Looking forward

How could we get something out of the present system and the present leaders??

Couple of points I think could streamline the politics in right direction in Nepal:

1. Having the candidates debate within their party and with the members of other parties for at least 6 months before the election.

2. Make them address the problems of the place they are representing and what their approach will be concerning reduction or minimization of the problem.

3. I don’t believe that having Dr. associated in front of name would make them pragmatic, so everyone, regardless of ethnicity, cast, sex and education should be given the chance to participate in debate.

4. We should get reasonably educated members of that society and educated neutral people from Nepalese living all over the world (appointed for this special cause) vote over the rationality and leadership qualities this member presents. This member then competes with the other similarly appointed member from other parties in general election.

5. Media should be free from yellow journalism and it should also be freed from the grip of the established powers

Having (closely??) watched the US presidential debate, I thought this is what we can apply in our country to get something out of present leadership. What it would do basically is enforce these leaders to have vision and strategy to achieve them. This would, in my opinion, step up the politicians from the rhetoric politics to the real politics. They would be evaluated in the next election on the basis of honesty and accomplishment they show in solving the problem.

There are a lot of problems associated with this method. Few are:

1. Special interest groups funding the members to maneuver the politics in their direction. The best way to solve this would be free and independent media.

2. Possibility of relatively less educated and voiceless people being left out of membership: Some people call it Brahmanism. Brahmanism won’t go away unless we give education to the oppressed cast and make their voice louder. Make no mistake, Brahmanism don’t represent Brahmans only, it represents all the people in power who show no concern, whatsoever, towards the under-represented and under educated people in the society. It might be politically incorrect to use word Brahmanism because it is offensive to the Brahmans in good faith.

3. Doubt over whether the established members within the parties are willing to give away their membership to the more qualified junior member of their party.


I believe this is a proactive approach to stepping up the quality of leadership. Comments on this idea or presentation of other pragmatic ideas would highly be appreciated. Let’s not be reactive or cynical about what happened in the past but try to find the solution to the present chaos keeping in mind the vulnerabilities and mistakes exposed in the past. The country no longer belongs to the particular family and it is our responsibility to head it in the right direction. It is the collective effort of Nepalese from every corner that matters.