--By Upashana Neupane

 

Former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai tweeted recently: “Military coup to oust a democratically elected government in Egypt is a bad omen for all transitional democracies. Let’s all be cautious.” 

 

Nepal however is way different than Egypt, in this context. We must view this positively that despite the prolonged political transition, Nepal did not go by Egypt’s footsteps. There were numbers of government failures time and again in Nepal which gave ample opportunity for a coup. But this did not happen. This might be because the Nepali Army, unlike Egyptian counterpart, has not tasted the power. However, there are other reasons as well which prove that Nepal’s democratic fundamentals are still strong enough to avoid the happening like that in Egypt. 

 

For starters, Nepalis have been practicing democracy for long. Even before the restoration of multi-party parliamentary democracy after the people’s movement of 1990, there were comparatively better democratic practices in Nepal than in Egypt. 

 

Thus, Nepal’s democracy is matured and internalized. Nepal’s political transitions have not ben so tumultuous as Egypt. Even the abolition of monarchy was peaceful. 

 

On the other hand, Egypt’s democracy was still an embryo when Muhammad Morsi was deposed in a military coup early this month. 

 

Egyptians had no time to internalize the democracy. They removed Mubarak and elected new government with Morsi as president and made a constitution in a hasty manner. And they did away with existing institutions as fast and hastily as they were made. 

 

But in case of Nepal, politicial leaders are still engaged with each other discussing over the disputes and misunderstandings. Such a debate (though frustrating at times) is a good sign, reducing the risk factors for possible future confrontation. 

 

Another reason for Egypt’s current revolution is religious factionalism. Mohammed Morsi went Islamic fundamentalist way which was not convincing to the 21st century secular forces. Though indications of ethnic factionalism were visible in Nepal too, we have to thank our political leaders that they did not allow it to flare up. 

 

However, one cannot completely rule out the possibility of repeating the Egypt’s history in Nepal. The protracted political transition in the country and failure to meet the people’s expectations can lead to national frustration, creating enough space for military coup. 

 

The risk factors thus cannot and should not be neglected. To avoid these risks, there is no any other alternative than Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. 

 

Delaying the elections again will surely damage whatever hope the people have. But CA elections will not be enough. There should be elections to the Local Government Bodies as well. There are no elected representatives of the people in the local bodies for the last 14 years. Prolonging this vacuum can be very dangerous.