Major political parties are preparing to write manifestos with issues to attract voters for the upcoming House of Representatives elections on February 21. As there will be competition between new and old parties, the parties have begun intensive preparations to write good manifestos.

After the Gen-G movement of last Bhadra, the old parties are challenged to put forward new issues. The new parties are also challenged to win the hearts of voters by putting forward new and different issues. Since they were heavily criticized for including issues that could not be implemented in the election manifesto in the past elections, the old parties have claimed to have only concrete programs that they can consciously implement in this election. 

The new parties are preparing a manifesto with the dream of a new Nepal. The Congress, UML, and the Nepali Communist Party are doing their homework to include special programs in the manifesto, admitting that they have not been able to work as expected despite being in power several times.

It has been decided to write a manifesto under the leadership of the elected president Gagan Thapa from the special general convention in the Congress. Central member Subhash Thapa said that the first meeting held after the general convention on Thursday decided to write a manifesto under the leadership of Thapa. He said that preparations are being made to write a manifesto based on the report of the then general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma passed in the special general convention. 

UML has also formed a manifesto writing committee under the coordination of Chairman KP Sharma Oli. Like in the last election, it is preparing to continue the main slogan of 'Prosperous Nepal: Happy Nepalis' this time. Leader Pradeep Gyawali said that the manifesto has been written with the resolve to 'make UML a decisive national force' in the election.

'Political issues will be covered on how to restore democracy to normal and how to strengthen the state,' he said, 'We will focus the manifesto on good governance, government delivery, economic prosperity, combating climate change, development of information technology and the progress that can be made with its support.' He said that the manifesto will be prepared with implementable issues. 'Some of the issues in the manifesto have been implemented in the past. Some have not, we will take stock,' Gyawali said. 

The manifesto writing committee, coordinated by Chairman Oli, includes Vice-Chairmen Ram Bahadur Thapa and Bishnu Poudel, General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, leaders Ishwor Pokharel, Pradeep Gyawali and Bishnu Rimal. The Nepali Communist Party is going to prioritize the issues of its government and make good governance, social justice and prosperity the main issues. 

In the previous election, the then Maoists had raised the issue of a direct executive prime minister. The current NCP has not yet decided whether to move forward with it clearly. However, it is preparing to include the issue of amending the constitution to change the form of governance. It has a stake in taking some ownership of the spirit of the Gen-G movement by including it in the manifesto. 

Haribol Gajurel, a member of the NCP manifesto writing committee, said that he would express his commitment to do more in the future by prioritizing the positive work done during his previous leadership. ‘We are preparing the election commitment letter according to the current needs,’ he said.

Another member of the manifesto writing committee, Rajendra Shrestha, said that the manifesto will be prepared by forming subgroups on political, economic, social and administrative issues. "We will go forward with national independence, federal democratic republic and social justice as the core. We express our commitment against status quo and regression," he said.

The manifesto writing committee includes leaders Pramesh Hamal, Bhim Rawal, Dev Gurung, Girirajmani Pokharel, Shakti Basnet, Haribol Gajurel, Rajendra Shrestha, Pampha Bhusal, Ramchandra Jha, Hari Chaudhary, Hakikulla Khan, Ajambar Kangbang. Former chairman of the National Planning Commission, Min Bahadur Shrestha, is also on the committee. Other members include Pushpa Rajkarnikar, Chandramani Adhikari, Achalraj Pandey, Indu Acharya, DP Dhakal, Balram Baskota, Yuwanath Lamsal, Prem Khanal, Jaya Karki, Nahendra Khadka and Gokarna Bhatta.

The National Independent Party, on the other hand, has started writing a manifesto under the coordination of Vice President Swarnim Wagle. Wagle says that the manifesto will be written along with a blueprint for why to choose the Rashtriya Swatantra Party. ‘We will give a clear basis for why to choose the Rashtriya Swatantra Party. We will cover the story of the rise of the Rashtriya Swatantra Party from prohibition to explosion,’ Wagle said, ‘We will explain the economic and political proposals. Sectoral issues are included in it. We will give a clear blueprint for where to go in terms of infrastructure and foreign relations.’ An explanation of the work done by Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah will also be included in the Rashtriya Swatantra Party’s manifesto. ‘We will show the work done in Kathmandu after Balendra Shah became mayor,’ he said. The main emphasis of the manifesto will be good governance, employment and a production-oriented economy, said Rastriya Swatantra Party Treasurer Lima Adhikari. 

Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Janamat, Ujjaj Nepal, CPN United and other parties are also preparing to write election manifestos.

‘ Although the manifesto is good, the weakness is in the implementation ’

Khimlal Devkota, former MP 

Political parties are busy writing election manifestos, what is the status of the implementation of the manifestos of the last election?

I have read the manifestos of all the parties in the last election. I have looked at it from the perspective of implementing federalism. But there was no honesty in the parties. What they said in the manifesto is one thing, but what they did was another. For example, even though the Congress-UML coalition government raised the issue of amending the constitution, they did not implement it. In the past, the manifestos of the Congress, UML, and Maoists were good. They talked about economic prosperity, good governance, implementing federalism, and reforming the electoral system. There were issues such as provincial police and employee adjustment. But after coming to power, they were not found to have read their own election manifestos.