The feudal Rana regime, the absolute monarchy under the Shahs, the Panchayat autocracy, the party leadership after 1990, king Gyanendra, the elected revolutionaries and the coalition that replaced them last year all have one thing in common. None of them understood that, in the words of Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility.
Past neglect by Nepal's rulers have come back to haunt us. The capital valley is being punished for turning its back on the rest of the country. We now see the impact of the revenge of rural Nepal on Kathmandu all around us: the city's malignant growth, the horrendous traffic and unbreathable air, squalid squatter settlements and fetid rivers, shortages of water and power, crime and grime.
King Gyanendra believed he had divine legitimacy to rule this country. The political leadership after 1990 felt elections alone conferred them with all the legitimacy they ever really needed. Pushpa Kamal Dahal thought his monopoly on truth gave him charismatic legitimacy. All three forgot that to remain legitimate, rulers have to fulfill their end of the bargain in the covenant with the people. The real mandate lies in performance.
With the balance of social justice as skewed as it is in Nepal, given the uneven distribution of opportunities, joblessness and underdevelopment, only rulers that seek to redress these multiple crises will be rewarded with legitimacy. Having a majority in parliament is not enough.
Madhav Kumar Nepal's argument that he intends to resign only after the Maoists deliver on their past commitments to the peace process may be legally tenable, but what has his government done for the people lately? Corruption is now so bad ministers don't even try to hide it anymore. The lame duck syndrome has made it worse: Nepal's hangers on are out to loot while the looting is good.
For their part, the Maoists have not been able to convince the people that their goal is anything but to get to power by hook or by crook. In fact Chairman Dahal's single-minded obsession with prime ministership has undermined his own authority within the party.
It is not enough for the prime minister and his cohorts to say they have a majority in parliament, and are defending the country from totalitarianism by not resigning. They have to finally prove that the democracy they are protecting is capable of delivering the goods.
Hollow state, Prashant Jha
Spectacle, not speculation, Rabi Thapa
Vacancy, Nepal, Artha Beed
FIFA fo fum, Ass
Editor's note: Effective this week, CK Lal's Fourth Estate column will appear fortnightly.