Leadership Failure and the Syndrome of National Disintegration

- Govinda Neupane

The main leaders of the major mainstream political parties have been behaving in such a fashion that the people have started to look them as the clowns of the dethroned monarch. All leaders of the THREE BIG parties have lost their credibility. The Nepali Congress leader Mr. G. P. Koirala's credibility was already too low. People have been blaming him for years that he is visionless, valueless and power hungry. Some people believed that he translates his words into actions. It was thought that what he says, that he does. It was just the appreciation of his predictability. Although, this year, there was erosion in this appreciation, still he is the one losing less. In mathematical term, for example, he had 10 positive points last year in a scale of 100 and now he might have still 7 points. Hence, he has a negative result of 3 points. The Communist Party of Nepal (UML) leader Mr. J. N. Khanal has been known for both his intellectual ability and political limitations. This year, there is some change in his image as most of the time he was swinging between Maoists carrots and his own party's sticks. Incidentally, he doesn't command majority support in the UML central committee. So, eating words and changing stands made him a unique person. His credibility range also has gone down significantly. He might had 35 positive points last year and now he may have just 20 points. The war-time superhero and the most charismatic Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) leader Mr. Prachanda is the biggest loser, both in areas of credibility and charisma in the current political amphitheatre. Most of the time, there is no match between what he says and what he does. In the scale of 100, he probably had 85 positive points last year and now he will command not more than 15 points. He is between J. N. Khanal (20) and G. P. Koirala (7). If the same trend continues, he may top the list next year surpassing Mr. Koirala. Moreover, Prime Minister Mr. M. K. Nepal also belongs to this same category of leaders, who are losing credibility with a high margin. His only agenda seems sticking to the Prime Minister's chair by making any compromise. One strange thing is that Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Mr. Ram Chandra Poudel and Mr. K. P. Oli have maintained their respective places both in credibility and charisma with some minus and plus points.

The leadership primarily composed of the BIG THREE parties failed miserably in guiding the nation at a delicate time of transition. After watching all the nonsense they uttered and the shameful acts they performed; the people came to realize lately that the rosy picture what the leaders were sharing with them was the same as that once shared by Mr. K. P. Bhattarai, who had told that he was in the process of making Nepal a new Singapore.

The weaknesses of the leadership provided opportunities to external powers to influence the political course strongly in an unfavorable way. As a result, now, we could see several holy places where our leaders often visit for worship. Delhi and Beijing are among the first line temples followed by Washington, London and Oslo. There are people talking about boarder encroachment. But, no leader dares and cares to talk about this issue. Our policies are either made outside in those capitals as mentioned above or in our very own five star hotels by the experts or the manipulators coming from the same capitals and staying in small Nepali heavens, the luxury hotels. The ambassadors are another bunch of rulers and they often try to rule by issuing decrees. The external players visit bedrooms of our BIG leaders and instruct them even how to snore. These leaders pretend that they have no foreign influence on them. Sometimes, they even act well. For example, many among them chant anti-India slogans publicly and polish shoes of their Indian Masters privately


The New Nepal, now, is better known as a Nepal full of hardships, difficulties and uncertainties. These factors include lawlessness, anarchy and mass destruction of public and private properties. No one could feel safe other than the mighty leaders and their cronies. The general strikes popularly knows as BANDHAS have become most frequent as all types of people trying to fulfill any demand call for it, throw stones against pedestrians, burn tires, set vehicles on flames, destroy shops, vandalize public and private properties, terrorize entire populace by beating, hitting or chasing them and think that he or she or they accomplished wonderful acts of struggle. Survival has become number one priority for a large majority of people. Those who do not have means to live are hungry and hence are angry. Similarly, those who have means are at the verge of abduction or killing, and hence are also angry. This makes only a small minority enjoying the fruits of such hardships and anarchy. Everybody knows that this small minority is primarily composed of criminals and political bandits protected by major and minor political parties.

The exercise of the national sovereignty has already been limited. Nepal as such has become incapable to protect its sovereign rights and interests due to external and internal factors. It has been already discussed above about the external factors. The internal factors include anarchic crowd mentality, ethnic aspirations, continuation of Khas chauvinism, geographical disadvantages and local grievances, internal colonization and people's desire to get rid of it and the extreme poverty are contributing to weakening Nepal. By examining the performance of the state mechanism, it is now not a compact state unit. The selfish, visionless and worthless leadership, resentful people and irrational external powers all are adding to a process that has been crystallizing to national disintegration. It may not remain as a sovereign multicultural state if the same trend continues or gets acceleration. Psychological and social disintegration was already in process for several decades, and now there are economic and political disintegrations seen in the horizon.

The unprecedented erosion of state power is the first evidence of disintegration of the Nepalese nation. The so-called major parties make all strategic decisions collectively or individually. The state mechanisms including the courts simply legalize the non-legal decisions or pretend that nothing has happened or overlook. A murderer could come out of the police custody if an influential party is a beneficiary of his or her crime. This could be in the form of political affiliation with that party or previous arrangement of sharing the booty/benefits or simply that person could bribe either that party or its leaders. In case of convicted criminals too, they could get amnesty by utilizing the same privileges. Moreover, these parties could do anything and that is considered normal and natural on the name of 'transitional political environment'. This is nothing other than the clear evidence of political disintegration of the state system.

The oppressive Khas chauvinist chiefs have not shared any power in qualitative term. Although, we could see more women or people from oppressed nationalities standing together with the Khas chiefs and their deputies or cronies in the constituent assembly (also parliament), cabinet or in other organs of the state, but they are just the show pieces. They are there not for making decisions but to shout and offer thumb impressions when the Khas chiefs and their powerful cronies instruct them to do so. The Madheshis, MangolKirats and Dalits had no say in the old Nepal and have no say in this so-called new Nepal. But, now they have the information regarding the discriminations they are facing and they have the desire to get rid of such discriminations. Hence, the divisions have been visible and the desires for solving such phenomenon are intense. When the solutions are not coming out through positive means, the negative means have started to initiate irreversible courses. Certainly, this could lead to social disintegration of the Nepalese nation.

The southern bread basket is the major economic base of the Nepalese nation not only because it is rich in agricultural production but also it is the industrial as well as commercial hub. For centuries, Madhes was treated as a colony by the Khas rulers and the Madhesis know now exactly how they were treated for centuries. They want now economic and political power. The Karnali region has been neglected for long and now the people there know that they are surviving in sub-human conditions and the Nepalese state has done nothing significant for them. The people of MangolKirat nationality know their state of being and are asking for Libuwan, Khambuwan and so on. The same psychological phenomenon is there in other regions too. Hence, the regions and nationalities all over Nepal have expectations that they should get the right to govern themselves. Most of the time and in most of the places, their demands are going beyond duel federalism. They want the right to self determination. When the backbone of the nation, the state system, is so weak, their demands may not be addressed centrally in a comprehensive manner. This situation may lead to territorial disintegration.

There was a joke that a policeman remembered that he was operated by a surgeon 12 years ago. The surgeon had taken his entire brain out when he escaped from the operation theatre. He went back to the surgeon to get his brain back and got it fixed. The surgeon asked where he was for so many years and what he was doing without his brain. The policeman replied that he was a policeman. Now, this time it seems that several persons ran out from the operation theatre without fixing their brains. But this time they did not go for uniform. They put the caps of big leaders on their heads.

The nation and people are in an extraordinarily difficult situation. The nation is at the verge of disintegration, the people are crying for survival and the oppressed social sections, nationalities and regions are dying for justice; the big parties and their big leaders are busy in fattening themselves, their relatives and their cronies. This is utter failure of the leadership. Now, either there would be revolt of unprecedented nature against them and a positive check comes into motion to preserve the national unity of the Nepalese nation or the situation would deteriorate further and the disintegration takes its strategic course. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.