Humanities and Social Sciences Journal, Volume 14, Number 1, 2022, pp.

76–89

Democratic Movements and Challenges in Nepal

Dr. Tara Nath Ghimire7*

Abstract

This article examines and analyses the democratic movements and challenges in Nepal.
Democratic system of government is considered one of the best and most superlative
governing systems of countries in the world. In the history of civilization, democracy
has been fundamental in transforming the globe from monarchy, imperialism and
invasion to constitutional democracy, self-determination, mutual understanding and
peaceful co-existence. The democratic system is preferable and a better governing
system because of the participation of people in decision-making. There have
been many movements for the establishment of democracy in the world and those
movements have contributed significantly not only democracy but also equally to
human rights. Also in Nepal, there have been several movements for the establishment
of the democratic system. For a long time, Nepal had a unitary system with absolute
monarchy. A federal republic system has been established in Nepal through a long and
continuous struggle involving various political movements. This study is related to
those movements that have some significant role in the establishment of democracy
in Nepal along with their challenges. It is qualitative research in nature and used only
secondary data. The secondary data and facts have been drawn from library and related
reviews and they are interpreted and analyzed with movements and challenges as
analytical and descriptive method.

Keywords: democracy, government, monarchy, movements, political party

Introduction

There have been many movements for democracy in Nepal. These kinds of
movements have also taken place in other countries for democracy. Although there
are some minor reasons for all these movements. Traditional governance system is the
main obstacle for the democracy. The monarchy is said to be the main reason as an
obstacle to democracy in Nepal. Even though the monarchy has ended, democracy has
not been able to move forward in an institutional form. Therefore, what are the other

7* Associate Professor, Political Science, Patan Multiple Campus, Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur
E-mail: [email protected]

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reasons that are challenges to democracy? This research has been prepared by focusing
on these reasons.

Democracy can simply be defined as the popular government or the

representative government having fundamental features such as rule of law, equality,
periodic elections, inclusiveness, press freedom, separation of power, independent and
impartial judiciary, the supremacy of the constitution, and so on. The word democracy
is the English form of the Greek language ‘Demos Kratos’. The term ‘demos’ means
people and ‘Kratos’ means rule. It is believed that the word ‘Kratos’ was first used
for the people of the ancient Greek city-state. The word ‘democracy’ is the word of
ancient civilization though countries like the United Kingdom, the United States of
America, and France have made a very important contribution to the establishment of
modern democracy. The American independence revolution was not only a movement
for the independence of its country but also a movement for democracy whereas in
Britain there were initiatives for democracy since 1215. ‘From March 1215 to June
1485, Parliament played a major role in the governance of Britain, and parliament kept
a check on the king's autocracy,’ (Kafle, 2050 B.S). The movement proclaimed that
Magna Carta is a great achievement for democracy.
Similarly, the state revolution of France has also an important contribution
to the establishment of modern democracy. ‘The French Revolution of 1789 was a
movement against social inequality rather than against authoritarian rule. The French
aristocracy used many privileges and facilities to suck the people’s blood,’ (Thakur,
2064 B.S.). The American war of independence, the French revolution, and the British
glorious revolution have also contributed significantly to the establishment of modern
democracy. The glorious revolution in Britain brought all the authority of the King
into the House of Commons. That was a very important step to institutionalize modern
democracy. ‘Democracy is one in which every member has, within reasonable limits
of time, equal and effective opportunities to learn about suitable alternative policies
and the possible outcomes of the policy,’ (Dahl, 1998). The history of the democratic
movement of Nepal is not very long, however, the democratic movement of Nepal has
faced a long process. Nepal has witnessed three major revolutions for the achievement
of democracy: the first one against the autocratic Rana rule in 1950, the second against
the panchayat system in 1990, and the last one was the people’s movement in 2006
which is detailed as Democratic movement of Nepal started against the Rana regime
which was a long-standing family rule for more than a century. The main objective
of that movement was the end of autocratic family rule and the establishment of a
democratic government. ‘The history of the democratic movement of Nepal has not

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been very long because the democratic movement of Nepal had been started very late
than that of other democratic countries but there have been many important movements
for democracy in Nepal,’ (Dahal 2064 B.S). Those movements have made a great
contribution to the establishment of democracy in Nepal. Not only the movement
contributed to the establishment of a federal republican governing system in Nepal but
also all the efforts for democracy have contributed to the present situation. Four great
martyrs of Nepal sacrificed their lives, for democracy in the democratic movement of
‘Nepal Praja Parishad’ in 1997 B.S. Since that movement against the family rule, there
have been many movements for democracy in Nepal. Among those movements, the
democratic movement of 2007 B.S. had a great impact on Nepalese history because
that movement had ended more than a century of family Rana regime and paved the
way for democracy. The movements for democracy of Nepal, their achievements and
the present political situation are discussed in this study. In this study, the end of the
Rana period, a decade of party politics, three decades of the party-less Panchayat
system, movements against the non-party system, the united people’s movement
against regression, Maoist rebellion, and the challenges of democracy in Nepal have
been analyzed.

Statement of the Problem

This article has been prepared for the purpose of searching for the democratic
movements in Nepal and why Nepal's democracy has not been institutionalized, what
are the problems and why challenges keep coming to Nepal's democracy. The main
objective of this study is to discuss how and when the democratic movements in Nepal
took place and why democracy could not be institutionalized. There are some problems
to institutionalize democracy in Nepal. In this study, the researcher tries to explore
these problems about democracy and its challenges of Nepal. This article looks for the
answers to the given research questions:
• When and why have there been movements for democracy in Nepal?
• What kind of challenges are there for democracy in Nepal?

Objectives of the Study

The study aims to examine the democratic movements and challenges of
democracy that have prevented Nepal's democracy from being institutionalized. The
study has the following specific objectives:
• To analyze democratic movements for democracy in Nepal.
• To examine the challenges of democracy due to which democracy has not
taken an institutional form in Nepal.

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Methods

This research has been prepared to highlight Nepal's democratic movement and
also has tried to analyze the challenges of Nepal's democracy. This research is purely
qualitative research. The necessary materials have been collected through the library
and related sources. While collecting the material, only secondary materials have been
collected and analyzed. Descriptive and analytical methods have been adopted in the
study. Mandatory methods have been used where appropriate as required. There have
been three major and other essential revolutions for the achievement of democracy in
Nepal which can be highlighted as follows:

Discussion

End of Rana Period

After the unification of Nepal, the politics of Nepal was mired in deceitful
traps and conspiracies. The desire of the kings to have many queens and the desire of
the queens to have their influence in politics caused the politics of Nepal get trapped
in the Rana family dynasty. "There was extreme factionalism between the kings of
Nepal as well as the queens within the palace due to their selfish interests. Taking
advantage of this, Jung Bahadur Rana started Rana dynasty on September 14, 1846"
(Kadel, 2047 B S). Autocratic and familial, Rana’s rule was a very rigid dynasty. It
would have been a crime to oppose the Ranas in that era. There was no freedom.
Anyone who defied it was punished to death. In the same way, the Ranas ruled by their
own family regime for more than a century in Nepal. Comparatively, the Rana period
saw the most centralized governance. Rana Prime Ministers were at all-powerful level
while the public servants from the general side or the military police had to be directly
loyal to the Prime Minister. National servants were also appointed by the Prime
Minister. For more than a century, democracy and the development of Nepal have been
greatly delayed. Even though, there were small voices against that rule from the very
beginning, there had not been effective movements. Belatedly, Nepal Praja Parishad
started an effective movement against the Rana rule in January 1937. This movement
had to lose four honorable youths of Nepal. Those young people are considered four
martyrs of Nepal. That movement was the first democratic movement in the history of
Nepal:
The rebellion of the Limbu and Tamang tribes against the Gorkhali state in 1773,
the rebellion of the Khumbu Rais of Kirat in 1808, the rebellion of the Magars
of Gorkha against the Rana rule in 1870, the Gurung rebellion of 1877, the

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rebellions of the Atpariyas of Dhankuta against Hinduism are the notable

rebellions that took place during the Rana period, (Baral, 2063 B.S, p. 20).
In the continuation of that movement of Praja Parishad, under the leadership of
Nepali Congress, together with the Communists of Nepal, the Rana dynasty was ended
in February 1951. The movement against the Rana rule, in which King Tribhuvan
played the main role, finally brought an end to the Rana regime.

A Decade of Party Politics

Established in 1936 against the Rana regime, Nepal Praja Parisad is the oldest
political party in Nepal. This party was founded for freedom and human rights. Four
martyrs lost their lives because of this party's agitation against the Rana in 2041.
“Nepali Congress played a leading role against the Jahania Rana regime in 1950
while Nepal Communist Party, which was established in Calcutta in 1949, also played
an important role in the movement against the Rana regime” (Mishra, 2055). In the
movement of democracy at that time, King Tribhuvan left the throne of Nepal and took
shelter in Delhi. That event gave great strength to the democratic movement of Nepal.
“The reason to seek asylum without its permission and that he should therefore be
returned from the Embassy. Nevertheless, as we have seen, King Tribhuvan and his
family were flown to New Delhi in November 10, 1950”, (Joshi & Rose, 2004, p. 76).
Raja Tribhuvan with the help of India and the Nepali Congress in the country,
the movement was finally successful. India also had a big hand in bringing it to that
state. In the second-round dialogue, the Rana government was forced to accept India's
offer. On January 8, 1951, Mohan Samsher Rana made a public announcement about
the new political system. He mentioned that his government had failed and that King
Tribhuvan would continue to govern Nepal and elect the Legislative Assembly within
1952 which would establish the rule of law in Nepal, (Ibid). After the end of the Rana
regime, the election of the Constituent Assembly could not be held at the appointed
time and the political parties could not even succeed in establishing a representative
government. Finally in 1950, the constitution of Nepal was adopted, and according
to that constitution, the election was completed and a new government was formed.
“According to the Constitution of Nepal 1959, on May 27, King Mahendra formed
a democratic cabinet under the leadership of Nepali Congress led by BP Koirala. In
the first election held according to that constitution, Nepali Congress won an absolute
majority” (Ibid). It was not possible for the first elected government of the democratic
system to continue to govern for a long period of time. That government was removed
by King Mahendra in December 1960 and the Panchayati system was implemented.
That incident once again pushed democracy back.

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Three Decades of the Independent Panchayat System

The Panchayati system implemented by King Mahendra in December 1960

ended the democratic system established by removing the Rana regime. The Panchayat
system of party-less character was announced and ruled under the umbrella of the king.
A new constitution was implemented in January 6, 1963 for a party-less Panchayat
system which was introduced after the ban on political parties. This constitution was
in force in Nepal for about thirty years, (Acharya & Yatru 2067, B.S). The constitution
of Nepal 1963 was amended 3 times though Panchayat system was furthered towards
autocracy without opening the ban on the political parties, so the banded parties
were against this system, mainly Nepali Congress, and various left-wing components
remained active on their own policy. In the party-less Panchayat system, the king had
an absolute rule.
Although the first parliament elected under the 1958 Constitution of the
kingdom of Nepal, in 1959, started to practice some degree of democracy, the
autocratic power of the Shah dynasty king came into effect on 15, December 1960, but
the panchayat's despotism was reduced to strengthen the centralized and unitary state
(Report, 2066 B.S).
At that time, King Mahendra and King Birendra ruled under the Panchayat
system. However, King Mahendra is depicted as a development-loving and nationalist
king while King Birendra is depicted as a liberal king. During this time, the parties
were in an underground movement against the system. Nepali Congress played a
leading role in that movement. The three decades of the Panchayat period were spent
in the imposition of democracy by the democratic political parties of Nepal. At that
time, many citizens of Nepal sacrificed their lives for democracy. The main feature
of the Panchayati system was the active leadership of the king, non-party system
and the creation of Panchayati government structures as an alternative to democracy,
(Shiwakoti, 2070 B.S). In the party-less panchayat system, various political parties
have fought important struggles for democracy. The movements of the political parties
against the Panchayati system have been briefly summarized below.

The Rebellion of the Nepali Congress Against the Panchayat System

In 1959, Nepal held its general elections, which led to a multiparty democratic
system after many ups and downs. The government of the Nepali Congress that was
presented in the parliament with a two-third majority could govern only for 18 months.
King Mahendra allowed the Nepali Congress government to rule for only 18 months.
After that, the king dissolved the democratic government and imposed a party-less

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Panchayat system. Nepali Congress had launched a strong movement against the
reprehensible action. For the first two years, the Nepali Congress staged an armed
rebellion against that move of the king. On 17 January, 1963, Rangalal Gurung was
killed in an encounter between the army and militants in Okharbote Bhanjyang, Ilam,
and Congress militants were arrested in Ilam and were murdered by ditching them in
the hole (Shiwakoti, 2070 B.S.). That tragic incident took place at Maipokhari in Ilam.
That was a big and painful event in the democratic movement of Nepal but that event
is being forgotten by the leaders of democracy. Congress leader BP Koirala wanted
to take up arms against the king but Suvarna Samser did not agree on the matter. At
that time, BP had also inquired about weapons with Suvarna Samser (Gautam, 2060).
During that time, 180 attacks were carried out in different parts of the country, and a
bomb was thrown at the king in Janakpur. Hundreds of people were killed in Chitwan
Rebellion (Siwakoti). Durgananda Jha was hanged on 29, January 1964, for being
involved in this scandal (Adhikari 2071).
After that, the movement of the Nepali Congress seemed to be somewhat weak
until Bishweshar Prasad Koirala was released from prison in 1968. After Bishweshwar
and Ganeshman were released from prison, the agitation seems to have revived. In this
way, even though the Nepali Congress tried to launch an armed rebellion, it did not
achieve much success. During this period, the country was greatly damaged by the
killing of many patriots and hard-working warriors. After these incidents, Congress
leaders were living in exile in India. Feeling that the country was in dangerous situation,
in December 30, 1976, BP and other congress leaders returned to their home country.
BP took a policy of reconciliation and returned to the country because the foreigners’
eyes were on the integrity of the nationality and the democracy was lost (Koiral,2072).
Even after coming to the country, the Nepali Congress including BP was constantly
standing in the field of struggle for democracy. On January 1990, with the joint
movement of communists, re-establishment of democracy in Nepal was possible. This
incident made the king subject of the constitution. These kinds of movements added
strength to the fight for democracy and the institutional development of democratic
culture.

Communist Rebellion Against the Panchayat System

Nepalese communists have also contributed to the democratic movement
of Nepal. Currently, there are many communist political parties in Nepal. Nepal
Communist Party was established in Kolkata India on 1949. This is an old historical
communist political party of Nepal that played a role in the revolution of 1950. The
communist party of Nepal got only 4 seats in the general election of 1958 (Mishra,
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2055 BS). But since that communist party has come to this day, more than a dozen
communist political parties have been established. After the intervention of King
Mahendra in 1960, this party also went underground. The Nepal Communist Party
organized many rebellions against the panchayat system. It had launched many small
and large armed rebellions to end the Panchayat system. In such well-known rebellions,
Pushpalal led the armed peasant rebellion in Nawalparasi and Jhapa District. After
the formation of the Coordination Committee, the Jhapa rebellion launched under the
policy of class cleansing. Jhapa revolt, the farmers' revolt in Jugedi of Chitwan under
the leadership of Rooplal Vishwakarma, the Piskar scandal, and other rebellions are
considered important events in the history of the communist party of Nepal (Ibid).
All those revolts by the Nepalese Communist Party also advocated for democracy.
Nepal Communist Party has made important protests against Panchayati system for
democracy. ‘After King Birendra bought arms from China, Nepal's relationship with
India deteriorated. After India imposed a blockade on Nepal in 1990, the political
parties of Nepal protested against panchayat. In that movement, Nepali Congress
under the leadership of Ganeshman Singh, along with Communists, also participated
in the movement against Panchayat system’, (Shiwakoti, 2070 B.S.).

United People's Movement 1990

In 1989, the political parties living underground for a long time in Nepal, jointly
organized a movement against the Panchayat system. There were two major groups
in the Nepali politics but they were illegal at that time which were Nepali Congress
and Nepal Communist party. Due to the negative steps taken by the panchayat system
from the students' movement to the referendum, the political parties were looking for
an explanation for the movement against the panchayat system. Due to the blockade
imposed by India, the political parties in the underground were prepared to protest
against the panchayat system. At a time when it was unfavorable for the Panchayat,
the movement was announced on 18 February, 1990 (Shiwakoti, 2070 B.S.). The
banned Nepali Congress and the United Left Front lauched a joint movement for
multi-party democracy. After 49 days of struggle on 8 April, 1990, at 11:45 pm, the
movement took a break after the king removed the ban on the party system. After the
ban on the parties, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Krishna
Prasad Bhattarai, the leader of the Nepali Congress. It implemented the democratic
constitution 1990 in Nepal (Gautam, 2055 BS). Accordingly, the general election was
held in 1991. Nepali Congress won the majority. The factions within the party could
not make the government work for its entire lives. Mid-term elections were held in
1994. No party succeeded to gain the majority. As being a big party, the leader of
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the Communist Party, Manmohan Adhikari, president of the communist party united
Marxist and Leninist leader of the parliamentary party, formed a minority government.
It also faced a motion of no confidence and dissolved within 9 months (Mishra, 2055
BS). After that, the governments that were formed in a short period of time were
filled with despair, anger, and frustration among the people. After the restoration of
democracy, the parties could not remain balanced within themselves and between the
parties. After the mid-term elections, when one party appeared as an enemy to the
other party, the country began to move at a bad pace. The arbitrariness of the political
parties had hindered the development of the country and the people were disappointed.
The movement of the party pushed the democratic practice backward in Nepal. At
the same time, the Maoist rebellion started in Nepal. There have been criticism and
support for the Maoist insurgency in Nepal.

Maoist Rebellion

Communist party of Maoist political party, founded in 1996 in Nepal, is a

political party that went into rebellion against the unequal development in Nepal by
advancing the demands of inclusive democracy and equal development. Maoist has
adopted a policy of rebellion and raised the issue of equal development by structuring
the state on caste basis. The policy of insurgency is the policy adopted by the Maoists
at the unity convention held in December 1991 (Bhattarai, 2063). After the restoration
of democracy in Nepal, the people had a big supposition to change the condition of the
country and people's living standards. A democratic constitution was also implemented
as a result of the movement in 1990. The king was also replaced by a constitutional
monarchy. But the political parties could not perform their duties properly. The
political parties could not work according to the aspirations of the people, and the
government continued to form and collapse. At a time when there was a kind of
frustration, and anger among the people, the then Maoists started the armed people's
war on 14 February 1996. Different ethnic liberation fronts were formed with the
slogans of ‘Right to Self-determination’ and ‘ethnic autonomy (Khanal, 2009). During
the Maoist war, King Birendra's dynasty was mysteriously wiped out. Such stories
had a bad impact on the democratic movement in Nepal. King Birendra is known as a
generous and democracy-loving king. King Gyanendra took over the throne on June
1, 2001., after the Darbar murder scandal. After this incident, Gyanendra pushed back
Nepal's democratic practices. Lokendra Bahadur Chand was made a prime minister on
4 October 2001 without the party's recommendation and consent, and the relationship
between the then parliamentarians’ political party and the king deteriorated. The

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parliamentary parties came close to the Maoists and they succeed to coin 12 points
agreement in India. The people's movement of 2006 was completed based on the
Maoist people's war. After the movement, the 25-point code of conduct and 8-point
understanding with the Maoists, the agreement of October 22, and the comprehensive
peace agreement of November 5, Maoist insurgency ended forever. It was agreed to
conduct arms management and Constituent Assembly elections under the supervision
of the United Nations. For this reason, the conflict ended after joining the interim
legislature, the interim constitution, and the interim government (Siwakoti 2070 B.S.).
Even though the Maoist rebellion pushed the democratic movement of Nepal back a
bit, that rebellion played a vital role in establishing the federal republic of Nepal. The
incident of the destruction of Birendra's dynasty is a complete mystery, but the Maoist
war and the royal palace massacre have changed the political mode of the country.

Anti-Regressive Movement

King Birendra's dynasty was destroyed by 1 June, 2001 and Gyanendra became
the king after the palace massacre. On October 5, 2002, Lokendra Bahadur Chand
was made Prime Minister. The parties, which were disturbed by this incident took
this step of the king as regression and announced various stages of movements to
correct the regression and to form a council of ministers on the recommendation of the
party, which is considered an anti-regression movement. King Gyanendra had greed
for an autocratic monarchy due to which he ignored the political parties. That incident
stopped the democratic exercise of Nepal. That is why political parties had to protest
against regression time and again.

United People's Movement 2006

A front was formed between the parties in Parliament against the regression
of King Gyanendra in 2006. This front agreed to cooperate with the rebel Maoists
to protest against the king for democracy. As a result of this decision, a 12-point
agreement was reached between the Maoists and the Parliamentarians, which led to
the movement of 2006 (Siwakoti, 2070 B.S). This movement was against the king's
decision to end democracy by forming a cabinet under his own leadership on 1
January 2005. At that time, the king did many things for leaders like imprisoning and
arresting political party leaders with false cases. After the joint movement lasted only
19 days, the king accepted the people's plan of action, which was another victory for
the democracy of the Nepalese people. After the success of the protest, Girija Prasad
Koirala became the Prime Minister of Nepal. With the success of the movement,

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important events took place in the politics of Nepal. Maoists’ entry into the parliament,
the establishment of the interim constitution, the determination of the election of the
Constituent Assembly, the Madhesh movement, the determination of federalism and
the search for the failure of the monarchy were done. That action is considered to be a
great achievement in Nepal's democratic movement. At that time the Prime Minister of
Nepal was Girija Prasad Koirala. Koirala has made a great and important contribution
to the democracy of Nepal. Constituent Assembly was elected in 2064 according to
the interim constitution. After the failure of the first Constituent Assembly, the second
Constituent Assembly was elected in 2070. That assembly issued the constitution of
Nepal. That constitution is currently in force in Nepal. According to this constitution,
the election of federal Nepal was completed in 2074. This constitution has also been
created in a federal form. According to the constitution, Nepal has been established
as a federal republic, and the first meeting of the federal parliament of the federal
structure formally declared the end of the monarchy from Nepal.
Perhaps no other organization had a greater influence than the prevailing
electoral system and political parties to give a special shape to the political landscape of
a democratic country (Dahl 1998). There have been many movements for democracy
in Nepal. Political parties’ leaders have made great sacrifices and graveness for
democracy. By doing so, many people met a painful end in the democratic movement.
Due to the sacrifice of many citizens, the democracy of Nepal is in its present state, but
why is there no satisfaction among the common citizens in Nepal? This should be the
subject of research.

Challenges of Democracy in Nepal

Democracy is a form of government in which the people elect representatives

from among themselves to create a governing body such as a parliament or they exercise
their power directly. Another name for it is the "rule of the majority." Democracy
prohibits the passing of power. The people choose the leaders. Residents cast their
votes for their representative when representatives run for office. The representative
who receives the most votes is declared the winner. Democracy has been claimed as
the best system of governance in the world. In fact, democracy is a system that works
for the benefit of society and the common people. It is a system that can always be
institutionalized only in the public interest. Political system is a particular type of
social system- namely one involved in the making of authoritative public decision
(Almond, Powell & others, 2004). But political parties in Nepal are not accountable
to society for institutionalizing democracy (Karki, 2068 B.S.). There are some major

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challenges as well. The democrats and progressives of Nepal have claimed that there
is a threat to democracy. But experience has confirmed that the democracy of Nepal is
not threatened by others, but by the movement of democratic and progressive forces.
Their activities have challenged democracy from time to time. On the other hand, it
can be assumed that common citizens are in favor of democracy. In all the movements
of the political parties, there is great support and cooperation from the common
people. However, in the long democratic practice, Nepal has not achieved significant
achievements which has created negative consequences with frustration among the
common citizens. There are some reasons for such challenges of democracy in Nepal
which are given below:

• The political parties of Nepal did not teach Nepali society that the country is
bigger than the party and that the interests of the country should be considered
paramount. Nepalese citizens could not be emotionally organized due to the
leaders' greed for position and power.

• Political parties have lost some respect for morality. The rights and duties
of citizens are not delineated. Common citizens are also looking towards
immorality due to the unethical actions of political parties

• The media world also has a big hand in democracy, but they are also run by
parties, there is a lack of fairness. This is a great misfortune for democracy.

• On the one hand bureaucracy is weakened by politicization and is not in a

state of working environment with high morale. On the other hand, there is a
tendency to look up to avoid responsible in employees.

• From the year 1950 till today, Nepal's political parties are fragmented and
divided into various factions and sub-factions. Moreover, the fragmentation
and factionalism of the left-wing parties that called upon the workers of the
world to unite have left many people confused and disappointed. Such a
character within the party is not considered auspicious for the development
of democracy. In addition, against the trend of being ready to be ruled and
ruled in democracy, the tendency to see the nationality itself is in crisis when it
must come to power or to be removed from power has weakened the faith and
morale of the people within the party.

• There are many examples of the voters of Nepal showing unnecessary

fanaticism towards their ideas and falling into petty greed. They also see their

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role in strengthening of the democracy less. From time to time, the essence
of democracy is attacked. Democracy cannot succeed in an environment of
economic poverty because poor people do not care about the high ideals of
duty and honesty. Earning a livelihood remains their moral and high ideal.
Therefore, for the success of democracy, it is necessary for the state to achieve
economic equality through economic justice and positive discrimination in the
country. Since the issues of economic equality are limited only on paper, it does
not seem that freedom can be used in a bold manner which is not considered
auspicious for the successful implementation of democracy.

Conclusion

If we view the political history of Nepal, we can clearly perceive that more
than eighty years have been employed and spent for democracy. This movement which
started against the family rule of Rana has not fully achieved its goal yet. Democracy in
Nepal has bought a lot of progress in Nepal. The history of Nepal was highly occupied
by an aristocratic monarchy which has been replaced by the democracy of the Nepalese
people. Nepal has proudly restored and represented nationality and socialism through
democracy. Despite the success of all democratic movements in Nepal, democracy
could not be institutionalized. Although the democratic movements in Nepal from time
to time are of Nepal and Nepalese, regardless of whether they are successful or not, the
political parties could not stand their ground when the interests of foreigners came to
dominate there. Despite the success of the parties in the democratic movement with the
kings of Nepal, democracy has been lost due to the internal activities of the political
parties. Throughout the establishment of the first democratic government and after the
restoration of democracy, there were weaknesses in the parties. The irresponsibility of
the political parties is also involved in the Maoist rebellion and the king's undemocratic
actions. The honor of democracy in Nepal has been degraded due to corruption and
inefficiency, growing economic and social inequalities, caste system and many other evil
factors. On the other hand, there is a lot of devotion to the party among the people and the
servile attitude of accepting the weakness of the party is also a challenge for democratic
Nepal. Common citizens and media should also be free and impartial. Democracy cannot
flourish and thrive unless there is honesty and dutifulness.

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