By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, his followers and hangers-on, as well as the government had hoped very much that his official visit to China would be a turning point for the present dispensation.

He was received with the usual Chinese pomp as is usual for a head of government, but unfortunately he did not achieve anything substantial. He went with the famous Nepali ‘begging and singing bowl’, but came back, more or less, empty-handed.

Domestic Dimension

In the meantime, there are no signs that the ardent supporters of ‘Loktantra’ [so-called ‘People’s Democracy’] are willing or able to tackle the myriad problems facing the country.

For the Nepalese people:

    Loktantra  =  Kleptocracy/Autocracy of the Political Parties

Thus, without getting rid of the current major political parties from the seats of political power, there can be no turning over a new leaf.

That there is something very rotten in the Loktantrik Himalayan Republic can be witnessed every day at the Kathmandu international airport. The youth, the life-blood of the nation are leaving in droves – for education and work. “Ghost villages” are rapidly increasing.

These and other glaring problems are willfully being ignored.

How long should we listen to the idle talk of the ‘old fogeys’?

It is just too much to expect that corrupt, inexperienced, not properly educated and inept ‘leaders’ can or will tackle the myriad problems facing the country!

There is absolutely no vision – and don’t expect it to suddenly appear!

No Historical Lessons Learnt

The current government has no viable foreign policy.

Thus, both Prime Minister Oli and his Foreign Minister Dr. Arzoo Rana Deuba are endangering the country’s national security.

Both have been concentrating so very much on relations with China that they have ignored our vital relations with our southern neighbour, where so much is at stake.

Oli and Rana have to discard the unnecessary nationalistic cartographic adventurism’ as soon as possible and repair our relations with India.

This does not mean that we dismantle out time-honoured policy of ‘equidistance from New Delhi and Beijing’.

Prithivi Narayan Shah’s famous dictum still holds!

What Are the Royalists/Monarchists Waiting For?

The major political parties are all discredited.

Hopes have been dashed that new political parties like the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) could achieve something substantial with problems of their own making.

Individuals that have ridden to prominence like Durga Prasai and Balen Shah cannot achieve anything of their own accord. They are also likely to be easily thwarted, like what happened to Prasai.

The only hope now is, therefore, with the monarchists/royalists.

Oli, Deuba and the whole lot may, of course, try to do the ‘the Korean Yoon’ to retain political power at any cost and declare protesters ‘anti-social and ‘anti-national elements’.

But hopefully, the security forces will not be willing accomplices.

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