MS' Magazine "Indflydelse" no. 1/2007

Democracy can only be created in interaction with the people

Global voices: The idea that donors can help us with our democracy does not work. But the donors can support women, Dalits and the people in the rural areas, says Dr. Devendra Panday.

By Anne Mette Nordfalk

11. April 2007

Dr. Devendra Raj Panday receives us in the middle of Kathmandu. He is among other things former chief for the finance ministry’s department for foreign aid – and later in the transitional government in the ‘90s briefly minister of finance. He has for 20 years been a leading figure in Nepal’s civil society and recently he helped merging the Maoists and the political parties. He has no doubts that Nepal should be a republic and that the Nepalese themselves must build a democracy for all. We met him to discuss the donor community’s role in this process.

How do you look upon the foreign donors?

”They ought to be very humble, less technocratic and more political. Not understood in the way that they should interfere in our political affairs but they should relate to them. They ought to be humble because they share the honour and the responsibility for the mistakes we have made – they are our partners!”

”The donors mean well but often their work has a negative effect. They present one strategy after the other but they do not work together and they often have several agendas at the same time. Simultaneously Nepal's educated class functions as the consultants for the donors and thereby maintains a lifestyle that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.”

”Concerning the contributions from the donors I might be old fashioned, but I believe that foreign aid ought to be spent on the socioeconomic development – on infrastructure, agriculture, education, health service, telecommunication and so forth.”

Why?

”Because we lack money and technology. But unfortunately the government accepts everything they are offered. Instead they ought to say: We want to do these things – help us do that! Previously everybody supported us with our technical problems right from USA to India. We still have these problems. Help us with our agriculture where we still have an extremely low productivity. The donors should not interfere in the democratic process. The idea that the donors can help us with our democracy does not work. The only thing we have gotten out of that is that Nepals intellectuals have been excused from their responsibility – which has instead become the donors'. It is through interaction with the people we can make democracy work.”

Why have the donors changed their target areas?

”The changes are determined by supply – they are set by the global agenda. The same thing happened in Eastern Europe and Africa here it has also created problems. Besides this the big actors like the World Bank does not care about democracy. They are only interested in stability – this is shown in their long term support to king Gyanendra and that is an insult to the Nepali people!”

But doesn’t development call for a democratic environment?

“That we can do ourselves, it cannot be created from outside. Moreover the help creates it own problems and contradictions. The non-governmental organisations have for example carried out an enormous work in this country but their image is tainted because they are regarded as financed by the donors – as “donor-driven”. Hereby they loose their moral authority and their possibility to make the political elite more responsible. In that way one can ignore them totally and moreover they are satisfied taking care of their own circles.”

Which challenges does Nepal face?

”Our first problem is the monarchy. Every time we try to make a step forward the king hopes that we stumble and our stupid politicians do that all the time. For example the king recently announced the 57the anniversary of democracy while we fight to get a democracy at all! That is a bit of a contradiction and the politicians let him do that. They are not moving themselves – they drag themselves along while we are pushing!”

”The next problem is the political parties themselves. They have learned nothing from the past. In 1951 the king promised on the constituent assembly that we now fight for but he did not keep his promise and the political parties did not push for it. Instead they made a compromise to get a share of the power and the resources of the state. In 1991 we got a decent constitution but we lacked the political culture and an idea about what democracy is and how parties ought to behave. Our society is still very much feudal and it supports the king because it gives him power. The feudal structure is also a problem internally in the political parties.”

Which possibilities did the peace agreement create?

”The peace created the possibility to moved forward about ten years of civil war. The Maoists functioned as a catalyst. They have much to learn about a democratic political culture and therefore they have huge internal problems – especially further down in their system where people do not behave as they should. But now there is a need for them to join the government a get a co responsibility.”

There is talk about postponing the election?

”We should not postpone the election. That is a vicious circle: the politicians say that we cannot hold an election because the people have to be educated first but they don’t move a finger to educate the people. Before we have a legislation that gives people a voice they don’t get an education. It is the politicians that lack the consciousness about this project – not the people.

How do you secure that people are included?

”People have had to take to the street for every step forward. Not only because of the king but also because of the political parties. Therefore we must not just replace the king with a president. We need a federation – to divide the political power between different federal states within the country that get the power to take care of their own needs and resources. The central government should only be responsible for areas like foreign policy and the military.”

“And if the donors should help with something it could be to offer support to female activist, to Dalit-activist and to mobilise people in the villages,” concludes Devendra Panday.

Translated by Malene Lærke