Defining Contours Of Democracy

The elections held in Nepal this Sunday indicate that actual democratic politics is a fierce, no-holds-barred competition for power. Political parties have fought tooth and nail to gain or retain hold on to the power to rule. It is yet too early to hazard a guess about the final winners or losers in the theatrics of political power played out in this electoral contest. New actors have burst on to the political melodrama. They have made their headways in the body politic of the country. The positive aspect of democracy is that it lets and unconditionally allows the new actors to enter into the contest for power and win the mandate of the people to secure the space to rule. In the electoral fight, established veterans of the political game may lose out to their rivals failing to repeat the winning streak. They will thus be compelled to reconcile to the destiny of defeat, loss and humiliation.