Even with 39 days left for the House of Representatives elections, the parties have not made their manifestos public. Nor have they accelerated the writing of them.

Candidates are reaching out to voters, seeking votes for themselves and the party. But they have not been able to submit a formal document stating what their policy and program are to be proposed to the people.

They are trying to influence voters based on their own personalities, not on the basis of the party's central policy. This risks making the election more personal than policy-oriented.

Personal politics has a history of creating more hope in the people for a while and then leading to anger. As a result, politics and society are always mired in instability. Therefore, parties should make their manifestos public as soon as possible and seek votes from the people based on that. This is the mature electoral process.

Parliaments have some basic responsibilities - to provide government, to provide laws and policies, to convey the concerns of citizens to the government, and to monitor the government's activities. However, the main role of parliaments around the world is to fulfill their legislative responsibilities. Therefore, the people should know what policies the parties representing them in parliament are carrying out. It should be clear during elections.

This issue is not only for the selection of candidates, but also for making the concerned party accountable after the election. Suppose, if a party wins the election by writing in its manifesto that it will make education free, citizens can pressure it to do that.

Until the manifesto is available, it is not known what policy the party will advocate in parliament tomorrow. There is no basis for citizens to hold them accountable for standing in favor of such a policy. The same concept applies to issues ranging from constitutional achievements to social justice. 

In a presidential system, the candidate's own written and verbal promise could have been sufficient. Because, after the election, he and his team should be accountable to the citizens. But in a parliamentary system, the party's policy is the main one, and those who support it join the party. It is not that MPs are not sovereign, but they cannot go far beyond the party's central policy.

That is why the party's manifesto is needed in elections. What kind of laws do they support in which areas, what kind of policies do they want to take the country forward, what is their understanding of competing parties, what kind of society do they want to create, what is the formula for economic development? All these aspects require the party's commitment. At this time, asking for votes without a unified policy and concept of the party is to despise the voters.

The old parties used to despise the voters, and the new parties have also emerged in the same way. They are also motivated to gather votes by showing only their faces, not by policies that are in line with the times.

In this election, the major parties have designated the Prime Ministerial candidate. This is positive. However, there may be a risk if only the individual is discussed and approved as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Because, we are practicing a parliamentary system. In this system, people believe not in the magic of individuals, but in their policies and the institutional capacity to implement those policies.

Such policies must have adjusted from the constitutional legacy to the new aspirations of the people. During implementation, there must have been dialogue with stakeholders within and outside the party. The more clear the party and candidate are in terms of policy, the easier it is to implement that policy.

If there is no policy clarity, the country will get one more prime minister after the election, but it will not be able to meet the expectations of the people. Therefore, the people should be informed about the Nepal of each party's imagination and the ways to turn that imagination into reality.

The election is being held on 21 Falgun in the special situation created by the Gen-G movement of 23 and 24 Bhadra. The inaction of the parties is also a strong reason for the rise of the Gen-G movement. Although the parties made big promises in the past, they were not honest in implementing them, which has increased dissatisfaction in the society.

The people understood that the parties' goal was focused on gaining and misusing power rather than implementing people-oriented policies. The opportunity has now been obtained to change the scenario where power is policy and power is program.

Parties should express their commitment through election manifestos. They should say what programs they will implement when they come to power and what programs they will pressure to implement when they are in opposition, and win the people's votes. This election should be made a point of self-examination of past weaknesses and a starting point for a new beginning.

In the past, parties were not honest with the policies and programs mentioned in their manifestos. Even when they came to power, they broke their own manifesto promises. They deceived the people. To address this trend, improvements are needed on two fronts.