Political Checks and Balances

Farewell to value-based politics in Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal

Developments in our political arena over the last couple of decades have shown that political ideals and values are slowly vanishing. The last few years have seen the erosion in moral values in politics and other sphere is taking place in a faster speed. There were days when politics was guided by ideology and moral values.

During the height of the dictatorial Panchayat regime, the opposition parties, although they had been banned, had always raised the specter of revolution and movement for political change and empowerment of people. These parties and leaders had different ideological orientation and they, accordingly, advocated their ideology and political values. The opposition leaders were the epitome of simplicity, sacrifice and values. Great leaders like BP Koirala, Puspa Lal Shrestha Manmohan Adhikari, Ganeshman Singh, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Madan Bhadari stood firmly for their ideals and values for which they were deeply respected.

They fought against the dictatorship and corrupt and immoral rulers during both anti-Rana and anti Panchayat movements. But once these leaders went to power, they, too, became corrupt. The above mentioned leaders kept themselves away from such immoral activities, to a large extent.  But the rest of the leaders whether they are rightist, leftists or centrist, became so engrossed in corruption and immoral activities which are against the basic principle of democracy, rule of law and good governance. Now it seems ideology, principle, conviction and faith no longer has any place in the political lexicon of Nepal. What prevails in the present day politics is power, perks and position. Conspiracy and deception are used as instrument to get political power.  

Power is paramount force which plays crucial role for one’s influence and position in party and politics. The fundamental raison d’être of the present day politics is to gain control over power and accumulate wealth through whatever means possible. As this trend continues to escalate, politics is becoming a game of scoundrels who resort to politics to cover up their crimes. As a result, criminals are politicizing crimes whereas politicians are criminalizing politics.

As politics is being criminalized, political parties are vying to attract criminals and gangsters into their parties. Now some gangsters and their bosses, most of whom are in the wanted list of police, are members of different political parties. These thugs are carrying out banditry under political cover and protection from parties and their principal leaders.

Ideology has taken a back seat in the agenda of the parties. The original political documents of Nepal’s parties have their own analysis on other political parties. The Nepali Congress is one of the oldest parties in Nepal which has the history of leading movements against dictatorship of different kinds on different occasions. The party was founded when Nepal was under Rana oligarchy. In the beginning, Nepali Congress was a revolutionary party that not only opposed feudal oligarchy but also championed some revolutionary economic programmes. In course of time, it ultimately turned out to be a rightist party and started hobnobbing with feudal forces and comprador capitalists, which marked its clear departure from its original principle and policy. Until its founder BP Koirala was alive, Congress stood for the principles of democratic socialism both in words and action. With the demise of BP Koirala, Congress lost its ideological and philosophical energy and floated along with the wave of changes taken place in the world and also in Nepal. When socialist bloc collapsed with the fall of Soviet empire that paved the way for global influence of capitalism in 1990s and later, the Congress completely abandoned its ideological stance and followed the path of ultra capitalism. The Nepali Congress transformed itself into a rightist and capitalist party. Since then ideological debate and orientation also came to an end in this party. What guided the Congress is the immediate political gains.

In the case of the CPN-UML, which is also one of the mainstream parties of Nepal at present, this party is also devoid of principles and ideological debate. This party was founded with revolutionary zeal guided by communist principle of class struggle to emancipate the people from all forms of exploitation. In the beginning, it raised arms in Jhapa but realized that armed struggle was not possible in the contemporary Nepal and began to mobilize people for a mass movement. Within ten years of its foundation, the UCPN-UML (previously known as CPN-ML), expanded its organization so rapidly that it had a nationwide presence and established itself as the militant and strongest cadre-based party in Nepal. Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong thought was behind its inspiration and energy. The party went through ideological debate on various occasions and these debates sharpened it ideologically and politically. The ideological debate continued until 1990, which maintained its ideological and organizational vitality. It finally gave up revolutionary ideology and adopted the peaceful political course through periodic election based on multi-party political system and the ideological debate also completely came to an end in this party, which marked the beginning of its ideological, political and organizational decline. Formally giving up, Marxist-Leninist doctrine, it adopted a cross breed of capitalist and socialist system called ‘People’s Multi-party Democracy’ or PMPD, which is in essence akin to BP’s democratic socialism in Nepal’s context. Although Madan Bhandari and his followers claimed political copyright over the PMPD, the ideological switchover of the CPN-UML had been long due and this was natural process because the party had already undergone ideological and political transformation and degeneration. The PMPD is not a political ideology but an opportunistic scheme to hoodwink the people just to grab power. In reality, the PMDP was a deviation to capitalism, reformism and revisionism.

The other political force that has key role in the political equation of Nepal is the front of different Madhesi parties that have cobbled together for the greater interest of the people in the Terai plain. They are scattered and split into different parties. They know that the role of individual Madhesi parties was not effective and this realization has brought them together under the banner of Democratic Madhesi Front. These parties came into existence only lately and most of the leaders were formerly associated with other mainstream parties like the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. These parties emerged in Nepal’s political scene to take advantage of the new situation cashing in on sentiment of the people in the Terai. Thus, the Madhesi parties are, too, opportunistic force and it is useless to expect any ideological debate and input from them.

The largest political force at present in Nepali political arena is the UCPN-Maoist. This party was founded on revolutionary communist ideology of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism or MLM. Since its guiding political and ideological doctrine is MLM, it pursued the tactics of protracted people’s war as practiced by Mao Zedong during the Chinese revolution. Its goal was to establish the communist regime. Its ideology and guerilla warfare proved to be successful in attracting people in such a way that the party virtually controlled almost 75 per cent of the country. Until the emergence of the Maoists, CPN-UML represented the leftist trend in Nepal. As the Maoists gained strength, the CPN-UML was pushed to centrist line and the Maoists became the sole representative of the revolutionary leftist political ideology in Nepal. However, vacillation and deviation have surfaced in the party from ideological as well as tactical point of view especially over the last four years. This happened when the party gave up armed insurgency and joined the peaceful politics. The Maoist party had started armed insurgency with the resolve that it would not lay down arms until its objective of establishing new democracy was achieved. In course of its decade-long insurgency, the Maoist party had achieved many successes, suffered several setbacks and learnt some important lessons. Based on its successes, setbacks and lessons, the Maoists changed its tactical policy of joining peaceful politics and finally declared the end of the decade long insurgency, which was a clear deviation from its revolutionary ideology and a beginning of reformist political line. It contested the multi-party election in which it emerged as the largest political force of the country. During the period of its decade-long insurgency and five years after it joined the peace process, ideological deviation has crept into the Maoist party as well. Two-line struggle has intensified in the party. The debate is whether the party should give continuity to the revolutionary line and protracted armed insurgency or to pursue peaceful politics.

The ideology is the lifeblood of any political party. The ideological debate sharpens and energizes the political organization. Once the party is devoid of ideological stance and it gives up ideological debate, the political party is considered as a dead organization. Ideological deviation and erosion is moral and political values have had negative impact not only in politics but also on our sovereignty and national interest. The parties and the leaders that are supposed to uphold and protect the national interests have compromised our national interests and acted for the interest of foreigners.