Nearly twenty-four hundred years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato, in his famous work ‘Republic’, expressed the idea that the judicial actions of a man with a judicial mind to build an ideal (city) society should be guided by a philosophical perspective. Plato, a disciple of Socrates, discussed the context of the leadership of a man or a philosopher (king) who aspires to rule in his book. In it, he explained the sentence that the highest happiness in the world is achieved through judicial actions performed with a philosophical orientation.

In the current political scenario of Nepal, as explained by the philosopher Plato, the judicial spirit who wants to experience happiness through the contribution of positive judicial actions to society is becoming rare. According to Plato, judicial actions performed individually ultimately turn into social and political justice. Therefore, society continues to praise only those who can shed light on society through judicial actions for thousands of years. On the contrary, according to Plato, those who make society sad by neglecting morality remain part of the punishment for the same number of years.

In the Nepali political scenario that is becoming more and more unethical, unprincipled and immoral day by day, the judicial actions and the reference to the ideal society raised by the philosopher Plato may seem ridiculous to the characters who are only making an equation to ascend to power in politics. However, it is a conscious civic responsibility for a judicial person who believes in judicial values ​​to continue to strongly renew the importance of ideals and morality in politics.

Taking the issue of proportional representation, which has been a topic of debate in the public sphere recently, as an example, this article focuses on the extent to which the practice of political morality carried out with a judicial mind is responsible for building an ideal society as defined by Plato. 

The drought of social metaphysics 

In the field of philosophy, the concept of social metaphysics emphasizes the philosophical trend that judicial decisions should be made for the sake of social transformation only by deeply contemplating the structural character of society, existing contradictions, and the social world. Making political decisions without knowledge of social metaphysics are unjust acts that cause suffering to society. In the Nepali context, it is a well-known fact that there was a considerable debate on the issue of proportional representation during the first and second Constituent Assembly elections.

However, the ideology and imagination of the general public are being influenced more by the shine of faces than by ideas, and by the boom of social media than by political trends.

As every political decision that should be made in an equitable manner for the distribution of resources and power continues to fall into the hands of vested interests, it is time for a thorough public debate once again on the profound philosophical essence of the proportional representation system. Theoretically, the proportional representation system is intended to represent the issues of class, caste, gender, regional and other structural oppression from an equitable perspective. However, in practice, the issue of proportional representation has been completely ignored, without even a minimal understanding of Nepal's social, political, cultural and structural inequality.

This first situation is created by the sheer ignorance of the actors. Even the advocates of alternative and new politics, including people from only one-third of the districts in the proportional list and ignoring the issue of regional oppression, is a lack of philosophical orientation towards the proportional system. 

Lack of knowledge of social philosophy is one aspect, on the other hand, as party workers claim, the closed lists of proportional representation are certainly not honest love letters written by innocent lovers to win the hearts of their beloveds. Power in politics is an authority, the use of which determines who will have the opportunity to use the resources available in society and who will not. In the second case, political players deliberately make unjust decisions by misusing their power to fulfill the vested objectives of interest groups from the upper class.

Therefore, the closed list of proportional representation is prepared as a product of utilitarian and pragmatic politics. Therefore, among the reasons why whose name is included, the donors who run the party, the businessmen of the business families, and the rescuers who are active inside when the leadership is in trouble are on the priority list. Taking advantage of this additional leadership's behavioral weakness and receiving financial compensation, the promises to be made to the proportional MPs for additional compensation, and the desire of the Tarmara class to continue to see the next generation in the political scene even after their boasting, have undermined the dignity of the proportional position.

Therefore, contrary to the philosophy of the proportional system that should represent the marginalized class de jure, the Tarmara tendency dominates de facto, and the closed list prepared by political parties is itself prepared as a contract filled with self-interest. Whether the first situation is unknowingly due to social metaphysical ignorance or the second situation is a deliberate tendency to trample under the guise of power, both situations are sabotaging the journey of building an egalitarian and ideal society as defined by Plato, ignoring the happiness of the larger society.

Clockwork Orange Syndrome

It is a sad situation that most of the top leaders of Nepal's political circles have met the fate of the famous director Stanley Kubrick's film 'A Clockwork Orange'. In Kubrick's film, the main character named Alex rapes a woman in one context and saves another woman from being raped in another context. 

The old parties, which have struggled against nepotism and nepotism for a lifetime, have repeated the evil tradition of favoring the weakest as much as possible in the proportional system, even sacrificing the essence of the Gen-G movement. Therefore, the contradictory character of the old parties of Nepal, which both advocate good governance and do not stop making themselves the embodiment of misgovernance as soon as the opportunity arises, seems to be exactly the same as the character of Alex in 'A Clockwork Orange' in the so-called new parties.

Even the characters who have proven themselves to be the messiahs of good governance by demonstrating their professional skills against corruption and injustice in the style of ‘Badhe Miyan To Badhe Miyan Chote Miyan Subhan Allah’ have been seen as adept at wielding the double-edged sword of good governance and misgovernance in both directions as soon as they get the opportunity. Like the Nepali proverb ‘Umriyen Tin Pat’, even the players who are ready to give the country a progressive exit have been forced to calculate their share in percentages and prepare a proportional list, which has left the new party reeling under the same old pain.

 People from only three backgrounds coming under the same flag do not convey hope to the general public. The general public, who have been tormented by the misgovernance of the old ones, expect judicial commitments and practices from the new ones in the name of good governance and rule of law. The characters who have emerged in the political circles in the name of the new ones are the same people who once declared the ruling coalition formed by the old parties as unholy and repeatedly made programs in the media, sang raps, and cried that they were not allowed to work as victims of coalition politics.

Because of the difference in issues of physical infrastructure and good governance, even the famous characters in the public circle have reached the point of making their own decisions, the unjust acts committed in the name of the proportional system have themselves appeared contradictory, like the fate of the character Alex, whom director Kubrick characterized in 'Clockwork Arrangement'. Only judicial decisions made by judicial minds can give meaning to the vision of an ideal society.

The commentary on innovation and alternative politics has been limited to slogans. Therefore, when political understanding and judicial decisions are required, the lack of political awareness by political players to look at society, economics, politics, and public policy has been exposed when preparing the proportional list. Such ill intentions, created intentionally and unjustly, ultimately commit to the happiness of the minority. And, they are eager to make the majority feel sad. 

Wave of professional devaluation 

In the context of Nepal, there is a historical example of the country losing an excellent doctor after becoming the president. In that case, is the attraction of a significant number of professionals to proportional representation each time due to the repulsion of the professionals concerned with their profession or due to some other factor? This needs to be discussed. Even the new parties that have emerged, citing themselves as alternative and new forces, have distributed proportional positions in a way that professionals are 'deprofessionalized' by their actions, which is well known in Nepali political circles.

Whether it is the three-year silence of a senior gynecologist in the country in the parliament or the MLA who calls himself a filmmaker who spent his time making TikTok videos instead of putting his energy into the film bill, the Nepali people have already experienced examples. Neither raising any serious issues, nor taking any special interest in the policy-making process - there was a large presence of professionals who could not create any results other than vacating the parliament building.

Therefore, when discussing many other examples, the proportional system is becoming a tool to produce fun in the name of MLAs by making professionals inactive from their profession. Now the question arises, why do people who are considered excellent in their profession want to be elected through the proportional system and become MLAs? The simple answer to this is - when elected through the proportional system, one gets the position without having to fight the direct election. Not only does one get the position, but one also easily gets the salary and allowances of the MLA and a red passport to go abroad. 

Theoretically, the Tarmara class, considering themselves suitable for the proportional representation system, saying ‘yes’ is a matter of spiritual happiness and a matter of sorrow for the majority. On the other hand, as Plato said, only when professionals who have acquired rare and specialized knowledge in the society can demonstrate their excellence in the political sphere after changing their profession, can they also feel spiritual happiness. However, unfortunately, if we consider the presentations made by some legislators who have come to politics from the technical field in the mass media and social networks, it is clear that they are in vain ignoring the professional knowledge they have acquired.

On the one hand, the process of drawing passionate professionals in important professions like health away from their profession and into the political sphere by a party that has entered the elections with the dream of developing the country seems to support the one-sided statement that ‘the development of the country can only happen after contributing to the political sphere’. It is a natural right of a person to change his profession after getting bored with a certain profession. However, the deep attraction of professionals who have proven themselves to be good in their respective fields to proportional representation has certainly taken away the share of honest activists who have been carrying the issue of oppression for a long time.

They cannot bear the financial burden of the elections. However, handing over the proportional system, which was implemented as a reservation for people from marginalized communities, which is necessary for equitable representation at the policy-making level, to professionals from most old and new parties, has become a powerful means of raising donations to run the party. This is a dishonest act done to the marginalized class, which has been suffering from historical oppression and social exclusion for centuries under the influence of unjust minds and decisions.

The proportional attraction of celebrities

Of course, politics should not remain an evergreen profession for anyone. Only fair and equal access to people from every level and strata of society can help in building an ideal society. In Nepal, excellent personalities from the field of art are practicing jumping into political circles in various contexts. However, the presence of most artists, except for a few from the art sector, as MLAs or other office bearers in the political circle is annoying. Let's look at the context of Nepal, there is a clear example of people sitting as proportional representatives failing to show even minimal activity even when the policy of their respective areas is being formulated. 

In the context of India, famous actors Govinda and Dharmendra became inactive within a few years of becoming MLAs. Showing a presence in the political circle without having a definite view of society and showing a presence in a place that guides society without knowledge of the ground reality is counterproductive for the individual himself and the country as well. Such a discussion was made regarding the inactivity after the presence of celebrities in Indian politics.

The tendency of parties to easily make artists MLAs through the door of the proportional system by estimating that they can easily win elections under the guise of their public image cannot be considered a practice of achieving judicial happiness through judicial action. The fact that celebrities have been included in the closed list of proportional representation of certain political parties in this election has proven that the rhetoric of innovation and alternative has not touched the hearts of the backward classes. 

The tendency to misuse the inherent power of proportional representation and cause losses to the concerned sector and not to see productivity after joining a political party has created a situation where nothing but losses are possible. The fact that faces are becoming more important than ideas and glamour is becoming more important than depth in political parties shows that in the current situation, they are making political actions light. Even the artists themselves do not seem to have made any effort to increase their ideological height after obtaining the post of proportional legislator. Apart from this, the parties have also used celebrities only as a token to create noise. This gives the impression that the presence of celebrities in Nepali politics has not reached the level of serious intervention other than confusion.

आमसञ्चार माध्यममा अभिव्यक्त भएका अन्तर्वार्ता केलाउने हो भने निख्खर नेपाली शब्दहरूले वाक्य निर्माण गरेर आलोचना गर्दासमेत आफूलाई नै आलोचना गरेको हो भनेर ठम्याउन पनि हम्मे–हम्मे हुने सेलिब्रेटीबाट नीतिनिर्माण तहमा गहन योगदानको अपेक्षा अर्को एउटा भ्रम हुनेछ । चर्को आलोचनापछि आत्मअनुभूति भएर वा भनौं भित्री दबाबमा नाम फिर्ता लिने प्रक्रिया अघि बढे पनि समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्वको सवाल सञ्चारमाध्यममा अनुहार देखाउन वा रातो पासपोर्टमा विदेश घुम्न मात्रै सुनिश्चित गरिएको होइन भन्ने तत्त्वबोध गर्नु महत्त्वपूर्ण हुन जान्छ ।

कलाकारले राजनीतिक पार्टीमार्फत राष्ट्रसेवा गर्न चाहेमा पार्टीको जनवर्गीय संगठनमार्फतै आफूमा निख्खरता हासिल गर्दै लैजाने र नीतिनिर्माण तहमा हस्तक्षेप गर्न सक्ने बाटाहरू खुल्लै छन् । 

हरेक व्यक्तिमा स्वाभाविक प्रकारको राजनीतिक चेत विकास गरी अघि बढ्ने अवस्था सिर्जना गर्नुभन्दा टीआरपीका आडमा तिनलाई टपक्कै टिपेर समानुपातिक सांसद बनाउने र बन्न खोज्ने प्रवृत्ति छ । यसले नेपाली समाजको रूपान्तरणको पाटोमा कुनै ठोस भूमिका खेलेको देखिँदैन । सर्वोच्च अदालतले समेत समानुपातिक प्रणालीको मर्म आत्मसात् गर्दै महिला, पिछडा वर्ग तथा विकलांगको समेत समानुपातिक प्रतिनिधित्वको सवालमा सचेत हुन ध्यानाकर्षण गरेको छ । तसर्थ, सार्वजनिक अपेक्षाविपरीत नेपालका नयाँ र पुराना राजनीतिक पार्टीले उही पुरानै शैलीमा समानुपातिक बन्दसूचीलाई स्रोत र शक्तिका आडमा तयार हुने सम्झौताको दस्ताबेज बनाएका छन् । यो आदर्श समाज निर्माणका लागि न्यायिक निर्णय कदापि होइन ।