Setting it right

24th-04-2012

Counting the number of days for the constitution to be promulgated, the April uprising that ushered in loktantra is six years old. The April movement that finally led to monarchy being displaced was a spontaneous outpouring of the sentiments of the Nepali people.

It had been a long wait for the path to be cleared for the Constituent Assembly (CA) election for drafting and promulgating a democratic constitution. Of course, along the line, there has been an undue delay in getting ahead with the twin tasks of peace and constitution-drafting, and the former has progressed while the latter is supposedly in the final stages of consensus respectively. The 19-day mass demonstration in April 2006 is a watershed day in the history of the country.

It was an incident to be looked upon with pride, as it opened the door for the people’s representatives, in the form of CA lawmakers, to frame the first all-encompassing constitution of the country. It comes as a shock to the people that the Maoist-led government had earlier given a cold shoulder to the celebration of Loktantra Diwas, but they relented at the last minute to declare the day a holiday, sans its enthusiastic participation, like what happened with the Democracy Day celebration.

The country has covered many miles during these six years, and a little more than a month remain for the completion of the constitution-drafting task. Only at this late hour the major party leaders are holding extensive parleys to resolve the contentious constitutional issues. Yet, it is very early to speculate as to the final solution. While there was enough time, the political leaders played hide-and-seek and did not come to sit at the table on a serious note. Now, when pressure is piling up on them from the electorate, they are doing their best to come to consensus so that the path will be cleared for the first draft of the statute being readied. For one thing, there will have to be compromises, which will be an indication that the final product will not please everyone, but there will be the usual method of effecting amendments. The constitution-drafting task is not easy, but the carefree initial days have exacted a toll for the leaders to be more involved.

In the run up to this year’s Loktantra Diwas, the country has missed the development goal, while corruption is larger than ever. Even now, the interest of all the parties is seeing shocking dole outs from the state treasury to appease the cadres of all parties. This is sheer misuse of state funds to benefit a few. Though there have been some achievements at striking at corruption with a number of high-profile leaders and others being sentenced, that is only a small part of the bigger picture. The development pace of the country is dismal and further employment opportunities have not picked up because of the slackness on the part of ministries and departments.

This sounds a warning bell as development lacking speed combined with heavy corruption can see the country nowhere near the cherished goal of prosperity for the people. Today standing at the threshold of the May 27 deadline for the constitution to be readied and promulgated, hope reigns supreme-a loktantric wish. Himal.