Opinion

Time for a decision: Whom to vote?

Voters' decision is influenced by a variety of factors, including but not limited to party identification, candidate characteristics, policy positions, campaign strategies, and economic conditions

By Jiba Raj Pokharel

FILE PHOTO - AP/Niranjan Shrestha

The election fever has virtually gripped the country with almost all the parties releasing their manifestos. Consequently, many people have known what are going to be the vision, mission, and goal of the political parties for propelling the country towards peace and prosperity. Whatever their vision, mission, and goals, it can be seen that there is going to be a multi-headed tussle among the old parties like the Nepali Congress (NC), Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML), and Rastriya Prajantra Party (RPP). Then there are the moderately old ones like the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal (JSP-N), and the Jana Mat Party (JMP) followed by the newly-formed parties like the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Am Janata Party, Nepal Ujyalo Party, Nepal Labour Culture Party, and Gatisheel Loktrantrik party, to name a few from among the 68 parties that are in the election fray. If the recently concluded Bangladeshi election is any indication, which should be because of the mid-term poll held after Gen Z movements in both the countries, the new parties do not seem to be making remarkable political impact. They may at best win a handful of proportional representation seats and a few directly contested ones in view of the Gen Z-supported new Bangladeshi party, the National Citizen Party, winning only six out of the 297 seats. So, the tug of political war will shift to the NC, UML, RPP, RSP, JSP-N, and JMP, and to some extent even the NCP on account of the presence of several old leaders like Prachanda, Jhala Nath Khanal, and Madhav Nepal despite it being a new party. It is now time for the voters to make a decision regarding the party they want to vote in the coming election. How decisions are made is very mysterious indeed. However, Waiphol Kulachai et al. in their article entitled 'Factors Influencing Voting Decision: A Comprehensive Literature Review' have written that voters' decision is influenced by a variety of factors, including but not limited to party identification, candidate characteristics, policy positions, campaign strategies, and economic conditions. It can thus be deducted that people also decide based on the party and the prime ministerial candidate mainly. This time the decision will also be made based on the two sacred objectives of the Gen Z movement, which are the alleviation of rising corruption and the establishment of good governance. The Madhes-based parties have formed a Federal Democratic Front to ensure the protection of the constitution, namely, federalism. But they have persisted with the old leaders instead of injecting new ones in the aftermath of the Gen Z movement. The RPP, to many, instead of including new faces, has continued parroting the restoration of the monarchy, which has already been ousted by the Constituent Assembly Parliament. Moreover, their objective to restore the institution has been eclipsed by their lack of political integrity, which is prominent by their participation in the republican parties-led government in the past. The Nepali Communist Party has also lost its moral ground because its leaders – Prachanda and Madhav Nepal –dumped the Maoist Centre and Integrated Socialist Party respectively to form a new political party. The UML has also turned a deaf ear to the sentiments of Gen Zees by re-electing K P Oli as its president to the dislike of people within and outside his party. It is firstly because of the death of so many youths when he was the prime minister. Secondly, his statement that he was not responsible for this tragic episode and that he did not give the order for the ghastly event is least expected from a person of his stature. As for the RSP, it has included some leaders of the Gen Z movement like Sudan Gurung, but it appears to adopt a confrontational stance by not only importing Balen Shah within the party duly projecting him as the prime ministerial candidate but also nominating him as its candidate from where Oli is contesting the election. Moreover, this party is alleged to have no vision and has so far thrived only by pointing at the shortcomings of the parties in power. The NC appeared to follow a worse path than the UML as it initially tried to retain the old leaders without even holding a national convention. It is at this juncture that the majority of the NC General Convention members led by Guru Raj Ghimire revolted in the party by holding a Special National Convention and elected dynamic young Gagan Thapa as its new president. Gagan has skillfully addressed the concerns of the dissenting groups showing how he can manage conflict and confrontation very smoothly. As for the Prime Ministerial candidate, people expect at least oratorial skills in which Balen does not fare very well on account of its absence and even his own admission at one public rally saying that he is not good at making speeches. Former Prime Minister Oli has been found to be bold but rather acerbic in his statements, and on this front Gagan comes out clearly as the best choice. So, here people have a choice to vote either for the UML, which is not only less receptive to change but also led by a rather irresponsible prime ministerial candidate, Oli. The other choice is to cast one's ballot for the ever-complaining RSP with its leader Balen who is a silent worker. There is yet another choice in the NC, which is uniquely old and new at the same time led by a marvelously good speaker, Gagan. This is, however, not to say that the voters have to limit themselves to the aforementioned three parties alone. In addition, there are 65 more parties which they can vote for in the coming election.