The outcome of the local polls will be largely decided by the 3.6 million new generation voters
Just four days prior to filing nominations for the upcoming May 13 local level elections, the four ruling coalition partners finalised the local poll tie-up among themselves for the six metropolitan cities and 11 sub-metropolitan cities. As per the Election Commission's poll schedule, dates for filing nominations for the local polls have been set for April 24 and 25. As per the agreement reached among the Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC), CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US) and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (JSP-N), the NC will field mayoral candidates in three metropolises – Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Biratnagar – while the CPN-MC will field its mayoral candidate in Bharatpur, CPN-US in Pokhara and JSP-N in Birgunj. The NC will field its deputy-mayoral candidates in Birgunj, Bharatpur and Pokhara. Likewise, the NC will field mayoral candidates in seven of the 11 sub-metropolises, which include Dharan, Itahari, Kalaiya, Butwal, Tulsipur, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi.
CPN-MC will field its mayoral candidates in Jitpur-Simara and Ghorahi sub-metropolises, CPN-US in Hetauda sub-metropolis and JSP-N in Janakpur sub-metropolis. It has also been agreed that the coalition partners will cooperate with one another in the metropolises and sub-metropolises. With this deal, the NC has bagged 50 per cent share of the metropolises and 63 per cent in the sub-metropolises.
On the other hand, the main opposition, CPN- UML, has also decided to make an electoral alliance with the Kamal Thapa-led Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, which will contest the local poll under the UML's election symbol, the "sun". The UML is also holding talks with the Mahantha Thakur-led Loktantrik Samajbadi Party to forge an alliance for the upcoming polls. Even though the NC and CPN-MC had contested the last local elections under a coalition, the UML had bagged around 50 per cent seats in the local levels. The coalition partners' decision to forge an electoral alliance has, however, irked the NC's Shekhar Koirala faction, which has said the coalition's decision to forge an alliance with others went against the decision of the NC's central committee, which had decided that the centre would finalise the candidates only in six metropolises. There is widespread dissatisfaction among the NC cadres at the local level, especially in Bharatpur and Hetauda, where they have vowed to defy the central decision.
Interesting to note is that 3.6 million new voters have been registered for the local polls. Outcome of the local polls will be largely decided by these new voters. The major political parties have not launched any research about the mindset of the young generation, which, among others, wants prompt results, good governance, better education and health care, and job opportunities within the country. Instead of focussing on these pressing issues, the major political parties have vowed to offer largesse in new areas without any sources of income. As in the past, the central-level election manifestos to be unveiled by the political parties will not appease the local population.
The most important question here is how the new generation voters will respond to the electoral alliance of the political parties. But what is sure is that the outcome of the local elections will determine the future of the coalition partners.
No more view towers
Minister of Urban Development Ram Kumari Jhankri has been averse to the construction of view towers and assembly halls in the towns and cities with state funds, and has made it known that the government policy and programme for the upcoming fiscal year will not allocate budget for them. However, the minister has insisted on completing the 32 meeting halls under construction. Indeed there are a number of pressing issues that the local governments need to attend to immediately, and the construction of view towers and assembly halls can wait.
Indeed there has been heavy criticism that tax payers' money was being squandered in projects that do not contribute to improving the people's livelihood.
These structures cost loads of money, which could have been used judiciously in other sectors.
Internal migration is a big problem in the country, and this has given rise to haphazard development of settlements just like Kathmandu. It would thus be wise to allocate funds for planning towns and settlements that are aesthetically pleasing. This will also save a lot of resources that go into widening roads and dismantling structures later on when the population increases.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
