First General Elections in Nepal—I Recent Political Trends Rama Devi Pant

"THAT despite its prolonged tions to enable them to continue general elections in the country. periods of frustration (between in office and to exercise the little Such announcements by a party in 1951 and 1958) Nepal should embark power they have. government also have not been un­ upon the first general elections in Promised Eight Years Ago common. When the Acharya cabi­ net was expanded (February 5, the country's history (on February The subject of elections has re 1956), the main reasons put forward 18, 1959), based on the twin prin­ ceived a great deal of attention both for this expansion were: (a) to cope ciples of adult franchise and secret in government communiques and with increasing governmental acti­ ballot, is a heartening sign*. Rifts political party propaganda during vities owing to growing develop­ both within and outside the political the last eight years, though, of mental activities, and (b for mak­ parties and frequent cabinet re- course, the emphasis on it has ing suitable preparations for the shuffles have led to chronic instabi­ shifted not infrequently. King Tri- forthcoming general elections. Simi­ lity in Nepal politics. Nor is the bhuvans first Royal proclamation larly, Dr K I Singh also, during his economic climate any better. In­ installing the first interim cabinet ministry of 110 days last year, con­ flation has raised its head. The (Rana-Congress) at one place dec stantly referred to the holding of Five Year Plan, almost half way lared: "And whereas it is now our general elections. Finally, the pre­ through, has not got along smooth­ desire and our resolve that our sent Council of Ministers (set up ly, and most projects envisaged in it people should henceforth be govern on May 14, 1958, after the end of have remained mere declarations of ed according to the provisions of the six-month old direct rule of the intentions. The negligible success a democratic constitution framed by King) was scheduled to continue till of the democratic experiments tried a Constituent Assembly '.selected by the forthcoming general elections. so far by King Mahendra could them" (February 18, 1951). hardly provide the incentive for the Constituent Assembly To date the following ministries improvement of the economic and or Parliament? social standards of the 80 lakhs of have made some reference, as and What is the purpose of the elec­ people who inhabit the intractable when they found it necessary, to tions? This controversial question hilly parts and extensive tarai re­ the question of elections. It will has been agitating the public mind gions of the country. A general be recalled that after the termina all along. In his first Royal pro. election was the obvious answer. tion of the Matrika Cabinet on April 14, 1956 and during the first direct clamation, quoted above, King Tri- How far the general elections will rule of King Mahendra with the bhuvan had referred to the elections go in laying the foundation of help of advisors, four prominent for setting up the Constituent As­ democracy in Nepal is a question political parties (Nepali Congress, sembly first, but after many vicis­ which it is too early to discuss. But Nepali National Congress, Praja situdes (described below) it has now no impartial student of Nepal poli­ Parishad and Rashtriya Praja been finally decided that the elec­ tics can ignore two obstacles, tradi­ Party), had boycotted the Conven­ tions will be held for a parliament tion and inexperience, which have tion called by the King on May 13. composed of two houses. to be overcome to make democracy In a joint declaration they had de­ Controversy on this question work. Much depends on King manded the termination of the direct reached almost a boiling point to­ Mahendra who is dedicated to usher rule of the Crown because it was wards the end of 1956, when the in constitutional monarchy, but "antidemocratic", and had urged on ruling Praja Parishad Government whose effective power, as past events the King to take immediate steps to was called upon to decide the issue", have demonstrated, has been in­ set up a democratic form of Govern­ thereby putting an end to earlier creasing beyond all measure, mainly ment "to enthuse the people for attempts at putting off discussion because of the uncertain position of honest and impartial election." on this touchy problem till the last the party leaders, some of whom Though practice shows that such moment. This was done perhaps even now wish to postpone the elec- joint declarations, and even joint to elicit the most representative pub­ fronts!, have never been based on lic opinion in the interim period. At The first general elections being sound grounds of unity and planned that time the Nepali Congress de­ hardly two weeks away (at this policy, they are indicative of the cided that the elections should be writing) political parties are natu­ importance attached to holding for a sovereign Constituent Assem­ rally becoming active. Recent bly. The then ruling party leaders, political trends in the context of † See my article 'A Turn in Nepal on the other hand, held that the the approaching elections and re­ Polities' in 'The Economic Weekly', elections should be for a Parliament, lated issues agitating the public October 10, 1953 (pp 1117-1118) in for, they argued, there could not be mind are discussed here. This will which I held that the formation of two sovereigns in the State—the be followed up in a second article the Nepali Democratic League (on King as well the Constituent Assem­ by an account of the elections, September 21, 1953) might have bly. The Nepali Congress and its how they were organised, how a good effect on the country's supporters maintained that, having people reacted, what was the cha- future politics. However, its pre­ a sovereign Constituent Assembly in racter of voting and what was the mature death after only a month addition to the King was not neces­ immediate, over-ail effect, dashed this hope. sarily tantamount to dual sovereign­

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THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY February 21 1959

ty, for in their view, the sovereign names should be cancelled. Leaders number those with clear-cut party could delegate his legislative powers like T P Acharya, the former Prime labels. Secondly, of late enthusiasm only to such an elected body. The Minister, and Ranganath, the form­ of some of the political parties for Congress, therefore, contended that er Minister of State, have been elections seems to be waning be- the King must formally grant to the supporting this view, though of late cause of the uncertainty or lack of nation a constitution framed by the such views are waning gradually. knowledge about the constitution elected representatives of the peo­ One House or Two? which the King intends to promul­ ple, and that representative assembly gate very shortly. would, at the same time, function Certain social and political parties (composed largely of splinter However, in spite of all such -ad- as parliament for the day-today verse forces, while proroguing the administration of the country. groups), most of whom are not contesting, had submitted a memo­ Assembly (which, probably, might No sooner had the Praja Pari- randum to King Mahendra, on De­ not be called again at all) on Dec­ shad party promised an all-party cember 20, urging for postponement ember 21, the King repeated that convention to thrash out this issue of general elections until all neces elections would be held on the date than King Mahendra dissolved the sary preparations were complete, fixed in the proclamation of Nov­ Acharya Ministry on the charge and the electorate became quite con ember 9. In view of doubts and that it was not capable of holding scious of their rights etc. However, whispering campaigns described the elections. That was July their undemocratic move has neither above, reiteration of the target date 1957. Followed the agitation of the been seriously attended to by His was necessary. It has to a great Democratic Front (of the Nepali Majesty's Government, nor did even extent lessened the prevailing scep­ Congress and Nepali National Con­ the public in the capital take seri­ ticism in Kathmandu, which, of gress). The King, after another ous notice of it. This is well prov­ course, governs in so many ways period of direct rule, at last, success­ ed by one incident. On December the mass psychology in the other fully negotiated with the Front to 21, when about 100 persons belong parts of the country. have elections for a parliament. A ing to this group demonstrated on Parties and Personalities new Election Commission was form- one of the main thoroughfares of ed. On May 15, 1958, a new Coun­ the capital, they were assaulted and It is said that there are more than cil of Ministers, without a Prime beaten by their opponents (majority 100 parties in Nepal. Although it Minister, was set up to conti­ of the people). is true that following the new set nue till the general elections. On up after February 1951 with King November 9, 1958, King Mahendra, Last but not the least, there is Tribhuvan as the constitutional in a Royal Proclamation broadcast the third Advisory Assembly (in­ head—and in the absence of any by Radio Nepal, called upon the augurated on November 26) which, democratic tradition- political par- people of Nepal to elect 107 members surprisingly enough, in spite of the ties have been cropping up like (two more members representing King's desire, as expressed in his mushrooms, the total number is not the remote Jumla and Humla, in inaugural address from the throne, quite that large. There are four or extreme west Nepal, were announc­ that "all members would work for five prominent parties. To these ed later) to a Parliament in Nepal's creating necessary conditions for should be added the splinter or first general elections, based on peaceful and fair elections" adopted parallel groups formed often enough, adult franchise, polling for which two non-official resolutions in 30 but. their number is limited because was scheduled to begin on February days demanding postponement of both formation and liquidation have 18, 1959. the elections on a number of flimsy been quite common, indeed the two grounds. Even a leading member processes have almost gone together. Nationals and Aliens of the Nepali National Congress r (whose representative is the Home Eleven parties w ere recognised by Even after this Royal Proclama­ the Election Commission as all- tion, which had in effect given the Minister) supported this move spon­ sored by a leader of a splinter group Nepal parties on condition that they 'go ahead' signal to the Election would contest at least 20 per cent Commission to make the final pre­ of the Nepali Congress in the form of an address to the King. He had, of the 109 seats of the national parations, and the subsequent call parliament. Of these eleven two for the filing of nomination papers, however, also observed that the Royal Proclamation of 1957 had have been unable to secure the certain forces have been actively necessary percentage. The final list working (albeit a very small mino­ asserted that elections will be held for a parliament composed of two of candidates (as on February 3) rity) for postponing the date gives the position of the nine parties of elections. houses, and since the Constitution has not been made public and since and independents as follows: Certain parties and individuals, the People's Representation Act of even after submitting their nomina­ 1959—elections are scheduled to be tion papers, have been trying to get held under this Act -did not say for the present date postponed on the which of the houses elections will plea that distinction should be made be held, general elections should be between nationals and aliens, parti­ postponed. cularly in the tarai regions which extend over 600 miles of Nepal-India Independents Galore border. What they demand Is that Two broad reasons can be attri- the elections should be postponed buted to all such moves for post­ until all persons on the electoral list poning the present date. First, both have been scrutinized, and in case in the Assembly and outside in the non-citizens have been enrolled their country, independent members out. 287 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY February 21, 1959

It will be seen that only the Nepali Congress is contesting all the seats. Even so it is doubtful whether all the parties will be able to come through effectively. It is believed that some of the parties might have strung along their dummy candi­ dates in some of the constituencies just to conform to the requirements of the Election Commission and secure all-Nepal party status. Of course, nothing can be said at thin stage about the success of any parti­ cular party or parties, since the ba/?is of their effective strength can be measured only on the polls and cannot be gauged from the number of candidates contesting. Contest in Kathmandu Valley From right to left, the Gorkha Parishad, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party are believed to wield some influence with the electorate and are thus of some im­ portance. The strength that Com­ munist Party is supposed to have cannot be gauged from the number of candidates put up. But it is the most united party with some enthu­ siastic workers. Both the Nepali Congress and the Gorkha Parishad seem to be confident of bagging the majority of seats. However, it is a fact that even today, except in Kath- mandu capital and certain other dis­ trict capitals, the peasantry, in general, have not heard of either of them] Chances of the Prajatantrik Mahasabha and the Samyukta Praja Party are understood to be slender, though, of course, a very few top-ranking leaders (like Dr K I Singh) might succeed. Dr Singh is reportedly quite popular in the far western hilly parts, but his oppo- nents confidently assert that he will not win. While the average number of can- didates contesting the elections can be roughly estimated at about eight per constituency, there are cases of as many as 19 candidates for one constituency. The independents comprise a little more than half of the total number of candidates. In the light of experience gained from India's first elections, it would seem that independents, whose leadership in most cases though local is quite strong, thanks to the lack of con- structive activities in the case of most party workers outside Kath- mandu, would come out well. Most of the top-ranking political leaders are contesting from Kathmandu or certain important district capitals THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

Birganj. Lat est reports indicate that fur the five seats In the Kathmandu Valley, more than 70 candidates are run­ ning, which Include, among others, Dr Regmi (present Home Minister), S P Upadhyaya (former Home Minister) T P Acharya (former Prime Minister), Ranganath (former Minister for State) Ganeshman (for­ mer Minister for Industries and Commerce), Pushpalal (Communist) and Tulsilal (former general secre tary of the Communist Party and now a leader of the Politbureau)- Manifestoes and Approaches All parties in Nepal right from 1951 down to the present day have appeared to be striving, mostly on paper, for a solution of the socio­ economic problems of the country. In practice, however, the parties in power and those which formed the ministries (so far Nepali Congress, Nepali National Congress, Praja Parishad, Prajatantrik Mahasabha, Samyukta Praja Party) could not or did not take concrete steps to wards solving such problems. Nevertheless, an analysis of the election manifestoes issued by some prominent parties during the last one or two months, should prove useful, at least as an indication of their professed ideals. Congress The Nepali Congress (which was instrumental in overthrowing the Rana yoke in February 1951) like most other parties attaches great significance to agrarian reforms, advocates abolition of Birta and Zamindari, protection of forest wealth, fixation of ceilings on land holdings, improvements in methods of agriculture, provision of adequate facilities for irrigation, etc. Deve­ lopment of Industries has also been emphasized, with some reference to the small-scale and cottage Indus- tries. High priority is given to deve. lopment of communications and planning for economic advancement of the country. The manifesto in its 3,000 word document asserts that the Nepali Congress party's foreign policy is one of friendship with all nations of the world and closer relations espe- ciaily with neighbouring countries. Gorkha Parishad All the other parties have more or less touched upon the same sort of problems and the remedies suggest- ed also are not fundamentally THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY Febuary 21, 1959

different. Differences there are. democracy, raising the general Public Apathy The Gorkha Parishad, for example, standards with the middle class as In the prevailing confused politi­ is not shy to call itself 'a conser­ the backbone and acceleration of cal atmosphere, what with the ab­ vative party though it has an elec­ developmental schemes. sence of party activity in different tion programme which in some sense Communist parts of the country for arousing may be considered more revolution­ mass interest, it will not be sur- The Communist Party wants ary than those of others. prising if even on the eve of elec­ national reconstruction through in­ In its basis, it should be noted, tions public opinion is in a dis­ dustrialisation, land reforms, re­ the Gorkha Parishad is revivalist, organised state. By and large, in moval of unemployment and protec- and proclaims itself as the saviour the greater parts of the country no tion of arts and culture. It is of nationalism, religion (among the broad assessment of the character strictly against any investment of illiterate masses), democracy and and strength of the respective par- foreign private capital in national notional culture, ties has been made. industries. Due regard has also been Samyukta Praja Party given to the problems of stabilizing This lack of agitation in the The Samyukta Praja Party, form the exchange rate along with coun­ minds of the people is mainly due ed towards the end of 1955 by Dr try wide circulation of Nepali to the following reasons. First, as K I Singh after his return from currency. yet not many publicity and canvas­ China, was in power for 110 days National and Taraj sing campaigns have been set into after the fall of the Acharya Minis­ motion. Even in Kathmandu capital try. The emphasis of this party all The rest of the parties, including election fever is virtually absent the time is on honesty, integrity and Nepali National Congress and the among supporters of the respective all such virtues for the improvement Tarai Congress, in spite of the fact candidates. Secondly, even today of the administrative machinery. that they have also released elec­ most parties do not have branches In its manifesto it advocates the tion programmes, do not have defi­ outside the main cities. Thirdly, no liquidation of landed aristocracy in nite ideologies as such, Most of tangible reforms in the land system a more radical way, nationalisation them have little or no influence, even have been implemented in the past of the forest land and utilisation of in selected regions. eight years. The peasantry (con natural resources for economic deve­ No Sharp Difference stituting 95 per cent of the popula­ lopment. tion), frustrated and disillusioned is The election programmes of al- The Praja Party's lack of realistic disinclined to listen to the high most all the parties from right to approach to basic problems has al- down promises of the politicians. left do not differ much on ideolo­ most come to be proverbial. For Lastly, as explained above, most of gical matters. Of course, there is instance, during its ministry two the reform measures envisaged in some difference in emphasis here plans, the First Five Year Plan and the election programmes are Uto­ and there. Except a few parties the Two Year Plan, with different pian, in the sense that particular like Nepali Congress, Praja Pari­ objectives and implications, were defects have been attacked for solu­ shad (Acharya) and the Communist tried to be implemented simulta­ tion without an overall, rational Party, manifestoes of most others neously, resulting in confusion and and convincing attempt to cure the read like mere slogans. The same stagnation, disease. problems have been posed, more or Prajatantrik less with similar approach. No won- Prospects The Nepal Prajatantrik Maha- der the public does not (find much to However, it is expected (on the sabha is hardly one year old, but discriminate between this or that basis of tour-reports of certain re it now boasts of country-wide influ­ party. The trend of voting would gions by the Election Commis­ ence. As a result, it is largely therefore depend much on the fin­ sioners) that at least 50 per cent composed of diverse elements from ancial strength and method of can­ of the electorate will exercise the different groups. Its more import- vassing adopted by the different franchise- perhaps, to satisfy their ant slogans are a) nationalism parties. curiosity if nothing else! There is and (b) constructive work. Promises and approaches do not another factor. A draft of the con­ Praja Parishads appear realistic. The reasons are stitution framed by some experts has been before the Council of The Praja Parishad established not far to seek. During the past Ministers for some weeks. If the in 1936 is the oldest party. But after eight years, shifts in membership people are given time, say even one the split in August 1958 following from one party to another, have the rivalry between T P Acharya week, to understand what kind of been quite common in Nepal politics powers will be vested in the Parlia­ and B K Mishra {the then President), and no single party possesses solid it appears to have been thoroughly ment for which they have been and permanent blocks of devoted asked to cast votes, they may per­ incapacitated. adherents. Secondly, the leadership haps show more eagerness about Between the two Parishads con­ of most of the parties is characte­ going to polls. But, as explained testing the elections there is no rized by opportunism. This has above, the results are unpredictable. difference in ideology. Of the paral- occasionally given rise to parallel The local influence of the candidates lel parties, known by the same organisations and kept the leaders as well as the spot canvassing car­ name, the Praja Parishad (Achar­ ried out by the parties are the two ya) in its election programme has busy solving internal rifts. This preoccupation has resulted in in factors which will by and large committed itself more realistically sway the votes. to these four objectives: protection difference to the realities of the of nationalism, establishment of day, (To be concluded) 290