Nepal's Political Health: An Autoimmune Crisis Demanding Systemic Immunity

There is a profound analogy between the human body and the state system. Both require a strong immune system to remain alive and dynamic. In medical science, when the body's immune system stops recognizing external viruses or begins to attack its own healthy cells as enemies, it is called an 'autoimmune disease'.

Today, Nepal's politics is afflicted by exactly this ailment. Interim Government Prime Minister Sushila Karki, addressing the National Assembly upon reaching the Federal Parliament on Monday, Magh 19, attempted to clarify this very disease afflicting the nation. She informed the house that her government is eager to hand over power to a popularly elected government by holding clean, impartial, and credible elections on the stipulated date.

Prime Minister Karki, explaining the compulsion of her becoming the Prime Minister and the complexity of the country in her own style, also sent a multi-faceted clear message that the country is passing through a difficult phase. This is what she must do and say while in the role of government. But will the results obtained from the election cure the country's disease? The answer to the main question remains abstract. The responsibility to transform this abstract answer into a concrete form rests on the shoulders of the voters in the election.

Just as the function of 'antibodies' in the body is to prevent external infections, in politics, morality, the rule of law, and ideological integrity are the political antibodies. When these elements decay in politics, viruses like corruption and impunity easily find entry into society. Currently, these antibodies in Nepal's politics have become so weak that those who should be protecting the constitution and the law are themselves engaged in devouring it.

When political parties abandon the welfare of the people and only nurture the arithmetic of power, the system itself collapses. Today, the country's politics is going through exactly this situation.

In medical science, the most dangerous situation arises when the body's protector becomes the predator. In the context of Nepal's politics, constitutional bodies fall into this category; these bodies are supposed to maintain the balance of the state, but these very organs are addicted to the injection of partisan interests. The imbalance between the executive, legislature, and judiciary is like the vital organs of the body—kidneys, heart, and lungs—ceasing to cooperate with each other.

When political parties abandon the welfare of the people and only nurture the arithmetic of power, the system itself collapses. Today, the country's politics is going through exactly this situation.

Just as a prolonged infection in the body causes permanent damage to the organs, corruption and instability in Nepal's politics are such a 'chronic inflammation'. Frequently changing governments, unnatural alliances, and policy deviations have rendered the country's economy and administrative machinery like a patient suffering from 'multi-organ failure'.

Just as a common cold can incapacitate a person with a weak immune system, a nation with weak political character can be destabilized by minor external pressure or internal strife.

Just as the body's immune system provides the strength to fight external viruses, the political immune system protects society from anarchy, lies, and cheap populism.

Superficial reforms are not enough to fix this deteriorating political health. Serious surgery and immunotherapy are required through this election to completely displace the toxic web of criminalization and corruption from politics, bring the youth generation and ideologically clear individuals to the forefront of leadership, and maintain the discipline of adhering to the path specified by the constitution, much like the body's DNA.

Just as the body's immune system provides the strength to fight external viruses, the political immune system protects society from anarchy, lies, and cheap populism. When this system weakens, the virus of populism gradually begins to erode the organs of the state. It feels as if our country's politics is currently afflicted by this very fatal infection of populism.

Although populism sounds like it is in favor of the people, it is actually the 'autoimmune disease' of democracy. It continuously blackmails by presenting extremely superficial and cheap solutions to complex problems. Populist leaders capitalize on the people's economic hardship and anger. They polarize society by digging a chasm between 'us' and 'them'. Currently, the division between 'new' and 'old' is replacing the 'us' versus 'them' dichotomy.

When a leader places themselves above the law and procedure and starts saying, 'I am your savior,' the destruction of the system begins from there. Today, every voter must be able to distinguish who is intent on destroying the system.

History bears witness—the world has only progressed when leadership has chosen the path of public welfare over the temptation of being popular. World-renowned leader Winston Churchill said, 'The test of leadership in democratic politics is not in the speeches he gives, but in the systems he builds.' When America was reeling from the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln never offered cheap slogans.

Nepal's politics is not currently in the ICU, but its immune system is on the verge of complete collapse. If morality is not revived in the political cells in time, this autoimmune disease could jeopardize the very existence of the nation.

He took harsh and unpopular decisions for national unity, saying, 'A divided house cannot stand.' Upon release after 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela could have pursued politics of revenge, which would have been quite popular at the time. However, he chose the path of truth and reconciliation, strengthening South Africa's political immune system.

In the Nepali context, King Mahendra, BP Koirala, and Pushpa Lal were thinkers who understood the difference between the crowd and the people. They never sold out principles for cheap popularity. In this election, the public must also be able to cast a glance at such a window of history.

Nepal's politics is not currently in the ICU, but its immune system is on the verge of complete collapse. If morality is not revived in the political cells in time, this autoimmune disease could jeopardize the very existence of the nation. The same truth applies to both health and politics—one cannot sustain life merely with external remedies unless one is strong from within.

Antibiotics alone will not fix the damaged political immune system; it requires a renaissance of constitutional morality. We need leadership that can see not just the next election, but the future of the next generation. Populism may earn momentary applause, but history only remembers those who have the courage to walk the right and just path during difficult times.

The nation today needs visionaries who can establish systems, not superstar leaders. This is the civic responsibility bestowed by this election.