Nepal in 1987: Politics without Power

Abstract

Politically, the year 1987 in Nepal remained as inconsequential as the preceding year, except in one important respect: apathy and disappointment overwhelmed the various opposition groups and the panchas. The policy of national reconciliation, which had been pursued by the outlawed Nepali Congress Party (NC) ever since the return in 1976 of B.P. Koirala, Ganesh Man Singh, and other NC members from their self-imposed exile in India, had not evoked an adequate response from the Palace. Nor were the occasional overtures or gestures by the government up to expectations. The NC's claim that it was the only alternative to the partyless Panchayat System patronized by an active royal leadership for over two decades was forfeited by its poor showing in the 1987 local panchayat elections. This was not attributed to an erosion of ideological appeal of a democratic organization or to lack of support, but to the strategic dilemma facing the NC leadership. Its reluctant decision to participate in the local panchayat elections-considering them nonpolitical developmental units-obviously was taken under pressure from workers who were impatient with the party's inaction. But this proved costly for the party. Its decision to boycott the 1986 elections for the National Panchayat (NP) and its volte-face on the local elections was criticized as lacking vision and strategy. Though elated at their electoral victories in some areas, the leftist groups, as before, were in total disarray. Their oppositional activities were confined to statements, interviews, and other forms of propaganda, and they could not achieve organizational backing or unity for any action. Some members of the National Panchayat (parliament) who are branded as leftist reaffirmed their faith in a multiparty system. Most left groups