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KATHMANDU, JULY 20
Bidding adieu to a non-performing government was long overdue. Gloomy days are finally on the wane, hopefully.
With the ouster of the Oli government, the country is getting a fresh coat of paint. But the people are not very optimistic of bonny days ahead. The same old tried and tired faces are at the forefront. What the old bones will do, only the future can say.
In such a situation, hoping for the best is the only option.
And so, people are hoping for a miracle. They are not interested in the looks but the quality of the material.
Sorry to say, but the performance of the last government was very disappointing, albeit the people had enthroned it with a full-fledged majority. It could not even fulfill its promise of a stable government of five years, let alone prosperity.
It spent valuable time in internal squabbling.
While the citizens are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, they were unable to bring the much-needed vaccines.
They couldn't even procure the vaccines from India, for which the nation had sent advance payment.
Factories are closed, and unemployment is rampant. The hospitality business is witnessing its worst time ever. While the prices of daily necessities were sky rocketing, our leaders were behaving like the negligent Roman emperor Nero. The people have been forced to die either of disease or hunger. On his way out, Oli gave a surprise gift to the Kathmanduites – the Melamchi waters might not be flowing in the mains even by next year.
But to heap total blame on the displaced Oli government for all our current predicaments would be doing injustice to him. The so-called constitution, what is said of the people, for the people and by the people, is a hindrance to the smooth running of the government.
The day the new constitution was introduced, the country was half eclipsed. The Tarai looked darker and Kathmandu was in twilight.
Besides, while the government was led by the UML faction, the Speaker of the House was from the Maoist group.
The present constitution is increasingly becoming an instrument that is dividing the Tarai from the hills. So, a new constitution has become urgent to safeguard national unity and to meet the aspirations of all castes and creeds.
The constitution was introduced only to appease the Maoists and to make ground for their safe landing.
Going from bad to worse, the ground for Hindutwa was robbed. We people don't like to live as Parbates or Madhises but as Nepalis. Let us live in a spirit of brotherhood and go back to the years before 2047.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 21 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
