By DM Thapa Many intellectuals are saying that the present outcome of the election will not bode well for the country. The much-in-demand analysts, especially in the broadcast media, are also echoing similar views. And to a large extent, they are right. This author has the same views and he has been writing similar thinking write-ups in whichever media outlets he gets space in. To a large extent, political leaders and also the so-called intellectuals belonging to the political parties are portraying a rosy future and they are also saying the present political alliance can work together in harmony. This is a far cry from the truth and if we are to go by recent politics, where we have seen a hung parliament, the scenario has been dismal. This author, seeing the behavior of the political parties in such a scenario and also the attitude of both the major and smaller parties, as well as the hunger for power and greed for money of individual politicians, cannot say with any confidence that the situation will be different this time. The only change is that we have seen the rise of some newer parties and younger politicians being elected in the House of Representatives. But how these individuals will perform when they come to power and wealth stares at them in their faces, only time will tell. At least the people seem to have faith in the younger faces, mainly those who belong to the new parties. As said before, the weakest point of the independent leaders who have now become MPs and also those who belong to the newer parties, don’t have the necessary networking and backup at the local levels. This will make them much weaker than the traditional parties which have members in almost all localities, wards, districts and at the national levels. Perhaps that is why we are already seeing much criticism of a popular individual who became the mayor of Kathmandu, but who has no real organizational strength. The bigger parties and their supporters will make a failure out of him, whether he initiates any real good work or just keeps a low profile without doing much. That fear lurks in the minds of a few individuals, like this author for example, that the newer entrants in parliament will be criticized if they initiate any good work or be lambasted if they don’t work according to the promises they have made to the people. Furthermore, if they opt to stay in the opposition and just provide well-meant suggestions, their voices will be lost in the bigger crowd of the traditional parties which still control national politics and if these newer parties join the government, they will be sucked into the whirlpool of the bigger parties, who have only power and wealth in their minds. We don’t have to go very far back to recall the chaotic political situation in the country after the November 1994 general election and the CP (UML) had emerged as the largest party but far short of the numbers required in forming the government with a simple majority. At that time also, completely ignoring the simple majority the Nepali Congress had enjoyed in the previous House, a hasty Girija Prasad Koirala with political glory in mind had dissolved the parliament and called for a fresh election when the Nepali Congress had barely ruled for four years. That was during the euphoric moment after the victory of the political parties in the revolution of 1990 and the late Ganesh Man Singh had predicted that the Congress would rule the country for another twenty-five years. But what a sad phase when leaders of the same Nepali Congress went at each others’ throats and a novice like Sher Bahadur Deuba became a political force to be reckoned with by other stalwarts of the party. The field became open and anything went for parties to form governments, even horse-trading of MPs and alignment with political parties that were considered ‘untouchables’ after the 1990 political change. That is exactly when disgraced former Panchayat leaders like Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand handed in a platter the reins of the government by the same parties which had condemned them in the not-so-long past. Small parties became ‘kingmakers’ and they were able to dictate much bigger parties which were content to just fight each other and see the downfall of their ‘enemies’, no matter who headed the government. This was a chaotic moment in Nepalese politics and no one can say such a situation will not be repeated now with no party anywhere near to forming a government on its own or with the support of only a few outside political leaders. This would be a horrendous situation for the country, especially now when it is facing economic nightmares and other countries of the world are also being affected by tensions between the powerful nations which are at loggerheads with one another. One can take the example of the war in the former Soviet Union state of Ukraine, which is affecting even well-off nations in much more developed Europe. Of course, this war is also affecting the economies of the poorer countries and they are feeling the crunch of the economic downturn of the richer nations. Nepal, which is already facing problems in all sectors, including the political and economic sectors, has a bleaker future because of the wrong manner in which most political parties are running the show. Therefore the results of the recently held elections paint a bleak future for the majority of the citizens, who are fleeing the nation in droves and thousands of others are going for employment in lands which share no cultural similarities with Nepal and most migrant Nepali workers have to work in harsh conditions doing difficult works. But as they have no options in their own country, these workers brave difficult weather conditions and many times hostile working conditions, just to make a better living for their families back home. What are the political leaders, who constantly talk of the welfare of the people in the present ‘loktantra’ or democracy doing anything about this dismal picture of the nation? They actually never think of these citizens of the country and they have no long-term policies to uplift the economy of the nation and allow the people to stay home and make a decent living. It is high time the leaders, the bureaucrats and others change their ways if they really want to see peace and development in the country and for the people to live a life in harmony and with a sense of security for themselves and their families.