Kathmandu, July 17- On this Saturday (July 19), the Constituent Assembly (CA) members will vote for Ram Prit Paswan (UML) and Maan Bahadur Bishwakarma (NC) to elect them respectively as the first ever President and Vice-President of Nepal, if Dalits are to be at least partially compensated for discrimination and oppression meted out to them for centuries. However, in the real world of political equations playing complex role, it is less likely that it will happen in it’s entirety. Nominated by Maoists the largest party and if supported by the fourth largest party Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum (MJAF), Ram Raja Prasad Singh, who is an iconic leader and veteran advocate of establishing a republic in Nepal already commands little over simple majority of votes only from the two sponsoring parties. Other smaller parties may also add some feathers in his hat in decorating him as the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief. In the election of the Vice-President, however, many alternative possibilities may play the game. One of the most probable things to happen is that Maan Bahadur Bishwakarma will win in this game. The votes of the second largest party NC, the votes of Dalit CA members largely from Maoists’ camp, and the votes of CA members from smaller parties that did not field their candidates for either of the two top positions can be counted on to catapult him to the second-in-command position. For the greater interest of Dalits, who have been most oppressed and downtrodden in the history of Nepal, it shall be an epoch making event to have a Dalit as the first ever Vice-President of the country. Can all Dalit CA members unite on this? Can Dalit CA members from Maoists camp convince their top Party leadership and Chief Whip that they could have a little non-partisan politics for a good cause of their own? Answers to these questions will have heavy bearing on the outcome of this election.

Report by:
Bhakti Nepal
for nepaldalitinfo network

The nepaldalitinfo adds (July 19, after the election results came out) :

It was understandable that the political parties, which nominated Dalit leaders Ram Prit Paswan and Maan Bahadur Bishwakarma respectively for Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates had not fielded them any seriously to elect them to the country’s top positions. The candidates were used only as the Baliko Bokos (the pawns) in the political game fastly unfolding, as they did not have even an opportunity to withdraw their candidacies. In the results, both the candidates were deprived of votes from the CA members of their own parties. This is one of the many instances where all Dalits and particularly their leaders should rethink about their allegiance to their political parties that do not serve their interests.

Desirably, if Madheshis could claim the President, Dalits should have gotten the Vice-President, while a Bahun is almost certainly going to be the Prime Minister, and Janajati may get the CA Speaker, some of the persons holding these positions being women. We will have to go a long way ahead to see such a situation materialized.

RELATED NEWS:

Candidates for president, veep file nominations; Singh stands fair chance (Nepalnews.com)

राष्ट्रपति र उपराष्ट्रपतिमा सातजना उम्मेदवार (BBC Nepali Service)