Lack of emotional intelligence in PM Oli

On June 18, when Prime Minister (PM) KP Oli was busy trivializing COVID-19 deaths, a 16-year-old-boy living in an ill-managed local quarantine center in Dhanusha, was battling against severe diarrhea. Untended and untreated when most needed, Raju Sada later succumbed to the illness on June 22 after being moved to the isolation ward of Janakpur Provincial Hospital. The graphic visuals of Sada shuddering in pain was not only disheartening and excruciating to watch but also utterly frustrating and indignant, and could make anyone feel nauseated toward the system that has dragged the nation into a mess.

The government’s failure in handling the pandemic needs neither any exposure nor elaboration. But, more than that, it is the unabashed apathy and tone-deaf attitude of the premiership at the helm that has rubbed salt in the wound. PM Oli’s chest-thumping assertions and rhetoric have so far only produced sound but no soul. In times of such crisis, and especially when people are desperately looking up to him for reassurance, Oli has failed to feel the pulse of the nation. The absence of a humane, sensitive and logical attribute in the prime minister just goes to prove that he seriously lacks emotional intelligence.