Some recent incidents show that disenchantment towards political parties is growing as the political leadership continuously failed to deliver despite making lofty promises.

Political analysts and observers say that political forces in the country should heed them as warning calls and address the public anger before it’s too late.

However, politicians dismiss the widespread disenchantment with political parties as a manufactured narrative.

When public and political representatives fail to work in favour of the people, political leaders often become targets of public frustration, experts say.

Political analyst Chandra Dev Bhatta says that despite decades-long struggle for democracy and implementation of the system for years, successive governments have failed to use the system to improve common people’s lives. “When there is a situation where one has no option other than to go abroad to support one’s family, it’s natural for one to grow frustrated with the political parties,” Bhatta told the Post.

Acknowledging the rising dissatisfaction of people towards political leaders, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, also the chair of CPN-UML, during the party's central secretariat meeting on Thursday, shared with senior party leaders that the situation in the days to come may not be easy.

Referring to situations inside and outside the country, Oli told party leaders that there was a need for the government and the party members to work harder to take the situation under control.

Speaking at the central secretariat meeting held at the Chyasal-based party office in Lalitpur, Oli briefed members of the party’s central secretariat on the potential challenge the country may face if “anarchy” continues, a party vice-chair said.

“Since we are not in an easy situation, both the government and the party should work efficiently,” UML vice-chair Asta Laxmi Shakya quoted Prime Minister Oli as saying.

Shakya said that Oli was referring to the recent political upheaval in Bangladesh.

“During the party secretariat meeting, Oli was unhappy with the recent incidents that took place in an event organised to celebrate Gaura Parba,” another secretariat member told the Post. “He also suspected some unusual activities from some elements.”

It was not only about the Tundikhel incident, he was referring to the overall situation and the growing anarchy in the country, the party central secretariat member said.

The annual action plan report presented on the central secretariat meeting will be elaborately discussed on the two-day politburo meeting to be held from Tuesday, the central secretariat member of UML said. “Steps to be taken to address the public frustration are also included in the report.”

On August 26, Prime Minister Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba participated in a function marking Gaura Parba (a festival celebrated especially by the people from Sudurpaschim Province) at Tundikhel in Kathmandu.

When Prime Minister Oli was to deliver his speech at the function, some youths chanted slogans against him, which forced him to cut his speech short. Soon after Deuba went to address the mass, the angry youths chanted slogans against him as well. Then Congress party chief came down heavily on the demonstrators, terming them uncivilised and indisciplined.

Police arrested three youths, accusing them of chanting slogans against the two leaders. They were released after being detained in police custody for some days.

Oli referred to the Bangladesh incident during his party meeting on August 29; however, while speaking at a book lunch on Saturday, he denied such a possibility in Nepal.

“Nepal has its own civilisation and culture. What happened in Bangladesh cannot repeat in Nepal,” Prime Minister Oli said.

Bhatta buys Oli’s argument. But he was quick to add that the possibility of a Bangladesh-like situation can’t be ruled out in Nepal if the public anger is not addressed in time.

Political experts find public anger justified. They allege that politicians have ignored the common people’s problems and used public offices mainly to enrich themselves and their family members.

When people see the political parties coming together to cover up their scams, they naturally get frustrated, say political experts. When the living standard of leaders unusually rises while that of the general public remains stagnant, it is obvious for them to criticise the leaders and question them, they add.

But Congress spokesperson Parkash Saran Mahat disagrees.

Mahat argues that the planned protest by some people cannot be termed public disappointment. Though the government under Congress-UML is doing well in economic and other aspects, hope cannot be generated in a single day, says Mahat.

“There are some attempts to create a narrative of growing public disenchantment towards the government, but it is a manufactured one. The government is performing well to address the grievances of the public,” Mahat told the Post.

Experts, however, don’t agree with the argument. They say that it would be better if politicians acknowledged the public frustration and took steps to address their grievances rather than denying them.

“The disenchanted public has three ways to express their anger,” Keshav Dahal, a political analyst, told the Post. “Either they leave the country en masse, express their anger or take steps for rebellion. In Nepal, at present, people are at the stage of expressing their dissatisfaction.”

For Dahal, there are sufficient reasons for the public to express their ire against political leaders. “People supported politicians when they sought support to complete the political process [to establish democratic system],” Dahal said. “But when the leaders fail to make good on their promises, people tend to get dissatisfied with them.”

Public disenchantment with the leaders didn’t surface out of the blue. Before the November 2022 election, people were equally dissatisfied with the political leaders, resulting in a lower turnout in the election ballot compared to the past. Nepalis who used to enthusiastically participate in elections gradually stopped turning up in voting booths.

Political experts say the present situation emerged as, instead of learning a lesson from past mistakes, leaders started belittling public aspirations.

“Every sector of the country—be it social, political, economic, or cultural—is in a state of bewilderment,” Rajesh Gautam, a political historian, told the Post. “In such circumstances, the main opposition leader has given a public statement to fuel the agony of the bemused public.”

CPN (Maoist Centre) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been saying that if the two largest parties want to rule the country boasting their majority, incidents similar to those in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka might occur in Nepal too.

The disenchanted public overthrew governments in Sri Lanka in 2022 and in Bangladesh recently.

The government might have done work to address the public grievances, but the public has not felt it, Gautam said. “If our government is really concerned about not letting such a situation occur in Nepal, they must work to address public grievances, not deny them,” Gautam said.