Dear Sajhabasis,
I’m sure you are all aware of what’s going on in Nepal. We cannot say for sure who is going to come out on top in this struggle. But one thing we should be certain about is that the real winners should be the PEOPLE, the general public. There will be change in the country but we have to be ready to do something positive with it when that happens. What will happen when we do achieve “democracy†again? Will we know what to do with it? Or is it going to be like the last time, in 1990, “Bandar ko hat ma neelo nariyolâ€. Any moment now, we can expect a change in the government in Nepal but have we made it clear to those vying to play a role in Nepal’s future, what we expect from them? If we have not then, we will see the same old faces, same old players and the same old cycle will repeat itself. Will we have to wait another 16 years for the people to speak up again? I think this is the most important thing that we need to address right now. A friend of mine forwarded this article to me and I find it to be alarmingly true.
http://www.puntlandpost.com/englishnewspage.php?articleid=3682
I don’t think anybody can disagree with me when I say that the Nepalese people have been deceived and disappointed time and again by our leaders. So how do we make sure that it does not happen again this time? Well, I think the best way is to come up with a clear-cut plan and idea on what we expect from our leaders and to put it out there as a requisite for those who want to lead the country. If they don’t agree to meet those criteria then we should agree not to accept them as our leaders.
Apart from chanting slogans and throwing stones at the police and burning tires and vehicles, I believe that we can do something else. Something positive, something effective. This is an open forum and we have the luxury of floating around ideas and opinions so let us all come together and work constructively to come up with a widely agreeable idea of what we expect from our leaders.
I am no politician nor do I claim to be an expert in any political matter but as a normal citizen, I can see the mistakes of the past and I can observe what has worked in other countries. Based on this here are a few suggestions:
In the US, there is a highly organized and well-accepted database system called the LexisNexis. This system has a tremendous amount of records filed away. You have to subscribe to the system but as a subscriber you can get public information on anybody that is in the public office. You can get a congressman’s pay, his tax records, his political resume, bills that he voted for, whether he voted in favor or against. How much campaign money he received from special interest groups, etc, etc, etc. I believe that you can also get information that has been made public for private company executives as well. This system is linked to systems in many other countries.
Now, you can easily see the significance of this information. Things become quite transparent, especially in the public sector. I think that this is one of the crucial issues facing Nepal. There is not enough transparency. The elected officials in the past have enjoyed the protection of this cloud of obscurity and they have lost all accountability. This has just ruined the image of a leader. People have lost faith in most public figures. Their tendency is to think; it’s going to be the same no matter who wins next. Even the leaders themselves believe that when they finally reach that coveted chair, they need to amass as much wealth as they can, by whatever means, award as many favors as they can to relatives and friends and get the hell out of dodge before anybody knows what happened. Work ethics has become non-existent. An elected leader thinks that he can do anything because there’s nobody to question him and set him straight? Who’s going to prove what he has done is incorrect or unethical? Where is the proof? The ones that can call the shots are busy with their own agendas. When he runs for re-election, who is going to question his record? I’m not saying that all the people in politics are like that but I suspect the majority of them are. This is the norm. This is why we seem to see the same faces playing musical chair in the top posts again and again. Only in Nepal, can there be a person who has already become prime minister three times wanting and allowed to seek that post again. Isn’t that just AMAZING!
Enter, the brand new database system in Nepal based on the LexisNexis:
If you want to run for office, then you have to be entered into this database and you will stay in this database for a period of at least 10 years after retirement. You have to declare everything. Your property, your education, your qualification, your current income sources, the names of all your immediate family members and close relatives and what they do. From now on every vote that you cast in the parliament on any issue will be recorded. Every claim of the changes and progress you will make while in office will be recorded and compared to what you actually accomplish once there. In short you will be held accountable. The public, especially the media, will be able to do a simple search and find out pertinent information about you that has been made public. Your political history is recorded in plain black and white. If you vote for a proposal in parliament to build an industrial plant right smack in the middle of the city, then that gets recorded. If you vote to sell electricity to India in a deal that is suspiciously more beneficial to India than Nepal, then that gets recorded. If you pass a law that requires parents to give equal shares of inheritance to daughters and sons, then that gets recorded. If your income this year jumped 400% from last year, then that would be recorded. If your nephew received a very lucrative deal in a new construction project, then guess what, that would go on the record as well. So everything that you believed in and portrayed through your actions would be out there for everybody to see in plain black and white. Every good issue, bad issue, and controversial issue. The next time you run for election, people are not left in the dark. They can look at your political history and decide for themselves, what you’ve been up to, what agendas you stand for. This system, first of all would weed out all those that are not qualified for the post or that have something to hide. Secondly, when you do become active at the post, you will have to stay on your best behavior if you want to run for elections or if you do not want to get prosecuted by the law or media for any wrong doing.
Now, I realize that this is a lot to ask from a person to make one’s life so public. You may say that it’s an invasion of privacy but hey, if you want to serve the country and lead the people, if you want the coveted post then that’s the deal. Take it or leave it. If you’re reluctant or not up to it then somebody else will step up to the plate. The information about your relatives should be recorded and kept private unless something happens that could raise flags, like your nephew suspiciously winning the bid to a huge hydroelectric project, in which case it would become public information.
I also believe that government officials’ willingness to go public in their tenure of service should be aptly rewarded. Their salaries should be increased quite significantly; and they should have other perks, within reason (so that they don’t totally abuse the system). This would make them feel appreciated for the work they are doing and the need to amass wealth from illegal means might be suppressed. Government officials should feel proud of their work and want to go to work earnestly to do what they are supposed to do, serve the people. Then only would they receive the genuine respect, support and gratitude from the people.
I think that there are a lot of reforms to be made in Nepal. However, first and foremost should be government reform. By that, I don’t mean just changing the face of the government but rather, how it operates. Think about it, no matter, who comes into power, the SPA, the King, the Maoists, the present government, or a totally new one, unless they change the way they operate, it will be the same story all over again. The main issue is that the government has to become accountable and it has to gain the public’s confidence by opening up to the public, letting them take part, by letting them have a say. After that, any other reforms to be made should be relatively easy because of the public’s trust, support and acceptance.
As I said before, I don’t know how things work in politics. These are just, my opinions. Being somewhat tech-savvy, I know that designing a database system that I have talked about here should be relatively easy, but implementing it is another story. How do you go about requiring the politicians and government officials to accept this database system? Could we, after we come up with a consensus on what we require of the leaders here in this forum, release that to the media in Nepal and pressure the so called leaders to think in a different light? Could we distribute these REQUIREMENTS among the protestors and demonstrators so that they can start thinking beyond throwing stones and burning tires? Others might have much better ideas. Anyway, I think that’s the purpose of this forum anyway. To put the ideas out there so that we can all work constructively and hope something comes out of it. Please put your thoughts out here. This is the time for you contribute positively.
Remember, knowledge is power but to wield that power ethically and in righteousness to prevent a catastrophe, ah, that’s divine wisdom.
So please post your suggestions.
- Concerned Citizen
