Kathmandu, December 31:

The year that was witnessed an end to insurgency and a firm commitment to hold an election to a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution, and these were hailed

as the beginning of a new dawn.

But, with dawn of a New Year just hours away, political observers are not that optimistic on the socio-political course of events in 2007. Asked to visualise it, Prof Lokraj Baral told this daily: “The way the government is going about now, I don’t see anything good issuing out of it all. If those who run the government do not change, 2007 will not throw up anything surprising for hoi polloi. “But he conceded that the “beginning was good enough.”

However, he was confident that there was no stopping a republican order. But he insisted that graduating to a republican realm itself would not throw up anything good.

“How mean they are getting on petty issues now ! I strongly feel that if the leaders do not change (pun intended), the achievement is as good as undone. Cronyism, favouritism, nepotism are taking a heavy toll,” Prof Baral said lamenting the goings-on.

But Nilambar Acharya — an independent political thinker — looks into the issues involved in a pragmatic light, saying that the people at large will have to be on high alert to see the people in power behave responsibly. Much like Prof Baral, Acharya, too, considers republican order is here to stay “with the interim constitution silent on monarchy.”

“No, graduating to a republican order alone is not enough. Those who come to power in future will have to change their attitude, culture, style and the way they take their political career,” Acharya emphatically said.

Take note of the fact that political culture was not very conducive for socio-economic development of the nation, Acharya hastened on to add that the common people and the members of the civil society alike will have to wield pressure on those in public posts to be responsible enough and deliver. “There is no such thing as a free lunch and it is time we take note of it.”