Even after the reinstatement of the Parliament, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli does not hesitate to parrot that his move was right in all respects because it was absolutely political.It appears as if Oli naturally, like many other prime ministers, suffers from hubris syndrome. Otherwise, how can a person credited for the landslide victory in the election come to such a sorry pass? He appears to justify what Shakespeare wrote: For sweetest thing turn sourest by their deeds, Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds
He has also refused to withdraw his unconstitutional action of inducting his die-hard supporters into the Central Committee of the party.
This is utter disregard shown for the constitutional norms. His political buddies, however, have been providing chorus to him in a way reminiscent of the devotional songs or the carols sung in the temples and cathedrals respectively.
In mythological times, constitutions did not exist in written forms, like the one of Britain. The age-old practices acted as the constitutional norms.
Thus, when Ram was banished because of the three oaths that King Dasarath had made to Kaikayi, the youngest of his three queens, the constitution or the practices of the time asserted their supremacy over the politics.
Had politics overwhelmed over the constitution, Ram would have been crowned the king and would not have had to spend 12 years as a wandering ascetic in the forests.
In the Mahabharata also, the practices or the constitutional norms of that time prevailed over the political affairs.
Consequently, when Dushashan attempted to strip Draupadi, the royal daughter-in-law, naked in the Royal Assembly, Krishna, the icon of righteousness sided with Draupadi by rendering her sari never endingly long.
As a result, even the mighty Dushashan came to a standstill after being totally exhausted.
That the daughter-in-law is the prestige of the whole family and any move to dampen it was not acceptable.
This is yet another example of the constitutional norms holding sway over politics.
Licchavi King Dharma Dev opted to be killed by his son Mana Dev after he got a divine indication in his dream that the water spout would run water only if a person bestowed with thirty-two virtues was sacrificed.
Only the King and his son Mana Dev possessed such incredible virtues. He told Mana Dev to severe the head of the lying person at midnight without giving a glance.
The king had earlier laid in prostate state before Mana Dev would enter.
As soon as the sacrificial ritual was done, the spout began discharging brimful of water.
This indicates how leaders respected age-honoured norms of handing over the throne than indulging in politics.
Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of Britain, had said that we first shape the buildings and the buildings shape us.
If we want to enter a house, we can do it through the doors and not the windows unless we want to go behind bars.
Similarly, it can be said that first we frame the laws and the laws frame us later.
So, politics retains its supremacy till the law is made by the lawmakers. But after the laws are passed in the parliament, the laws assume supremacy.
Politicians of the Oli camp, in general, and the Prime Minister, in particular, appear to disregard this reality as if they are victimised by some kind of a syndrome.
They even went to the extent of saying that if the dissolution of the House leads to the disorder in the national polity, would not the same happen when the election is held after the term of the Parliament comes to an end? The answer is that it does not, as it is mentioned in the constitution in para 85(1) that the term of the House of Representative will be five years unless dissolved earlier.
All of us fall victim to some or the other kind of syndrome. Presidents and prime ministers cannot be an exception to this general rule.
Accordingly, it appears as if Oli naturally, like many other prime ministers, suffers from hubris syndrome.
Otherwise, how can a person credited for the landslide victory in the election come to such a sorry pass? He appears to justify what Shakespeare wrote: For sweetest thing turn sourest by their deeds, Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds".
Hubris syndrome has its origin in the Greek faith.
Aeschylus, an ancient author of Greek tragedy, believed that the gods envied human success and sent the curse of hubris when at the height of power.
It would lead to a loss of sanity in the person inviting an eventual downfall.
Hubris syndrome results particularly with the possession of power characterised by overwhelming success with minimal amount of constraint.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Herbert Aaquith is said to have ended up heavily consuming alcohol due to such a disorder.
Such a disorder led another British Prime Minister Anthony Eden to the excessive use of mood changing stimulant.
Presidents were neither free from such a syndrome.
As a result, U.S. Presidents Roosevelt and Johnson had a bipolar disorder.
Nixon and Bush on the other hand had alcoholic disorders. Nixon at the height of hubris disorder is reported to have said to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that the press, the establishment and the professors were the enemy. Recently, Oli also had expressed his ire on the intellectuals of Nepal.
It is because of this eventuality of one or the other syndrome that there is a practice of giving up possession slowly with the passage of time in Hindu culture.
This is known as banaprasthasan, which means taking refuge in the forests after one sees wrinkles on ones face or after the birth of the grandson.
When interpreted in contemporary times, it is about handing over the responsibility to the newer generation.
This, however, appears next to possible in view of Oli's steadfast decision to cling to power in the name of saving the country like a skimmer bird, known as hutityaunin Nepali, pretending to bear the load of the sky.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 1, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
