KP Oli then and now

 

KP Oli then:

An upbeat, a re-energized and a restrengthened KP Oli for having routed out the NC in the general elections and achieved a great appreciation during a four-month-long Indian Economic Blockade became the PM second time, amidst a great excitement and the thumbs up. Almost for a year or so, he along with his fellow-comrades remained busy making an excited tall tale that they would act for ‘Samriddha Nepal, Khushi Nepali—A developed Nepal with blissful Nepalis’. All fellow-comrades when appeared publicly used to utter one strong, regular and repeated pattern of sound with an unvarying rhythm— ‘Hami lai kam nagarne wa thorai kam garne chhut chhaina— we are not permitted to be non-performers, or under-performers’. Most citizens who watched them reiterating this way hoped, ‘yes, here come some people of different DNA and, therefore, sound really credible’. But that was then.

KP Oli now:

Time passed on. People could see nothing except the rape and murder, smuggling and corruption. As always, commission agents, black marketers and the foreign lords appear the de facto rulers. Deciding public affairs at dark rooms as maneuvered by the henchmen with innumerable self-interests and withdrawing them when protested has been one of the recurring characteristics of Oli’s government. Nepalis have ushered in a ‘rule of law’ era having dethroned the authoritarian regime long back. But again, intolerance to those who remind him of his tall promises, and impunity granted to the people who support him has increased phenomenally. Arrest of Bhim Upadhya ya, a former government secretary, on one hand, and Nepal Police’s refusal to register a case of a parliamentarian kidnapping (I am not sure whether or not it was indeed a kidnapping) against the accused, on the other, are some of the choicest examples.

One of the critically serious problems with Oli is that he epitomizes a strange character. Like all other predecessors, he never bothered to walk his sweet talks. His movements like drunks returning home late night with steps hardly forward but always sideward have puzzled most. His promise ‘I will not indulge myself in corruption and shall not tolerate others who are corrupt’ has resulted in making Nepal’s crusade against corruption almost like a ‘David and Goliath’ contest. The commoners believe that people at the helm are now looting the country as much as they can, the way they can, and to the extent they can. Is this belief a baseless ?

The Covid-19 and the lockdown decision:

The lockdown decision—a necessary but not the sufficient condition to contain the spread of coronavirus— was made in a feverish haste without taking stock of some important issues. The countryside people call Kathmandu an Eden of affluence. Kathmandu is getting increasingly overpopulated because of influx of people from countryside with an attraction of better earning opportunities. The transit population aggravates the problems further. Had the lockdown decision taken only after having sent the countryside people back their home, it could have given some reliefs to the rural economy especially in harvesting the winter crops and cultivating the summer crops. The wage earners that are starving in Kathmandu would have not met that fate.

Efforts to transform the lockdown into the luck up:

The most ironic part of the story is that the government people including the coterie that surrounds Baluwatar did not fall behind to amassing wealth in a bid to contain the Covid-19. The very open secret issue is that they were indulged in a great financial hanky-panky in procuring the Covid-19 medicines, testing kits and protection equipment. Worse still, the materials so procured are of the poorest quality.

There are already shortages of consumer goods. Supply chains have been deteriorated unprecedentedly and are suspected to go from bad to worse. The wage earners are already facing difficulties to keep their body and soul together. Starvation seen at present could just be a trailer, not the complete film. The government people are contradicting the information they have furnished earlier. We were told a month before that the food stock we have could suffice for at least four months. Recently, the government spokesperson confessed that the current food stock could be sufficient enough just for a month. A great number of people stranded in the valley are reported to have been making long en masse walkathons everyday to their home districts. Reaching their homes could take days and days together. Some of the transport owners were reported to have expressed their willingness to transport such people to their homes if the government permits. Oli-led government chose to remain unheard.

Against all this backdrop , Oli surprised everyone including his NCP fellow-comrades by displaying a ‘fiddle while Rome burns’ syndromes (FYI: there is a narrative that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire). He cashed the lockdown to experience his luck up. The two controversial ordinances that his cabinet issued to the president for approval prove this. The whole thirst behind the ordinances was to keep the opposition and his rival fellow-comrades at bay.

The role of the President:

I regard Vidya Bhandari—the incumbent president— simply for being the widow of late Madan Bhandari—a charismatic leader— who died an untimely death. But the way she has been performing her duties is not up to the society’s normative expectations. She has been acting everything uncharacteristically quickly to serve the interest of the PM. Her approval of the two controversial ordinances within hours of their issuance by the Oli Cabinet is a testimony to this end. She has been doing so not once, not twice, but many more times making people suspect that the president and the PM have been acting in collusion.

The lockdown gave me ample time to reread the books I have in my personal library. One of the books I have reread so far is R. Venkataraman’s ‘My Presidential Years’ wherein he describes the ‘ horns of dilemma’ he faced during 1987-1992 as the eighth President of India. The years were marked by the most sensitive, eventful, thorny and challenging political events. The constitutional and political issues— Sri Lankan crisis, Bofors Gun deal, assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Stock Scam, the Defamation Bill, and appointment of three Prime Ministers in two years demanded very tricky and wise visions in absence of which the very institutional edifice could have been decimated because of dissonance and chaos. He, however, managed to steer the country in spite of all this because of his deep respect to the people, the Law of land and the Constitution.

Mr. Venkatarama writes ‘Chandra Shekhar—sworn-in as India’s PM in 1990 after the Congress Party assured its unconditional support—looked always under constant strain from the pressures of the Congress party. I reminded Rajiv Gandhi of his party’s assurance and the loss of credibility he could suffer by acting contrary to his words’. ‘I did this not because I opted to support Chandra Shekhar to the neglect of Rajiv Gandhi but because I wanted to brace myself to act with a sense of purpose’ clarifies he. Had it been just an issue of supporting anyone of the two, he would have supported Rajiv Gandhi for it was the Congress Parliamentary Board that nominated him as the party’s candidate for the presidency. He writes further ‘I was a ‘copybook’ president and acted always according to the rules’.

Oli’s lollipop diplomacy:

Oli was comfortably placed in all respects. He was enjoying an ‘all is well’ situation. He chanced to lead the post-1990 strongest government. On top of everything, the opposition he had to face is feeble and almost nonexistent. Notwithstanding all this, Oli now depicts an image of a helpless persona and is making a cheap lollipop diplomacy of offering the PM position to Bamdev Gautam and NCP’s chair to Madhav Nepal as if both of the positions were inside his coat’s pocket.

Nobody believes Oli to acquire a graceful safe landing with the game he is playing. It could of course help him buy some time. But what if the time so bought could harm him more than do any good? The ball is in Oli’s court and it is only he who will have to seriously ponder over the issue.

Human beings are superior to other animals simply because they are blessed with an additional sense, a sixth sense— the common sense— an ability to think. It embodies both positive and normative senses. It is the normative sense that helps human beings set a benchmark of what is desirable, and what is not. This applies equally true in anybody’s case, including Oli’s.

We have been following purely a Westminster model—the parliamentary system of government which comprises an executive branch made up of members of the legislature and is responsible to the legislature, the presence of parliamentary opposition parties, and a ceremonial head of state. The system contrasts with the presidential system originated in the United States, or with the semi-presidential system of like that of the government of France.

In a democratic polity, anyone who holds the public position whether as a head of the government or the head of state has to function in a copybook format— would have to act strictly according to the rules. Failure to comply with the rules could cost anyone heavily that may have no any compensation.