BMD

Together with the start of this hot season, Nepal’s political atmosphere is becoming hotter steadily as the political parties are now busy preparing for the local polls slated for May 13. Since the announcement of the election date about one month ago, local-level leaders belonging to different political forces have been lobbying hard with their leadership for having a ticket.
Now there is also a growing practice among some local leaders to change their parties as people alter their fabrics with the transition of weather. This is quite a common trend in this country, especially on the eve of any election.

Mayor of Birgunj Metropolis Vijaya Sarawagi is among those deserting their parties of late. After having joined the CPN-UML, Sarawagi accused the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) of resorting to communalism. He is reported to have opted for the main opposition just to secure a mayoral ticket in the upcoming polls. The JSP was also not satisfied with his performance. He had even shown his interest in joining the ruling Nepali Congress (NC). But due to his ambitious conditions, the party had not given much importance to his proposal.

Anyway, the parties are now working on criteria for selecting their candidates for various local government positions. Since the performance of many local levels has not been up to the mark, the parties now need to pay their serious attention towards nominating more capable and honest candidates. It is the local polls that can help institutionalise grassroots democracy. Thus, the elected people's representatives can bring about desired changes at the local level.

However, some local governments have made exemplary accomplishments when it comes to building up infrastructures and addressing people's problems. The way they dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic was very commendable.

But the tendency of unplanned construction of roads and other physical infrastructures in a number of local levels has become a matter of great concern. In the name of development, there has been a haphazard use of excavators and dozers, posing a threat to the environment. This type of activity can cause disasters like landslides and floods. On top of that, the local people's representatives are blamed for getting involved in the operation of excavators and dozers.

What is equally worrying is the growing financial mismanagement at the local level. The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) reports have indicated this. Corruption is undoubtedly a major obstacle to sustaining democracy. The concerned political parties as well as voters must remain vigilant against such irregularities.

It has widely been realised that the local levels are in dire need of well-educated, visionary, honest, committed leadership to as to strengthen and institutionalise them. Such leadership alone can contribute to establishing proper mechanisms to deal with numerous problems and challenges. More responsible and accountable representatives can do miracles in the local levels in line with the spirit of federalism.

The service delivery system at the local level is still very weak and ineffective. So, strengthening this system is also essential. There should be competition among the local levels for improving their performance. Instead of coming up with populist programmes to win the elections, the local leadership needs to focus on tackling all the practical problems facing the people.