By Shashi P.B.B. Malla

There is absolutely no doubt that all patriotic Nepalese are united on the need for reforms.

However, they do not agree on what should come first and with what speed. It is a question of not putting the cart before the horse.

There is also the vital question of dealing with the remains of the old regime.

And this seems to be where we must start.

It is logical that without dismantling the vestiges of the old system, we cannot build anew.

Thus, it was correct to suspend the old parliament as it was the repository of power centres of the so-called mainstream political parties.

But this is not enough.

Without the complete reformation of the old mainstream political parties – above all, the Nepali Congress, the CPN-Unified Marxists-Leninists and the CPN-Maoist Centre – they cannot be allowed to participate in the forthcoming parliamentary elections in March 2026.

We cannot under-estimate their vote banks and their hold on parts of the electorate.

Nor can we so quickly and so soon forget the protracted evil that these parties and their so-called leaders perpetuated on the Nepalese people.

Without accountability there will be no justice.

The first order of business must, therefore, be that K.P. Sharma Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and all their other collaborators must face the music and accept the just punishment meted out by a regular court of justice.

Therefore, if need be, the parliamentary elections can be postponed for another six months.

There are also other issues that must be resolved.

The elections cannot be held under the auspices of the old Constitution. It must also be scrapped.

The Himalayan Republic is dead, and you can flog a dead horse as much as you like but is cannot be resurrected!

Two other important matters on everybody’s minds are:

  1. Who gave the orders to the police to fire live bullets on the Gen Z protestors at the parliamentary building? and
  2. How was it possible that the protest movement was so quickly infiltrated and ant-social and anti-national elements could cause havoc through targeted arson on private and public property?

The wanton destruction of major public buildings was not sudden but must have been pre-planned and was part of a nefarious scheme to bring maximum damage to the state.

The widespread arson appeared so instantaneous and unexpected that even the Nepal Army was caught off-guard but did finally react to control the damage.

These were heinous acts meant to cause maximum vandalism and desecration to the nation.

The caretaker government has a sacred duty to bring the thugs to justice.

The writer can be reached at:

shashimalla125@gmail.com