern though is the time that was taken to overcome inter-party and intra-party differences before the election of the prime minister could be held. If the main agenda of the new administration is economic and social transformation, that must be carried out without engendering apprehensions in the minds of the other political parties of autocratic behaviour, a concern that is reflected in the comments expressed by Debua that the opposition will keep a watchful eye for any transgression of democratic behaviour on the part of the new government. Any totalitarian bent will only hamper the run of democracy.
One understands the inherent difficulty in embarking on a path that is totally new to what the country was moving on. The traditional monarchy of the last two hundred fifty years would have given rise to a mindset of particular order that the old guard would need to cast off. By the same token, the Maoists would also have to discard the intimidatory nature that their deportment have acquired due to the way they operated before giving up violence and returning to the conventional political path. Even though the new prime minister might retain his nom-de-plume of "Prachanda" or the 'fearsome one', his attitude must never be reflective of that characteristic.
The 'new dawn', as the new Nepali leadership has termed the recent political development, must turn into a bright day.
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