How about 'voluntary retirement' from the executive?

In this context, voluntary retirement is such a powerful option, due to which the respect of others towards the retired person is awakened and the public also awakens trust in politics.

The two world leaders who chose voluntary retirement last month, the current US President, 81-year-old Joe Biden, and the Japanese Prime Minister, 67-year-old Fumio Kishida, were in the news. By self-declaration, they have prevented themselves from leading the country for another term, paving the way for new leadership within the party. Tony Blair happily relinquished the third mandate he won to his friend Gordon Brown. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also announced that she would not run for a fourth term even though she was unopposed within the party. These incidents are not from the past but from two decades ago. In the third world like Nepal, such an incident should happen. Voluntary retirement from executive leadership i.e. why a leader is ready to take a break even though he has the opportunity to contest elections is the main topic of this article. This matter will be discussed in the light of American Biden and Japanese Kishida. After the

results, it is not clear whether to resign by taking the party and yourself into the abyss, or to separate yourself from the role of the direct executive and announce that you will take a break by presuming about the results. That requires a lot of self-reflection. In Nepal, even after the result, there is a tradition of not giving up the post of the party under one or the other excuse. The constitution of the party is also not binding to give up the post. On the other hand, there is no tradition or practice of listening to inner voice.

Background to Biden's retirement

The US presidential election is watched with interest around the world. In what has been assessed as a dull election between two elderly people in their eighties for a year, the excitement of the election has taken a new direction after the incumbent President Joe Biden announced that he will not participate in the competition three months before the election. His rival, former President Donald Trump, has gone from aggressive to defensive on the campaign trail. Similarly, it has been estimated that the gap between the two candidates is decreasing after the arrival of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Joe Biden is a character who emerged in American politics by being elected as a senator from the state of Delaware in 1972 at the age of 32. After Barack Obama, a black citizen who is younger than himself, was selected as the vice presidential candidate, the way was paved for him to become the president as well. So far, only 15 out of 49 vice presidents have succeeded in becoming president. Out of those 15, eight became president automatically due to the assassination or death of their president. One exception was Richard Nixon's resignation when his vice president, Gerald Ford, became president. Only six vice presidents have become presidents in their respective countries. Current President Joe Biden also falls in that order. With his latest move, he has paved the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the President.

The United States has an original system of presidential elections. A presidential aspirant must be elected through party primaries and win a majority of delegates. There was no obstacle within the Democratic Party for Biden to run for the presidency for a second term. Regardless of whether he was elected by the Republican or Democratic party, the incumbent president is automatically eligible to run for a second term from his party. This rule is not mentioned in the party statutes but has been practiced in practice.

10 of the 45 American presidents have been defeated while competing for a second term, while only three appear to have voluntarily not run for a second term. Only James Polk, James Buchanan, and Rutherford Hash appear not to be running for a second term as previously announced. Now the name of Biden is also mixed in the same wave.

But he is going to leave office with a different record than those three presidents. He saw that it was not advisable to fight or win by dividing the party line. He has always favored greater unity within the Democratic Party. He was the incumbent Vice President eligible to contest the presidency in the 2016 election. But his candidacy paved the way for Hillary Clinton, seeing divisions in the party. Four years later, Bernie Sanders emerged as the consensus candidate when he swept the party primaries. And, defeating Trump, he was elected to the presidency.

According to the news published in the New York Times, he said that although he believed that he would win the election, he withdrew his hand because "the price of victory is too high". Whoever wins the elections on November 20, because of his decision, the party has easily entered the election contest with high morale and aggressively. It did not take two weeks for the positive results of his decision. It seems that he is getting what he wanted to get from his announcement, what he wanted to get the party line.

Kishida's experience

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is rumored to not participate in the September party presidential election for the post of prime minister. In Japan, the term of the Parliament "Diet" is four years. The term of the chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is only 3 years and he can be the party chairman for a maximum of three terms. Similarly, there is a provision in the constitution that the chairman of the party is the prime minister. There need to be at least 20 congress delegates who are members of parliament for the chairman post at the party convention. No one from within the party challenged the leadership of Kisida, who became the party chairman only in his first term. However, based on media reports that Kishida's popularity is weakening outside the party, Kishida said, "The first natural decision to show that the Liberal Democratic Party will change is for me to lead the way."

Japan's practice has shown that changing the party chairman in three years does not allow the incumbent leader to become complacent and incumbent. Makes the leader accountable to the workers and the people. As Prime Minister, he can decide not to run for the presidency if the polls are down, akin to voluntary retirement. Another aspect of it is that it proves that popularity among people is more important than popularity among workers.

The American event did not happen based on what was written in the party constitution or the constitution. Japan's case is based on the recognition of regular renewal of party leadership enshrined in that party's constitution. Because the leadership abandons the arrogance of capturing public opinion by capturing the party. Rather, it is preferable to take a break from the party leadership while assessing the possible public opinion. Self-esteem beyond pride, arrogance, arrogance, arrogance, easiness, declares a spontaneous and effortless exit from the highest level of the rank ladder. That is respect for the party system. Respect for the options within the party, faith in the future of the party and ultimately the future of the country.

What will Nepal's parties and leaders learn?

In a party structure like ours, where party membership is closed in nature, and only representatives are elected as the leadership wants, the Japanese model can be effective here. The scope of the common voter is wider than that of the workers. But in our party, the party is captured first and through it the public opinion. There is a situation where those who are truly in control of public opinion are prevented from moving forward because the party has captured them. Nepali Congress is a party facing similar problem. Based on various surveys over the past two decades, there are other leaders who are more beloved by the people than the Congress president or the top leaders, but such leaders are not able to lead the party in parliament or lead the country.

The top leader is constantly getting the privilege of ignoring the good governance and service delivery by doing the work of pleasing only the convention representatives who vote for him instead of pleasing the people by putting himself in the center. People's supremacy can only be maintained if the leader can make him more accountable to the people than to the workers who elect him. We have the supremacy of workers. The way of modernization of the party has been blocked by promoting the style of work that ignores public opinion. The leaders who have reached the top level of the party take their conscience and public opinion hostage and undertake such activities until they reach Aryaghat. Therefore, in an advanced democracy, the party is not rejected, the leadership of the party is rejected.

The top leaders of our party try to set up a fake Abha Mandal by placing themselves above the party through Bhajan Mandali. They often declare the incompetent leadership to be unopposed. The constitution of the party should also be changed to induce the leader of the party to voluntarily retire and the mentality of occupying the country through party occupation should be changed. And the practice of distributing one's profit to only means and resources also ends. The rule of law and the merotycracy triumph over the party bureaucracy. Our parties have grown old, but how to make them young, how to free them from the 'Iron Law of Oligarchy', and more than that, how to keep the top leadership of the party fresh has become a challenge for Nepali democracy.

parties must confidently accept that public opinion, i.e. the vote of the people in the general election, is more effective and larger than the vote of the workers. This should be mentioned in the party's constitution and should also be reflected in practice. After that, voluntary retirement becomes a regular occurrence rather than an exception. And it is ensured that the source of politics will be saturated and only people's responsible leadership will get a chance. The country is freed from the excesses and oppression of mediocre leadership. The future debate about 'exit policy' should be focused in this direction. Arjunadrishti should be applied to the eyes of the fish itself, not the tail or the surroundings of the fish.