Political parties have stepped up formal meetings as well as behind-the-curtain negotiations to form the new government. It is apparent that smaller political outfits are as keen on joining the government as the major parties. All three new parties that won seats for the first time in the November 20 elections are now neck-deep in negotiations for the new government, demanding ministerial berths, or the release of their imprisoned leaders in return for their support for the big parties. Rabi Lamichhane, president of Rastriya Swatantra Party, has started doing the rounds of Balkot to talk to Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) Chair KP Sharma Oli while also simultaneously negotiating with the Nepali Congress-led coalition, even as a group of his party leaders has requested the leadership not to join the government and instead focus on party building. CK Raut, chief of the Janamat Party, too has clearly expressed his desire to join the federal government. Likewise, the Nagarik Unmukti Party is ready to join if the big parties commit to release its leader Resham Chaudhary from prison.

In Nepal’s recent history of parliamentary democracy, one common theme has been the desperation of parties big and small to join the government—with only rare exceptions like the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party. Rarely do any of the parties argue that as people have not given them the mandate to rule, they will play the role of a responsible opposition. Like traditional forces, the leadership of the new parties are desperate to get ministerial berths while their rank and file largely wants to see them stay in the opposition, at least for a few years.

Nepal witnessed an extreme form of horse-trading in the 1990s, when, just like now, no single party could command a majority in the Parliament. The then rebel Maoist party cited the corrupt parliamentary practices to justify their armed insurgency and an overhaul of national politics. However, when they entered the political mainstream, the Maoists too started indulging in the same kind of horse-trading. Making and unmaking of governments with the support of fringe parties during the tenure of the first Constituent Assembly proved that the Maoist, Madhesi and other identity-based political parties were no different to traditional parties like the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.

The emergence of new parties with new faces will be meaningless if they refuse to break with the past culture of power-centric politics. That does not however mean the big parties can continue with business as usual. Recent elections suggest people are no longer wedded to old ideologies and will vote based on the merit of individual parties and candidates. For the political parties that clearly don’t have the mandate to govern, people expect them to stay in the opposition bench and keep the government honest. For it is impossible to imagine a democracy without a strong opposition. Consistently raising the issues of public concern from the opposition bench while keeping themselves away from the trappings of power is perhaps the best way for many of the smaller political forces to establish their democratic credentials. In time, the political capital they thus earn can be cashed into enough votes to get a governing mandate.