Old vs new political parties

The Himalayan Times

21 July 2023

Old vs new political parties

The country has seen the entry of new political parties in national politics before and after the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015. They were, indeed, new since they had fresh political faces and fancy political manifestos, showing commitments to drastic socio-economic development of the nation and its people, to attract voters towards their optimistic political goals. These new parties did not have any black spots of corruption or mismanagement on them so far in comparison to the old political parties. That’s why the people have boundless expectations from these new parties considering the poor performance of the old parties. Many such new political politics were, however, side-lined before or after the promulgation of 2015 constitution.

The sudden and surprising emergence of the Rastriya Swatantra Part (RSP) during the general and by-elections was a red signal for the old political parties. However, time will tell whether it and the other new parties will really be able to survive and push aside the old parties in the next general election. It seems so far that the fundamental problem with the new political parties is that they have not distinctively defined themselves as different and distinct from the political ideology, governance modalities, and economic policies of the old parties. Given the opportunities, are these new parties willing to seriously reconsider the federal structure considering the growing grievances of the common people, adapt zero tolerance to the rampant corruption and punish the corrupt, including the political big shots, among other existing malpractices in the government mechanism?

The results of both the general election and the by-election have clearly indicated the frustration of the voters and supporters of the old political parties and shifted their loyalty towards the new political parties hoping for the change.   

Rai Biren Bangdel

Maharajgunj