Shreya Shrestha from ApEx had a conversation with Narayan Man Bijukchhe, president of NMKP, about the party’s performance in Bhaktapur-1. Excerpts:
For so many years, NMKP has been winning in Bhaktapur-1, why do you think the RSP won this time?
NMKP is a national and international party in principle and ideology. That is why NMKP has entered the elections not only in Bhaktapur-1 but also throughout the country. This time too, we fielded candidates from east to west and north to south across the country. During that time, new and old friends from Bhaktapur went to the districts. And this move indirectly benefited the RSP in Bhaktapur-1.
Do you think the people of the current generation are a bit disconnected from NMKP?
According to the Election Commission’s code of conduct, we did not put the young new generation forward in the elections. But other parties used new propaganda tools to influence the new generation and put mental pressure on the parents, which the Election Commission could not assess. It was reported that parents were being threatened and told, “If you do not vote on the symbol we have given, we will not send money home, we will not return home or we will not live in the country,” and there was a lot of crying in the houses. Such activities were definitely a form of threats and mental torture, which the Election Commission could not have anticipated in advance.
What do you think the new party will do now? Do you have faith in them?
Even if they are dedicated to serving the country and the people, no matter how much they succeed in the election, if they do not commit to working according to the parliamentary system, there will be many things to complain about. In the dissolved parliament, old and new MPs committed many immoral acts and corruption scandals. In the past, people have likened MPs to monkeys and miscreants. This is the country, this is the society, if the new MPs do not learn parliamentary behavior, there will be fights and corruption scandals like before.
There is also a claim that older parties were very confident in this election. Your thoughts?
This is not true, but this time we are feeling satisfied that our cadres have honestly taken the trouble to cooperate and study the reasons behind our setback in various districts. It is said that a soldier who loses a war knows how to fight better. Our new generation also got the opportunity to understand Nepal not only spiritually but also physically.
Has the party learned anything from this defeat or gained experience?
Certainly, NCP workers understood the shortcomings of the government and the Election Commission and directly experienced that the current government is still under the influence of the US and India and that the Indian propaganda machine has interfered in Nepal's democratic activities. The entry of foreign journalists and photographers into the counting centers and the presence of US troops in some districts can give an indication of the direction of Nepal’s foreign policy.
Will the RSP be able to fulfil the agenda it has set for five years?
Their activities will determine whether they manage to fulfil the agendas within the given timeframe.
Do you think people ignored whatever work your party did in the past?
Our country has been practicing democracy for just a few years, while Western countries have been practicing it for 400-500 years. Also, our country was a semi-colony of Britain for about 200 years and for about 70 years it was struggling under the shadow of Indian monopoly capital. In such an environment, the parties are not accustomed to standing on their own two feet and focusing on self-reliance. Every subject is a learning process and we believe that the Nepali people will learn relevant lessons soon.
