A Call for Integrity and Reform: Expectations for the New Federal Parliament

Congratulations on your election to the Federal Parliament and best wishes for a successful tenure. This opportunity brings with it not only honor but also significant responsibility.

The session of the Federal Parliament begins today. As the supreme body for national policy-making, your role must transcend partisan interests and focus on the national good. Policy decisions must prioritize long-term vision, evidence-based analysis, and transparency. Bills should only be passed after thorough study and responsible debate. Maintaining parliamentary decorum requires discipline, punctuality, and focused discussion. Staying in constant touch with the public to effectively raise their issues and initiate solutions is the true duty of a representative. Furthermore, taking a clear stand against corruption and irregularities is essential. Your conduct will strengthen public trust in democracy. Therefore, the people expect you to fulfill your responsibilities with diligence.

When speaking in Parliament, it is appropriate to express views only after deep study and gaining sufficient knowledge of the subject matter. Practicing how to present arguments logically and clearly within a limited time is necessary.

Shouting or speaking for a long time does not make a wrong thing right or a right thing wrong. Effectiveness depends on word choice, clear pronunciation, and logic.

In the Nepali language, small differences in words can lead to significant differences in meaning. For example: "Nepal is being built" and "Nepal is closed." "Ram killed Shyam" and "Shyam killed Ram." Speaking quickly or unclearly can make these sentences sound similar, but the meanings are worlds apart. Therefore, it is necessary to speak clearly, with restraint, and with thoughtful pronunciation in Parliament.

Given your immense responsibility toward the nation and the people, I would like to share some truths and facts that you should consider:

After birth, a human must survive, then be safe, and be allowed to lead a disciplined life. For this, the state must ensure quality healthcare, security, and establish discipline through good governance. Maintaining discipline is not a violation of human rights, but a process of creating responsible citizens. Therefore, one should not hesitate to enforce rules and laws.

A beautiful mindset is necessary to move the nation in the right direction—a beautiful mindset builds a beautiful society. Keep in mind that knowledge is the solution to most problems, and dialogue (negotiation) is the most effective medium.

Speaking of a beautiful mindset, during the election, some candidates were seen on social media with pictures of tigers or lions. While tigers or lions are powerful, they are also violent. Such social media images seem to convey a message of presenting oneself as powerful and aggressive. Understanding that symbols can reflect personality, symbols that convey dedication, honesty, and consistency—rather than aggression—can be more relevant.

The country is made up of various classes, societies, and communities. Every class, community, and group has its own responsibilities, duties, and work. On the other hand, there are also some interest groups in the country and society whose goal is to destabilize society to serve their own interests. Therefore, if you want to bring positive change to the country and society, create the right rules and laws from Parliament, and the country, people, and society will automatically move in the right direction.

Honorable Members of Parliament, truth is always truth—even if the majority calls it wrong; and wrong is always wrong—even if the majority calls it right. Various individuals and interest groups may try to mislead you through media trials and social media by holding truth and honesty hostage; please do not be swayed. There is no precedent or following for wrong actions. The mindset of "Why shouldn't we do it?" just because previous parliaments or MPs did it is not appropriate. That was wrong, and this will also be wrong—please pay attention to this.

There seem to be many arguments being made about how to prove your election results false. Hearing their accusations sounds like a story. A person falls from a roof, suffers a head injury, and dies. While returning from the funeral, one mourner says, "Thank goodness the eyes were not injured, the eyes were saved." Then another mourner replies, "The person is already dead, what is the point of saying the eyes were saved?" Some parties that faced unexpected results in the election are trying to divert attention from the main issue by raising such irrelevant topics.

Listening to the political debates of old leadership and some intellectuals of their political persuasion, it is like the saying: "When a man gets old, he looks for trouble; when an ox gets old, it looks for a cliff." Looking at the words used against each other on social media, it seems they will end up destroying themselves. I would like to add an episode from the Ramayana here. After the abduction of Sita, preparations for war were underway. Upon hearing that Ram and Lakshman were coming through the forest, Ravana sent his troops to attack in the forest. When Ram and Lakshman saw Ravana's troops from afar, Ram fired a magical arrow, which caused Ravana's troops to see each other as Ram and Lakshman, and after they started attacking each other, the demonic army was finished. Be wary of such magical arrows.

Honorable Members, our society seems to be living on negative energy. Only constructive criticism, not negative commentary, yields positive results. Some MPs in Parliament can give negative speeches for hours, but cannot present a positive expression for even a few minutes. Therefore, it is necessary to change this trend and develop the habit of positive thinking, a practical approach, and cultured speech.

Social media has gone into such negative thinking, perceptions, and reactions that it is now difficult for a person to live their private life after paying taxes to the state. On the other hand, even if one says they want to do social service from the heart, it leads to controversy. For example, when someone says they will distribute food to the hungry—why was it distributed, who said to distribute it, is it legal? They brought it to distribute because it was about to spoil, it might be spoiled, who will be responsible if someone gets diarrhea tomorrow? They did it to go viral on social media. They brought money from an NGO to distribute, ate half themselves, did the rest for show, etc. Such trends discourage even positive actions. Certainly, one has the right to question, but it must be within the bounds of rules and laws, in a dignified and responsible manner, not in an unruly way. Therefore, a clear legal provision is needed to regulate both those who question and those who serve.

Social media has been pushed into such a messy state that it is becoming difficult for users to distinguish between what is true and what is false. A situation has arisen where one has to doubt even true news, wondering, "Is this AI-generated?"

In this context, an episode is memorable. A woman in a nightclub was dancing while taking off her clothes one by one. Initially, there was a shower of applause from the audience, but eventually, after she was completely naked, there was nothing left to see, and the hall was stunned—the applause stopped. This shows that—when the level and dignity of content are lost, attraction and trust are also lost. Today, social media is heading in this same direction. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to enact laws to make social media dignified, responsible, and reliable.

The government built view towers, constructed tunnels, installed traffic lights, included Lipulekh in the map—although all these works are important, they alone do not measure true good governance. The real question is the process and standards—how many acts did the Parliament pass, how were the officials of constitutional commissions and ambassadors and other political appointments made? What policy was adopted in corruption cases? How many people were prosecuted for money laundering? How were judges appointed? This is the most important thing. Therefore, your priority should be focused on creating the right methods, processes, and rules and laws to select qualified individuals.

The people have elected young, qualified, honest, and trustworthy MPs to Parliament. Some old power centers and their supporters are mocking this change and raising questions about your capabilities. I would like to add a story here:—In a village, due to a lack of iodine, most people had goiters on their necks. Gradually, that condition was considered normal. If a person without a goiter reached there, they would be considered strange. Similarly, bad governance, corruption, nepotism, and favoritism have settled on the necks of old leaders like goiters. When that is not seen in new MPs, they might be mocking them as people without goiters.

Finally, our small, peaceful, and beautiful country of Nepal, full of natural beauty—a gift from God to the Nepali people—is full of potential. Proud identities like Mount Everest, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and Lord Pashupatinath have introduced Nepal to the world. The people here are cheerful, friendly, forgiving, and simple-natured. They forgive quickly, do not hold grudges for a long time, and possess the amazing ability to move forward with a smile even in sorrow. Therefore, the only expectation of such kind-hearted people is—your honesty toward the country and the people.