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By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

Political power need not corrupt. We have seen the difference in the handling of power between former US President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.

Concerned citizens in the United States and the world are extremely apprehensive about the possibility of a second Trump presidency – both domestically and in the international environment.

Unfortunately, in the Federal, Democratic, Secular Himalayan Republic, the political calamity is already upon us.

Through machinations and unscrupulousness, K.P. Sharma Oli has managed to form a grand coalition government that has a two-thirds majority in parliament. This is the utter perversion of the British (or Indian) parliamentary system of governance and nothing good will come out of it.

Even Nepal’s Constitution did not envisage such a state of affairs.

Because of past history, as well as, intense personal and structural weaknesses, we are well aware that Oli’s government cannot deliver.

To give a twist to the words of St. Matthew:

‘It is written. My house shall be called the house

of democracy; but ye have made it a den of thieves.’

Oli pledged that the new government will take strict action against corruption: “We will take legal action against those involved in corruption, no matter when it happened” TKP/The Kathmandu Post, July 22).

How, when and against whom he will initiate action is anybody’s guess.

The Path Forward for the RPP

Thankfully, the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party did not join the Oli-Deuba bandwagon, and hopefully it will remain true to its founding principles.

Patriotism means ‘the motherland first’ and not self and party as with the UML, NC, CPN-Maoist, CPN-US and most of the small, fringe parties.

The country is facing a false dawn, and the RPP must prepare to be the vanguard of the inevitable people’s struggle for change and renewal.

With time, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML ( as well as the Maoists) have converted themselves into self-serving, aggrandizing political parties.

The NC and UML will inevitably dig their own graves, and the RPP with its members and supporters must be ready to lead the forces of progress and rejuvenation against the regressive throngs.

And in this evolving situation, hopefully former King H.M. Gyanendra will be willing and able to shoulder the august responsibility of unifying the nation and preserving the country’s imperiled sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity – in the footsteps of his illustrious ancestor: Prithvi Narayan Shah the Great!

The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com