The Nepalis have never obtained an opportunity to draft their constitution by themselves. So far they have been ruled by the constitutions designed by individual elites and traditional power-wielders. In other words, feudal forces in different forms have ruled the Nepali society for centuries.
The historical mass movement of 2006, despite counterrevolutionary efforts to re-frustrate the Nepalis, has created in them a bright hope for total transformation of their lives. It is believed that the recently elected Constituent Assembly could be utilized for the long-waited transformation of the Nepali society.
Total transformation becomes an empty talk in absence of political, economic and social transformation.
There has been little debate about the political transformation in the country. Political communication has been a forgotten part of political affairs. Indeed, no democracy can thrive in absence of adequate communication on political transformation.
Some political parties mistakenly think that democracy is their own ascendance to power, continuous corruption, elections and the maintenance of status quo. But people’s life status teaches us many things regarding what is democracy and what is not.
In fact, political transformation mainly involves the task of transforming the mindset of political players. Building up healthy and morally cultured political players is inalienably concerned with the process of political transformation. Educating, re-educating and continuously refining political minds are essential for transforming political mindset.
A change-resisting mentality cannot address the latest needs of human society. Such a mentality is used to understanding socio-economic relations in a superiority-inferiority perspective. This perspective, disguised in subtle ways, basically works against the universal human values of equality, liberty and fraternity.
Besides, political culture is a vital ingredient of political transformation. A set of thoughts and behavioral codes can shape up political culture. So long as political leaderships cannot follow moral obligations towards people as self-guiding rules, a good political culture cannot grow in the country. But a politically untransformed political party cannot work to transform the country. It cannot give a clear vision for the people to go ahead.
Once political parties genuinely engaged in the process of transforming themselves, its positive impact will be seen on their regional, district and village units, which are people’s political channels. Thus, political transformation within political parties is closely related to the country/s overall transformation process.
The economic transformation of the country is impossible without political transformation because policy formation is mainly guided by political forces. In fact, economic policies reflect the nature of political mindset. The nature of economic policies further reflects the nature of class prejudices in the national economy.
Some people have the misconception that investment and technologies determine economic policy formulation. Investment and technologies influence economic policy formulation but do not determine it. Political forces are the chief decision-makers in the orientation of the country’s economy. In the context of Nepal, the prosperity concentrated among the elite members of society shows the lack of economic vision to economically empower grassroot people in the country. Nepal’s national economy is mainly based on personal commission-making that lessens the country’s production capacity as well as people’s creativity. When national economy is far more import-oriented, there cannot be balanced between consumption and production. Consequently, the nation becomes a mere consumer of the products and services of multinational companies. The productivity of citizens is used more on selling imported products than on producing to export. Because of this, the income out of the remittances of the Nepali citizens working abroad goes back to foreign countries.
Economic transformation is impossible without the control of all-pervasive corruption. Corruption does not cease to become a major disease of the nation without breaking its nexus with political leaderships. Thus, the issue of combating corruption cannot be alienated from the issue of political morality and culture.
Indeed, political decision-making plays a key role in designing economic policies aiming at transforming people’s economic status.
Similarly, all other successes can change into failures if people’s social life remains untransformed.
Social transformation enables people to become responsible human begins with sympathy, empathy and a healthy sense of social responsibility. Another vital fact about social transformation is that it facilitates a conducive environment for promoting humanity to a bigger height: higher culture, higher morality and higher consciousness can be expected from social transformation. Indeed, a discrimination-free society is the primary expectation of social transformation. In such a society, all citizens can enjoy an equal human dignity despite their varying ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
However, the state has to adopt certain constitutional measures in order to guarantee smooth transformation processes. The visions of transformation set in the constitution can function as practical guidelines for political leaderships and state organs to go ahead. Some of the unforgettable provisions to be included in the coming constitution can be the provisions of dealing with all kinds of existing social discriminations as serious crimes against humanity. When the state is constitutionally prepared to treat social discriminations as serious crimes against humanity, it will promote equality, freedom and brotherhood among fellow citizens on the one hand and will also stimulate national development processes on the other.
Likewise, the constitutional guarantee of education and employment for each citizen can be another vital infrastructure for political, economic and social transformation. In fact, real empowerment of citizens becomes possible with the state-guaranteed education and employment. This responsibility of the state towards citizens will equate with citizens’ accountability towards their duties. Equally, unforgettable in this context is the fact that education and employment are both human rights set in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet the present approach of educational policy has made education something to buy with money. But when education really becomes a human right by means of its constitutional guarantee, people will be able to accelerate their progress. This is how they can transform themselves and their society.
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