Power struggles are ongoing all over the world. There are many examples of powerful countries and rulers continuously oppressing and dominating other countries in the struggle for political, economic, cultural, technological, and nuclear power.

Oppressed countries and peoples have been continuously resisting the political interference, economic exploitation, and plunder of the weak by the world's most powerful powers. Revolutions and struggles for freedom and independence took place all over the world to end the interference, sub-colonial rule, and oppression of world imperialism. With the development of industrial capitalism, workers' uprisings took place against the extreme exploitation of the working class and the working class. Movements have been ongoing in Africa, America, Britain, and other countries for a long time against the oppression and tyrannical rule of apartheid-racist rulers. Struggles are also ongoing against the harsh oppression of the caste system in South Asian countries, discrimination, exclusion, violence, and tyranny against indigenous peoples, Muslims, and marginalized communities.

In Nepali society, the powerful have been exercising their power of rule, exploitation, and oppression over the weak for a long time. The Nepalese, who suffered from the hegemonic rule of the powerful Rana Shah, also went through thirty years of autocracy. After the multi-party political system of 2047, there has been a movement against the monopoly of certain political, social communities and genders. This means that the traditionally powerful classes and communities are exercising their power and dominance over property. And, the oppressed communities are building and resisting power for equality and participation with the state.

Nepal's parties and their leadership have a thirst for extreme power to institutionalize a democratic political system - they have a 'hunger for power' to achieve what they want from elections. In the parliamentary political system, elected representatives of the people reach the place of policy-making and implementation of the state, representing the concerns of the people. Politically speaking, elections are a method for political parties and leaderships to gain legitimacy for the exercise of power. After receiving a certain number of votes from the people, political parties and people's representatives gain legitimacy in the exercise of power. The representatives of the class, community and gender whose exercise of power is formally legitimated through elections basically work to protect the interests of that class and community. Therefore, in a country with social diversity, a state structure with proportional inclusion is needed to transform power relations based on exclusion and oppression while ensuring the real representation of social reality.

However, in parliamentary politics, on the one hand, the dominance of the dominant party is gaining legitimacy, while on the other hand, the role of the people's representatives approved by the people is being influenced by various interest groups and power centers rather than addressing the rights, needs and concerns of the common citizen. Because political parties and leaderships benefit from state power, economic resources and governance power-exercise under the guise of self-motivated legitimacy, the leadership of political parties in Nepal has a thirst for extreme power. The aspiration and thirst for self-motivated power is becoming an obstacle to the socio-political transformation of the country and its people.

The lust for power

The results of the 1933 elections led to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi) becoming the largest party in Germany. After that, Hitler, who became Chancellor, ruled from 1934 to 1945. One of the world's most brutal rulers, Hitler gained power through elections. After taking power, he not only banned the Communist Party, but also imprisoned thousands of people and carried out extreme repression against Jews. If we look at politics around the world after 2010, right-wing forces have gained legitimacy for power through elections in countries like the United States, Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America, and India. They are especially exercising repressive power all over the world. The powerful Western intervention in sovereign countries is an example of that.

Elections are an integral part of democracy in a democratic system. Nepal's political parties and their leaderships seem to have a strong desire for power to institutionalize the democratic political system, which they want to achieve through elections. As is the case with all parties, new or old, and their leaderships, there is a competition to gain power, and an extreme 'power hunger' has awakened in the parties and leaderships. If the idea, vision, and plan to solve the country's crisis are at the center of such a trend, it can naturally contribute to socio-political transformation. However, 'ego', arrogance, and pride dominate that center. Such power prohibits different ideas - treating competitors with hatred, displaying the arrogance of ruling that 'I alone am everything', and institutionalizing hegemony over weaker classes or communities. This trend threatens to produce heroes, not the efficient, firm, and accountable leadership needed by the country and the people. In the current election, it seems that most parties, new or old, and their leaderships are hungry for power.

The Nepali people have witnessed many games of power-hungry power of the old political parties and their leadership. The Nepali people have been continuously enduring the conflicting alliances made by sacrificing political ideas and perspectives, the tedious game of parliamentary arithmetic, and the arrogant political leadership. Apart from becoming the Prime Minister five times, Sher Bahadur Deuba could not do any concrete work to create history. The extent of his lust for power was revealed by the time of the special general convention of the Nepali Congress. What concrete work has KP Oli, who was the Prime Minister four times, done in the fields of social, political, economic, and educational transformation? No concrete work to transform the economic and social life of the people could be done under his leadership. Most of the party leadership enjoyed the politics of gaining power and deceiving the people. The contribution made to history should be accounted for, but those parties and leaderships that are obsessed with power and play with people's lives should review and self-criticize. The illusion of reaching power at any cost and establishing themselves as the only political leadership is the product of the lust for power. Some newly formed political parties and their leaderships seem to be extremely lustful for power. If there is no concrete idea or vision to identify the country's crisis and the people's problems and solve them, any leadership born from the lust for power is likely to increase the people's frustration and anger. Therefore, it is important for the people to be aware of the politics of lust for power.

Election Action Plan

Political parties and the people are enthusiastic about the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives after the Gen-G rebellion. It is not unnatural for the people to hope that there will be new changes in the state that is being run by a limited number of leaders. Most of the parties have decided on candidates and started the election campaign. But, did the political parties and leadership fulfill the promises and commitments made to the people? The parties have no answer for this. What kind of society-state is the party and candidate trying to build after this election? How can the federalism weakened by political irresponsibility be effectively implemented? How can the political leadership, civil service administration, and state mechanisms, which are mired in corruption, be radically changed? Politics has become toxic due to capitalism and brokering. What is the method to free the country from such toxic politics? What are the foundations for strengthening the country's economy from the control of a handful of capitalists, brokers, and middlemen? About 3,000 youth are forced to enter the cheap foreign labor market every day. The poor, workers, farmers, and marginalized communities are deprived of quality education. People deprived of basic health services are forced to die prematurely.

Not only that - in a society shaken by social discrimination, injustice and oppression, there is a situation where people have to commit suicide without getting justice . Social justice has become just a slogan . 'Law for the small, peace for the big' remains . Such serious problems cannot be solved with slogans alone . There are structural, cultural and psychological reasons for these problems . Therefore, political parties and candidates should have clear ideas, perspectives and action plans to solve such problems .

Naturally, the people are angry about political dishonesty . Elections are an opportunity for the people to question the parties and leaders . This is a time to question the promises and commitments made in the past, to seek answers, to find an account of the betrayals and dishonesty of the past . It is time to hold parties and leaders accountable . In elections, it is the conscience of the people to accept or reject political parties and leadership . It is said that trust is a power that can spread the light of hope . To build such hope and trust, political parties and leadership must have a clear plan and roadmap. However, in the current election, political parties and candidates have not been able to build the country and the people's trust that there is hope for transformation.

A blurry scenario

In the current election, some characters around the government have been eliminated, while the new generation has shown the possibility of entering parliamentary politics. It is natural for the people to hope that something new will happen, like a light in the dark. But how much meaningful representation will there be with the agenda of historically deprived classes, genders, and communities? If a situation arises where progressive transformative forces have a strong presence and dynamic role, then some efforts can be made to solve structural-practical challenges. If power-hungry, arrogant, and arrogant leadership is approved through elections, it will stop the pace of progressive change and further weaken inclusive democracy. This increases the risk of pushing society further backward and right-wing instead of forward.