The parties that stood against the dissolution of the House should have quickly formed the government and said bye to the incumbent government that has been declared as an icon of lawlessness by the Supreme Court. It, however, continues to remain at the helm of affairs without even the slightest of qualm
After the reinstatement of the Parliament, people expected to see the back of the existing government immediately. However, it remains afloat in the government after more than two months of the restoration of the Parliament.
As a result, a political lull has been created in the country.
Developmental activities have come to a virtual standstill. This has dampened the country's desired march towards happiness and prosperity.
This world is about the constant struggle between the truth and untruth.
Truth has several definitions.
But it can be said that truth focusses on the need while the untruth concentrates on the greed.
Very often one sees the attack of the untruth on the truth in world history. In such a situation, the parties subscribing to the truth group together try to unseat the untruth. The unrighteousness may appear strong in the beginning.
But it faces stern defeat in front of righteousness eventually.
One can see how Hanuman, Sugreev and his monkey herd stood in opposition to Ravan and in support of Ram because of the former's violation of the truth in kidnapping Sita.
Bibhishan, the brother of Ravan, defected from his clan and supported Ram and his army.
At the end, the symbol of untruth, Ravan, was defeated, and one of the rebelling group leaders, Bibhishan, was crowned king.
In the Mahabharat, many kings like Birata, Draupad and Sahadev sided with the Pandavas against the war with the Kauravs mainly because the Pandavas stood for upholding the spirit of religion.
That is why the Mahabharat war is known as Dharmayuddha, or the war of the righteousness. Later, Yudhisthir ascended the throne as the king after the Kauravs were defeated badly, leading to their traumatic death.
In India, many towering politicians like Morarji Desai, Jag Jivan Ram and Chandra Sekhar stood against Indira Gandhi for seeking to undermine the democratic ethos through the clamping of the Emergency.
Later, all the parties cobbled together under the leadership of Desai.
In our country, after the downfall of the so-called Panchayat democracy, the two main political forces, the Nepali Congress and the Left Front, quickly formed the government although the Panchayat leaders made efforts to cling on to power. They agreed on having Krishna Prasad Bhattarai as their leader, who was instrumental in drafting the Multi Party Democratic Constitution for the country.
In all these events, the state machinery was taken over by tyrannical regimes, who were barely devoted to the welfare of the people.
They sought to fulfill their own selfish motives while they should have worked for the betterment of the people.
History repeated yet again in the recent dissolution of the Parliament in Nepal. The government took a step contrary to the spirit of the constitution to such an extent that it even did not bother to quote the concerned para and sub para of the constitution while recommending it to the President.
It is said that the Office of the President improvised it before giving a nod for the dissolution of the Parliament.
Naturally, the Parliament was reinstated because there was no ground for its dissolution.
The parties that stood against the dissolution of the House should have quickly formed the government and said bye to the incumbent government that has been declared as an icon of lawlessness by the Supreme Court.
It, however, continues to remain at the helm of affairs without even the slightest of qualm.
The opposing parties are playing a cat and mouse game, without giving the much-awaited political way out for the country.
All the political parties are to be blamed in this context albeit in varying degrees. Firstly, the blame should go to the party in power for not stepping down on the basis of morality.
Secondly, CPN-Maoist should share the brunt of the blame for not withdrawing support to the government.
The withdrawal of support would have compelled the government to seek a vote of confidence within one month, much earlier than today. That would have paved the way for all the political parties to come together, maybe even some of the supporters of the government.
Because, if the blunder is on the part of even the closest of the ally, the comrades desert in the long run. An example can be given of Bidur, who did not support the Kauravs because of their unjust stand.
Similarly, Jag Jivan Ram separated from Indira Gandhi because of her unlawful act of clamping the Emergency despite the fact that he was her die-hard supporter earlier.
Thirdly, the Nepali Congress should take the share of the blame for taking a lukewarm response in the immediate aftermath of the reinstatement of the Parliament.
Now, it has realised its mistake and taken a different stand than before. As an opposition party, as a government in waiting, it should have gone all out immediately after the reinstatement of the Parliament.
Fourthly, the Samajbadi Party has been scoring a suicide goal by being excessively self-centered. True that political parties are concerned about their political benefits, but these are in normal times.
At a time when the country is being strangled by unconstitutionality, all the law abiding forces should work hand in glove in a spirit of great bonhomie. Political benefits should be pushed to the periphery, and national welfare should assume center stage.
Unfortunately, the Samajbadi Party has not been able to project this feeling among the people of the country.
Politics is about polarisation around political ideology.
Consequently, the rival groups had to pull together on the basis of the political stand that they had taken for the restoration of the Parliament.
Unfortunately, it does not appear at the present juncture in Nepal. This will brew dissatisfaction about democracy, giving opportunity to the undemocratic forces to raise their ugly head as seen in the past.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 14, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
