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By Sunil KC

The barrages of vile, insulting, and contemptible language and statements from senior leaders of the three main political parties—Nepali Congress, UML, and Maoist Center—to their lowest rung against the former King are a testament to how low the country’s political parties have stooped down.

The massive procession a week ago of tens of thousands of people waving national flags and echoing slogans for the restoration of monarchy shook the main political parties to the core. It demonstrated people’s disillusionment and aversion towards the political parties and their way of running the country’s state of affairs.

The pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatanta party had appealed to the people for a grand welcome when the King flew in from Pokhara. People in thousands voluntarily came out on the streets, not only on the travel route from Tribhuvan International Airport to his residence in Maharajgunj but also in other parts of the capital city carrying national flags and placards and resonating slogans in favour of monarchy. The same voices resounded in all the places the King visited in the last several months. These are unmistakable signs that people are openly asking whether the political parties who have been ruling the country in turn and tandem for the last 18 years are up to the job. Sadly, the answer is a big NO.

The massive demonstration proved that people are completely and utterly disappointed about how political parties, mainly the three big ones, have been dragging the country down economically and politically. The country’s economy is in tatters. The economic indicators are damning and disappointing with the revenue collected is not sufficient even to cover the regular expenditure of the government, the trade deficit is massive and growing and the national debt has risen from 800 billion rupees to 2600 billion rupees in the last eight years.

Almost all top leaders of the political parties are swamped in corruption and corrupt practices. What do you call a political system when those who had headed the government in different times accuse each other openly in public, in a gleeful way, of being fraudulent, crooked and dishonest but do not do anything, rather use these accusations as leverage to gain power?

The political parties failed to comprehend the people’s anger against them and the sorry state of affairs of the country they have brought upon. What they do not want to accept or have failed to realize is that the people’s resentment is because they mismanage the country, total breakdown of the rule of law, a failing economy, ever-growing unemployment, rampant corruption in every sector of the government, impunity to those in or close to power and the rank and file of the political parties, massive bribes and kickbacks while making appointments, government administration mired in nepotism and favouratism, change of governments depending on political gains and conveniences, massive unemployment forcing hundreds of thousands young people to flee the country every year for jobs abroad, total collapse of the education system forcing thousands of students to go to India or overseas.

But instead of correcting themselves, they resort to their same old scare tactic — accusing the king of being politically active and of trying to take away democracy and impose an authoritarian royal regime. A republic form of democracy is what they have been using as a selling point for the last two decades to enrich and empower themselves. When democracy becomes a tool in the hands of a few and it becomes a means where only a select group of people get enriched and empowered people have no choice but to look for an alternative to the existing political set-up.

The republic form of democracy has failed miserably benefitting only a few, those in power and the political parties. The political parties argue because they fought against monarchy to establish a republic they must have unhindered and limitless rights for an unlimited period to skim the country in any way they want. So, any challenge to their grip on power is countered with threats of violence, verbal abuses and retribution, and scaremongering in the name of democracy. But it is an open secret now that the political parties were just a tool of foreign powers and influencers to make Nepal a republic state. Similarly, the political parties kowtowed before foreign influence to sneak provisions like secularism and federalism into the Constitution. A retired general of the Indian army GD Bakshi said in an interview recently that the Indian rulers at that time, mainly the Indian Congress party’s strong person Sonia Gandhi, forced the Nepalese parties to fight to abolish monarchy in Nepal and to make Nepal a secular and federal state and that Indian foreign spy agency, RAW, was the one who actually had the key to Prachanda’s armed insurgency to abolish monarchy in Nepal.

Now, when a vast majority of Nepalese people realized that there is no way the political parties will ever come on the right track, they see the restoration of constitutional monarchy as the last hope to rescue the country from further economic and political chaos and turmoil. With revenues declining and the economic activities at its lowest point, the country is only afloat because of remittances sent by millions of Nepalese by shedding their blood and sweat in the Gulf and other countries.

The parties’ apathy and indifference to the current economic plight is evident in that the government is trying to revive the proposed bill that would give massive boost to the already available perks, pension and other facilities including security, travel, and expenses and staff for personal secretariats to formers in the high seat of power that include former presidents, vice presidents, prime ministers, chief justices, home ministers and other highest ranking officials. Those facilities if passed into an Act would last their lifetime. This idea was first proposed when Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai was prime minister. Again, Sushil Koirala and Pushpa Kamal Dahal when they headed the government tried to push it through. Now, KP Oli’s cabinet has approved it again despite opposition from the people and some members of the political parties. This means political parties irrespective of their ideologies or hues have total disregard of the country and people and their sole intention is to keep clinging to power at all costs and by any means.