The leadership of the new party also prefers to say 'Jai' to the party top leadership rather than discussing ideas and ideals.
What you should know
Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RASWPA) emerged from the Saharan region, where there is a majority of Nepali speakers and the influence of television and internet. The Janmat Party from the Madhesi-speaking majority rural areas and the Citizens' Liberation Party from the Tharu-speaking majority areas entered the parliament building.
The nature of origin and demands of all these three parties were different. However, the voters of all the three parties were looking for alternatives, good governance, quality services, political reform and hope for a better future. Coming to the mid-term after the 079 election, have these parties and people been able to keep hope in the people? Are they doing it according to the issue, public demand and need? These and many other questions have started to arise.
The emergence of a new political party is seen as a reaction to the failure or weakness of the prevailing political structure. In a democracy, it makes citizens feel they have the right to have an alternative view of governance, representation and justice. But the success or failure of any new party does not depend on its innovation alone.
After the Maoist conflict, Madhesh movement and other identity supporters' movement, 25 parties were admitted to the Constituent Assembly in the first Constituent Assembly election, but the situation of many parties deteriorated when they reached the second Constituent Assembly election. Similarly, parties such as Viveksheel Party and Common Party have emerged. Nepal Praja Parishad, the first political party of Nepal, remains only in history. Somewhere, the parties that were born after the 2079 election are not going to fall?
Capitalizing on public anger against corruption, incompetence and inaction of the old parties, the RSVP won the election. It had an impressive presence on social media, attracting urban youth, first-time voters and Nepalis abroad. Emphasis on good governance, transparency and efficiency, the RSP is mired in ideological ambiguity, dependence on individualistic leadership. Not being able to bear the criticism of institutional weakness and focusing on individuals without giving ideological direction to the party has led this party to become a new version of status quo power.
Janmat Party, which was established as a party representing the neglected voice of Madhesh, has become a new political force to raise its voice in favor of Madheshi identity, rights and development. The journey of this party, which has come to the mainstream democratic process after struggling with separatist ideas, is a challenging one. As they represent a particular geography and community, they will have to face intense regional competition. A balance has to be struck between the fierce expectations of activists and supporters. After entering Kathmandu, it is a big challenge to be able to follow the hunger to become a perceived national leader to escape from the tag of being a regional leader.
Civil Liberation Party, which was formed to free Resham Chaudhary, who was jailed after the Tikapur incident, has raised its voice against the injustice done by the Tharu community and the state. The leadership is highly subjective and focused on a limited agenda, and being the only issue-based party, its challenge is also huge. If there is a challenge of transformation from movement to governance, internal conflict management within the party is important. The future of this party depends on whether it can raise the voices of other marginalized communities and develop a broader vision.
RSVP, Janamat and Civil Liberation Party carry the people's desire for change, justice and inclusion. They have filled the spaces vacated by the old parties and given new hope to democracy. However, since the trial of these has started, the search for governance, policy and political maturity has definitely been done. Democracy requires not only freshness, but also results. In all these three parties, distortions have taken hold so quickly.
Let's compare Nepal's new party with India's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Formation process, agenda and tendency of AAP and Nepali parties are also similar. About AAP The party is reviewed in the book 'Aap and Down' by former leader Mayank Gandhi and Shrey Shah. In the book, the reasons and trends that lead you to decline are discussed.
Despite carrying the ideals of transparency and collective decision-making that began with the anti-corruption movement, President Arvind Kejriwal transformed the party into a centralized, group-controlled organization where dissent had no place. Kejriwal's trend has also started to be seen in the new party of Nepal. The founding general minister of RSVP was expelled from the party after criticizing the state of the organization and the leadership. Even in the public opinion, action has been taken against the founding officers. Laxman Tharu and Surendra Chaudhary, the founding leaders of civil emancipation, have been sidelined.
Gandhi writes, quoting Kejriwal's statement, "I need people who say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', not intellectuals in the party." The leadership of the new party also prefers to say 'Jai' to the party top leadership rather than discussing ideas and ideals. They also seem to be wandering in the hunger for power rather than becoming stronger by acting as an example in their constituencies.
AAP too got caught up in corruption, casteism, religious polarisation, and hollow speech like traditional politics. Your workers were not recruited for development, but for agitation and obstruction, in Gandhi's words, 'We were experts in confrontation, not system builders.' Similarly, RSVP has also exposed its workers to confrontation and accusations when they were involved in the cooperative case of Chairman Lamichhane. Workers have attacked their own leaders in public opinion. The institutional development and movement of this party has been stopped because the workers have been forced to stand up for the defense of the party leadership rather than engaging in the work of institutional development and long-term impact.
These three parties that have emerged in Nepal seem to run a party like a professional office rather than showing behavior of a political character. Another distortion seen in these parties is the frequent use of the victim card. For example, when the president of RSVP was investigated in the case of citizenship and cooperation, he sought emotional support from the people by hiding his weaknesses saying that the old party or the government was trying to kill him. Other parties are also using the same card. However, the new party can't continue to gain public support by using such a victim card and hiding its failures and weaknesses by blaming others and running away from its responsibility.
The new party had to maintain its novelty or alternative edge by constantly speaking the language of the people. The movement of the government, streets, houses and social media had to be continued for the reform of the system. However, as soon as they entered the Parliament, they began to show the traditional language spoken by the Singh Darbar and the character shown by the permanent power by forming alliances with the same old parties and enjoying power. As the thirst for power and frenzy could not be contained, their destruction started from there. There were also those who argued that by going to power, I would show it by working. However, they could not show even by working, instead they showed even more distorted events than the old party.
In order to maintain an alternative edge, these parties strengthened their internal democracy and increased their dependence on a single leadership. A leader who emphasizes on ideas and organizational structure is getting ready. The illusion that one can survive on Chatak by forming a personal party or becoming a messiah alone has come under the leadership of the new party. Kishore or Genji seem to believe in the new party.
The new party has a big challenge to maintain that trust and increase support. The results of the last provincial and representative assembly and local level by-elections suggest that the people have stopped trusting the new party as well. If there is improvement in these parties, there is still a possibility that they can come stronger in the 2084 elections. However, if the new party is focused on individuals, dictatorial tendencies are increasing, it is limited to the speech of the party leader rather than ideas and organization, and if the progressive and democratic process is destroyed, then the new party will end or become another small photocopy of the old party.
