Nepal is undergoing a republican democratic experiment with a harsh political, economic and social legacy. Liberal and democratic aspirations had intensified before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Liberal democracy, thus, began three decades after the end of the Cold War. Current history commenced a new chapter in a political society where unlimited political freedom and a free market economy formed the logical framework of governance. Although it has been said that the dawn of the Enlightenment in America and Europe ignited liberal aspirations associated with a democratic form of government from the American Revolutionary War in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789. At the same time, Nepal began a project of unification in 1768 that envisioned a nation-state concept with monarchical leadership and a diverse composition of a Council of Elders to guide, warn and encourage nation and state building.
In recent history, since the early 20th century, democracy has been a challenging arrangement of government due to vigorous, vocal and harassing political and opposition elements. Our human society is fortunate to find a home in a political system that recognizes freedom, rights and liberties that are unprecedented from the local to the global level of analysis. In international relations since 1990, when the reunification of Germany was seen as the lifting of the Iron Curtain between the free world and the communist world, the world order was in an interregnum until 2000 when we appraise it.
With the onset of financial difficulties, repeated natural disasters, migrations and refugees, anti-globalization politics, anti-neoliberal policies and the public health crises after 2001, a turning point in international relations suddenly began, when the unilateral and unipolar power policy of the United States had to grapple the state of global affairs where obligations, concerns, stakes and interests matters in relation to the rise of the old powers in the regional level and, at the international level, the pivotal roles and leverage of small and medium powers to control conflicts and foster cooperation with their manipulations and maintenance of balance of power politics and contain threats to peace. From the local to the global level of consciousness, we build solutions and alternatives to problematic issues related to such facets of public and international affairs. Public concerns are by no means immune to global public policy influences and their practical implications.
In this journey of 32 years since the restoration of democracy in Nepal, the leaders have been severely criticized. The severity of slander and belittling comments are expressed on the information and communication technology media, vox populi (popular voice) and social media. Criticism is based on either evidence or hearsay. Currently political lies or fake news and misinformation are a common challenge in political world where gossiping is rife as usual. And false news promotes lies and bad opinions from a perspective where the person is not well educated or learned or, more importantly, be an insider or expert to sift fact from fiction, truth from lies, and honesty from breach of codes of conduct or ethics. The real concern is that the legacy of authoritarian regimes and the radicalization of public political affairs create some limits. Evidence-based opposition or principles based or fact laden criticism rarely emerges, except to accuse unfair games in practice of dangerous political traps or alliances or agreements and broken political promises to, or unfulfilled wishes of, the people.
General discontent is the norm in political society or among people familiar with politics, where realpolitik ignores vices or expediencies and seeks the principles or such virtues from which power politics derives. Idealpolitik loses its grip, power and vitality due to factors leading to national integrity crises because it is interested in the realistic version of politics and its malpractices. In other words, due to the bad effects of realpolitik, the pillars of governance and administration are on the verge of collapse and there is a fiery feeling toward democracy, which must implement public policy urgently. It would be painful to blame only the leaders, because public policies and decision-making processes and actors involved in regard the implementation of public policy are entrusted with the important jurisdiction, despite intrinsic restrictions and limitations of officialdom. In the prevailing inconsistency in the implementation of public policy, development management and administrative development find a toughest challenge to consolidate. This is one of the prerequisite actions to revive and rejuvenate liberal democracy.
Since the trajectory of Nepali politics is full of instability and uncertainty, the nerves of the government and administration can follow illiberal swings and populist sentiments. It can weaken liberal democracy if a strict rule of law is invoked instead of a democratic rule of democratic law. The latter was considered soft and not stringent to implement and enforce the law of the land. Illiberalism gets a boost when the normal conduct of politics is corrupted by the luxury of talk culture and the fatalistic temptations of non-work or unprofessional performances including maladministration and corruption.
The confusion of the past in politics can be resolved if self-realization and self-fulfilment in the position of political-economic and socio-cultural spheres focus on the promotion and execution of better governance and administration. Illiberalism has no liberal values or pretends to espouse liberal values with illiberal approaches and conservative temper. On the other hand, a mainstream political society, if it fails to maintain a functioning state organ and misconduct a substantive and procedural democracy, would undermine the principles, practices and goals of liberal democracy.
Illiberalism prevails in the political and economic spheres, burdening the New Republic and its bona fide citizens and ordinary people abetting suffering and deterioration of morale to continue in the workforce or sectors of vocation. Therefore, the potpourri of illiberal politics and its backlash of the rise of populism suggests that political affairs are competitive and authoritarian. That would undermine the ideals and realities of liberal democracy in practice. On the contrary, it would be an encouraging choice for those prone to authoritarian tactics against dysfunctional and beleaguered delivery of civic services of former political actors. Disenchantment with politics hurts many who practice and watch the decline of liberal democracy.
Elections are routine acts of exercising the sovereignty of the electorate, and each vote represents the power of the people. Electoral integrity and the associated good governance can protect our democracy, albeit in its distorted version of politics undertaken to lead so far on behalf of the people. Nepal has to recognize and concede liberal democracy, liberal nationalism and liberal realism as pragmatic solutions to the daily turmoil, chaos and disorder of the state apparatus, bureaucratic machinery and down beaten public affairs. Only the citizens and people, in general, have a judgment on the state of affairs in electoral democracy to choose leaders and send parties into the Parliament and produce the Executive to regulate, enforce and uphold the rule of law. Views, reviews and overviews of experts and insiders are valuable to enrich political science, political theory and political thought. While, the voters’ new voting decision would legitimize the mandate of the political society entering the federal and provincial parliamentary elections of November 20 in Nepal. Politics is an interesting activity to many, and many an individual indulge to love to hate it or hate to love it. However, political gymnastics and linguistic acrobats sharpen the wit and wisdom of everyone – participants, commentators, critics, experts and lay(wo)men.
