Can Nepal be saved? maybe.

During the past decade, one South-Asian nation has lived through a situation of unprecedented political instability. Nepal. The largely insignificant $19.41 billion economy (GDP as per The World Bank) is considered the poorest country in South Asia and the 13th poorest in the world. It is still struggling to get on its feet, post an era of internal conflicts, a period marked by the occurrence of Maoist rebellion. The country has adequate natural sources but has not been able to explore or exploit opportunities. People still suffer from fuel and water supplies. 

Keeping the current state of affairs in mind, all Nepalese clans are hoping that once the ongoing Constituent Assembly elections gets done with, the new, democratic government will get the economy restarted with the wind at its back. If Nepal gets a stable government this time, there is hope that questions about its socio-economical development will be put to rest. 

 

Still doubt persists whether the elections – that has 122 parties trying their hands at belling the political cat – can to rest the political stalemate that has seen a nation suffer in seemingly interminable congestion during the past five years. 

Nepal has had a long history of political instability. The nation experimented with multi-party politics much before 1962.

 

Democratic politics emerged in 1991 after public protests but ceased to exist soon. And most know that the reign of the last king of Nepal (Gyanendra) is infamous for constitutional turmoil. The uprising had forced Gyanendra to restore the previous parliament in April 2006. Consequently, Nepal announced itself a Republic in 2008 by ending the 250-year monarchical rule. But five years and a few failed governments later, the country's elected leaders were unsuccessful in drafting a new constitution for the country before the (many-a-time extended) deadline of May 2012. The power vacuum that was created due to failure of many-a-government at many-a-front, forced Nepal to "go back to the people and elect a new assembly to write the constitution.” Result: the current polls to vote for a government that can save a nation.

 

Political instability has been no small curse for Nepal. Besides fuel and water crises, it suffers from severe food deficit. Shocking that 80 percent of its population is engaged in agriculture! And the recent famine has only made Nepal unpopular as the land where 67% of people suffer from food insecurity each year.

But countless frustrations don't seem to have cowed believers in democracy in Nepal. In the first phase of the Constituent Assembly polls held on November 19, 2013, 70 per cent of voters turned out. The outcome however showed that the Nepalese people have lost faith in the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), with the party winning just 26 direct seats out of 240. The Nepali Congress, the country’s oldest political party won the first round by securing 105 of the 240 directly elected seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) came in second by securing 91 seats. Round One results have made clear that the two non-Maoist parties will dominate the new Nepal Assembly, and that the Maoists will only have a smaller role to play, one reason why perhaps allegations of the polls being rigged flew in from the Maoist camp that even threatened to boycott the elections. 

 

Political transition never comes easy. Nepal is no exception. But Nepal is not a modern State – to be honest, it is a modern problem, for the very people. The election results do seem to be pointing towards a political right turn, but if the newly elected government doesn't function like it's rightly supposed to, Nepal will only fall from the frying pan into the fire!