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In many places, this is the first time that elected representatives have gone back to their constituencies for a year. The questions from voters are more about jobs, inflation, health and education than about demarcating the boundaries of Nepal's proposed federal units. They are flummoxed by the questionnaires.
There was always a mismatch in this country between the obsession with politics of Kathmandu's rulers, and the people's overwhelming desire for development. That gap, instead of narrowing after the most inclusive election in our nation's history last April, has actually widened. The rulers look for power and how to retain it, and haven't made the correlation that the best way to stay in power is to deliver on promises made to improve people's lives.
The Maoists beat everyone else by proposing a federal structure, and this week they scored again by leaking a draft constitution. Even if it is not accepted in totality, the draft will now set the agenda for future discussions. By putting the prototype constitution up on his website, Baburam Bhattarai could be pre-empting an even more radical formulation from warriors in the camps.
But even this 'soft' draft gives an ominous whiff of totalitarianism with its provision to ban all groups with 'feudal' and 'imperialist' tendencies. This is newspeak for ensuring that only the group that reserves the right to declare others 'feudal' will prevail. The Maoist draft envisions an Orwellian world where ignorance is strength and thoughtcrimes are punished by Big Brother.
Just about every clause of the draft statute prepared by the coordinator of the Maoist Constitution Suggestion Collection Committee is objectinable. Ok, its stated objective is to spark debate, but the timing is suspicious. It has come out just as the CA members have gone forth to collect inputs from the people.
Those familiar with the working style of Maoist organisations know what to expect when opinions are solicited by young toughs with red bandanas who ask for a unanimous show of hands.
In one revealing passage in Orwell's 1984, a member of the Thought Police explains to Winston Smith how the system functions: "The motivation of the Inner Party is not to achieve a future paradise but to retain power, which is an end in itself."
