Listen to people’s voices

 The Himalayan Times

23 June 2022

Listen to people’s voices

The universal definition of democracy is a rule of the people, for the people and by the people. It means that democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. In fact, the citizens of the country elect their representatives, who, in turns, form the government to rule the country and such government is to work for the welfare of the people. I am not so sure whether any past or the present government is aware of these universally accepted norms and values of democracy, looking at the way they run the country. I know for sure that our political leaders, especially senior ones, never hesitate to claim to be the champion of democracy, but in practical terms they have always failed to perform accordingly.

For a democracy to function properly, it is essential that any government should respect the people and take them seriously, not only those who have voted them, but all other people. Furthermore, in order to exercise their democratic rights properly, the government should inform the people about its decision that affect the life of the people as fully as possible. Having said these, does our government ever respect the people while making any decision that would directly or indirectly affect their daily lives? The government’s recent decision to raise fuel prices frequently without considering the effect of its decision on the people has been widely criticized. It never bothered to be transparent and inform the people before making such a decision in the past also.

The people have started raising serious concerns as to whether the five-party coalition government is engaged in pocketing huge amount of commission from fuel dealers and other big business houses in order to make up for the funds that they had spent in the recently concluded local elections. Could it also be planning to generate funds for the upcoming elections? If it is so then it would be a serious political blunder the coalition government is committing at such a time when the people seem to be extremely frustrated with the performance of the government. It might prove costly for it to calm down the growing anger of the people towards its sloppy performance.

Rai Biren Bangdel

Maharajgunj