Political parties and democracy

By Yuba Nath Lamsal

It is said that political parties are necessary evils. Many people may not like the way the parties are acting. But the political parties are needed for the sustenance of democracy because democratic polity does not function without vibrant political parties. Any political system without political parties cannot be called democratic polity. Democracy is the political system that requires competition among different political actors which alone makes the system functioning and accountable to the people.

Key Component

People’s participation is a key component of democratic system. People’s participation can be best assured and guaranteed only in democracy. It is the political parties through which the people’s participation and sustainability of system is possible. In the absence of political parties, mobilisation of the people and ensuring their active participation in the political and developmental process would be next to impossible. Participation and institution are two part of a coin. Political system is an institution or platform and people’s participation is action. Participation without institution is often chaotic which is likely to serve only a handful of ruling elites but not the larger mass of the people.

Similarly, institution without participation would prove to be meaningless and hollow exercise that only breeds dictatorship and authoritarian tendency. Thus, democracy and people’s participation are so closely interlinked that one cannot exist in the absence of another. Indeed, democracy cannot survive without vibrant people’s participation and genuine people’s participation may not be possible in the absence of real and functioning democracy.

Fair participation within a framework of legitimate institution enables citizens to express their opinion and grievances as well as defend their interests without any kind of fear. This is the best approach to hold officials accountable to the people, which is a must in democracy. Political parties are also institution through which democratic exercises are conducted. Parties are, therefore, both institution as well vehicle to ensure vibrant and competitive people’s participation in political process. In democracy, different political parties and interest groups exist and they compete among them to have upper hand in politics and grab state power. The parties have different ideologies, political orientation and goals. The parties pursue different policies and programmes to achieve the goal set in the ideology. Herein lies the fundamental differences and competition among parties. If the parties have compatible ideology, goals and orientation, they cease to remain separate parties. But the case of Nepal is different as there are different parties with similar ideology, identical goals and uniformed orientation.

The parties often compete and sometimes cooperate. Election is the highest form of competition among political process. But more shrewd competition is required in the sphere of governance and only the party or parties that fare better in service delivery would win the heart of the people and become dominant in politics. Put simply, the political parties are the main vehicle and driving force to mobilize people and ensure wider popular participation in the political process that, in real sense, energises the democratic process and strengthens democratic polity.

It has been widely accepted the crucial role of political parties in the democratic political process. Political system is a body whereas political parties are its soul. If the role of the political parties is minimised or political parties are marginalised, democratic system automatically gets weakened, which naturally becomes vulnerable to assault from dictators. It is this reason why dictators first attack the political parties and tarnish the public image of principal leaders to portray negative image of the parties and leaders in the eyes of voters and the people. Once they are able to ruin the image of parties and their leaders, it becomes easier to destroy the democratic system and institutions. This was the exact case when feudal monarchy trampled democratic system and imposed dictatorship in 1960 and again in 2005 in Nepal.

Nepal is currently passing through a political transition and is in new political process. Political transition is always painful but its outcome can be blissful provided positive results are borne out. In the same manner, Nepal is in the political labour pain and it is trying hard to give birth to a vibrant political system that could make democratic and republican system irreversible and people’s fundamental rights well entrenched into our daily life. But the way developments are unfolding in our political landscape, it breeds more frustration than enthusiasm and optimism.

The ongoing political process, which is also called the peace process, began five years ago and was expected to be complete within two years. It was called peace process because the very objective of the entire exercise was to institutionalise peace and democratic achievements. However, it’s been more than five years since the peace process began but the political crisis continues to linger on.

Given the critical nature of politics and conflict when the peace process began, it was not wise enough to expect the completion of the entire exercise in two years. The political exercise was not just for a regime change but a systemic transformation—transformation from monarchical system to republic set up and from unitary state to a federal mechanism. It takes long and adequate time to resolve disputes on different issues and arrive at a conclusion concerning political, systemic and governmental transformation. It was a near-sight, immaturity and tendency of taking everything for granted of our political parties that has given rise to uncertainty and confusion in the country and distrust among the political parties.

Key Concerns

As political parties are the key players as well as principal stakeholders of the ongoing political process, they must lead this process forward. Peace, stability and security are the key concerns of the people. However, the parties’ efforts appear to be mere perfunctory. Its raison d’être is the deficit of trust among the parties.

The political parties not only compete among one another but at times they collaborate on certain national issues. The parties compete during election and in the process of governance. They compete to justify the validity and worth of their ideology, political policies and programmes and also their ability to translate them into action. They compete to prove that they are better and more capable in the delivery of services. But they are required to collaborate and cooperate at the time of national crisis.

The present situation of Nepal is definitely critical one. In this critical juncture of history, Nepal needs more collaboration and cooperation of parties rather than unhealthy competition and rivalry. There could be a rivalry and competition among the parties to have their agenda included in the new constitution. But rivalry in the entire process and attempt to link the political process with the government is definitely harmful. The priorities of the country at present are the constitution writing and conclusion of the ongoing peace process, which are and should be the priority of all political parties. There should be positive rivalry and competition among parties as to who can make more meaningful and better contribution to accomplishing these twin tasks. But the parties have linked the entire process with government and power. What we have seen is the tendency of political parties to pursue the constitution writing and peace process when they are in power and create obstacle when in opposition. This is the fundamental obstacle on the path of completing the political process in the country and herald a new era of peace and stability. This tendency has arisen out of deficit of trust among the parties.

Competition and collaboration among the parties are equally important that alone can make democracy vibrant. But our parties collaborate on issues in which they must have stiff competition and they compete when they are required to collaborate. On issues concerning perks and facilities, they collaborate, no matter whatever it is. But they clash on national issues and pursue with their own partisan agenda be it peace, constitution or country’s security, economic and foreign policy. This exhibits what parties’ priorities are and where from they are being operated. There are two clear sets of forces in the country. One is progressive force that wants clear rupture with the past and wants to begin afresh with radical change in all fronts. There is another force that is desperately seeking status quo. The clash of these two sets of forces is behind the political deadlock which has made the country hostage. Now the time has come for the people to rise once again and exert pressure on the status quoist forces not to block the political process but accept the changes and transformation so that the country would march forward with radical and progressive agenda. This would be the basis of a stable, peaceful and prosperous Nepal.