In the first eight months of the fiscal year (FY) 2081/82 BS (2024/2025 AD), the Department of Foreign Employment in Nepal issued its approval to 8,39,270 youths for foreign employment, mostly in menial jobs in the Middle East countries, Malaysia and other European and African countries. It presents a lack of job opportunities in Nepal. However, this news was featured on the front pages of all national newspapers, but went unnoticed as it was a common occurrence in the Nepali calendar. According to an estimate, there are about four million youths, a considerable portion of the population, working abroad in harsh working conditions. All these youths have reasons to be annoyed with the state and express their feelings in several ways, mostly seen on social media.
Some intellectuals and members of civil societies caught the emotions of the frustrated youths with their empathy. These intellectuals find a structural deficit embedded in the system that has infected state organs with cronyism and corruption. Advocating for the cause, they claim that if given the opportunity, they could handle properly and address the rightful grievances of common people, including the youths in particular, and popular expectations in general. To a larger extent, as an alternative political front, they have succeeded in creating space among the youth, so that they are capable of ensuring good governance if they are allowed to run the government.
In the above premise, the rise of Sajha Party, Bibeksheel Nepali Dal, (later Bibeksheel Sajha Party after merger of the two) and Rastriya Swatantra Party in the political arena as a better alternative to the existing ruling parties in recent times is the reflection and ramification of the youth's growing frustration and resentment toward the existing order of politics and their masters in the driving seats, who have been ruling the nation for more than three decades unhindered after the reinstatement of democracy in 1990. The same old faces are also at the helm of the government, even after the abolition of the monarchy and the declaration of a federal republican democratic system of governance under the new constitution promulgated in 2015 AD.
The frustration of the people, not only among the youth but also a larger section of the society, is growing every single day. With few job opportunities at home, a large number of youths are leaving for work abroad. The country’s economic growth is stagnant. Confidence in the domestic education system is dwindling. In short, the political leadership has failed to keep its promise, "Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali", and this systematic failure has fueled widespread frustration.
Growing frustration among the masses causes political instability, and failure to achieve the development dividend poses a new threat to democracy. Economic inequality, nepotism, favoritism, uncontrolled corruption in every domain of government, impunity and ever-widening socio-economic gap between the haves and the have-nots, ruler and the ruled, consequently ignite social unrest, posing a threat to the political system. If the youth frustrations are not addressed in time, they will reach a boiling point - potentially sparking violent unrest that could destabilize the political order, as seen in many parts of the world. The global history presents many such instances from the fall of the Roman Empire to the French Revolution and thereafter many revolutions in Europe and America. More recently, Nepal witnessed the abolition of its monarchy, albeit via constitutional means. Similarly, the decade-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal also stemmed from the grievances and frustrations of the populace.
If the youth frustrations are not addressed in time, they will reach a boiling point - potentially sparking violent unrest that could destabilize the political order, as seen in many parts of the world.
The revolutionary political leaders, who claim to be the agents of change, without taking into account the state’s capabilities, promise people to deliver prosperity, equal opportunity and dignity of life, which collides with massive disparities in real terms once they come to power. The failure of capitalism, liberalism, socialism, Marxism and communism as imperfect systems to transform human dignity, and materialize prosperity and happiness has deepened the resentment of the intellectuals and youths. Democracy should have been protected not by unproportionate socio-economic level of development, both in urban and rural centers, but by a balanced economic growth with fair distribution of national wealth and resources.
No wonder that a Pew Research Center survey of thirty-four countries in 2019 found that a median of 52 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with democracy in their country. Cambridge University finds that, worldwide, an average of 58 percent of citizens are dissatisfied with democracy; this is particularly the case among the young.
In this context, an accountable government should be responsive to the interests of the whole society. Francis Fukuyama argues that many challenges in developing nations stem from weak and ineffective states. Consequently, their shortcomings are often blamed on democracy itself, as elected leaders fail to fulfill the promises they made to voters. Ronald Regan, the former President of the United States, once said that “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem,” which correctly applies to our case.
The growing frustration and disillusionment among youth toward the political establishment could escalate into unrest and even violent conflict—as seen during the 1996 Maoist insurgency. That decade-long revolution not only devastated infrastructure but also claimed thousands of lives, leaving deep scars on the nation. Often it is blamed for the weak state and economic development, poverty-induced pathetic living conditions of the people in the remote parts of Nepal, and for creating fertile ground for Maoist insurgency. Dejected people are the most vulnerable in the state to bring them into the mainstream of the democratic system. The internal conflict correlates very heavily with poverty. Many failing or fragile states are caught in a low-level poverty trap whereby poor institutions fail to control violence, which produces poverty and further weakens the ability of the government to govern.
Creating a fairer society requires equality of opportunity, which depends heavily on more equal incomes and wealth distribution. Economic disparities or unequal distribution of resources, that is, income and wealth, transmit advantage and disadvantage for generations. For example, the rich always become richer, and the poor always fall into a debt trap. According to economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, a society of excessive inequality of income and wealth means a high level of inequality in real terms, which is exactly what is happening in Nepal. The only remedy for all these ills is to ensure good governance with fast delivery in materializing the socio-economic transformation, the long-cherished aspirations of people. It will then ensure the institutionalization and stability of the newfound democracy.
If cronyism flourishes, begetting a new class of elites, and the state’s precious resources are misused for the benefit of a handful of people, it will definitely have an adverse impact on the functioning of democracy. This leads to frustration among the people, which may cause the failure of the system and the fall of the government. "Democracy ends not with a bang but a whimper," as pointed out by Levitsky and D. Ziblatt in their book “How Democracies Die."
Prolonging the current situation will only weaken the old horses, while creating opportunities for new, aspiring—yet inexperienced—youths filled with political zeal will pave the way for alternative political forces to rise to power. However, the irony is that a significant number of youth voters are working in foreign countries and are unable to cast their ballots. For now, while they are away from home, the only way they can contribute is by urging their family members in Nepal to vote for a party they believe can change the system.
(Mr. Bartaula is a former Diplomatic Officer of the Government of Nepal.)
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