THE spectacle made recently by political leaders charged with corruption clearly shows that it will be difficult to root out corruption in Nepal. Their prison sentence, bizarrely, seems to have made them morally stronger. It is ironic that a large crowd of people greeted these leaders while they were being released from jail. We also have to recognise the fact that a large number of people who came to greet these leaders came on their own volition—at least not through the violent coercion we used to see during the time of the Maoist insurgency.

One of the reasons that people still support corrupt politicians is rooted in the patronage politics Nepal inherited from its feudal past. The patron-client relationship that was once prevalent in society has continued till this day, even though there have been changes in the political system—from the Rana patrimonial system to the present republican system. But the basic political culture has remained the same. Leaders or patrons are to support the people as clients of their constituency by providing them with jobs, money and other favours. For this, it is natural that leaders appropriate the state’s resources through corruption, a small part of which is used to support the patronage system and a large part for personal enrichment. In this sense, people have also encouraged leaders to become corrupt.

The growing attraction to accumulating material wealth in Nepali society is another reason why people overlook the moral and ethical side of a politician or political party. The ‘money is everything’ philosophy can be seen and felt everywhere. A leader is to provide money to supporters whether through government jobs or through development projects. The practice of earning money through hard work and becoming happy with what one has earned has now been replaced by the habit of getting easy money—through political patronage, corruption or extortion.

The decade of Maoist conflict sadly helped establish this culture of earning money through extortion. I have seen many young creative people languishing with little money and leading a difficult life despite hard work. They become frustrated when they see their friends connected to political parties earning easy money and leading luxurious lives. However, this does not mean that all individuals involved in politics have earned money or have an easy life.

However, it is not just individuals who show a corruptible attitude. The political parties too have encouraged corruption. For the upcoming election, we have seen that these parties have given tickets to many candidates based on their monetary contributions to the party. These political parties have also encouraged their party members to earn money for the party when they are in power. In many instances, these parties have also protected their members from the valid charges of corruption.

Political parties and individual political leaders now strongly believe that money is needed to win the elections and develop a group of dedicated supporters. This is seen more vividly in left leaning parties. For example, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has maintained a large group of dedicated cadres (whole timers or part timers). The party needs to at least support the living cost of these cadres. This party would then need a huge amount of money to solicit the continuous support of these cadres, who were crucial for the then CPN (Maoist) in the last constituent election. This cadre-based political system or political party has also bred corruption.

All of this provides a reason to think about the relation between the present form of democracy in Nepal and corruption. In the party-based democratic system that Nepal has followed, it is natural that political parties compete for public office. But now, as all political parties resort to the idea that they need more money to meet the growing cost of political campaigning and buying people/votes, there are greater risks that they will abuse power and exchange favouritism in public decisions in order to generate resources.

Due to this situation, political parties and their leaders have encouraged corruption at all levels of governance and administration.

They have also encouraged extortion. In addition, these parties also appoint their cronies in different power centres and to key decision-making bodies so that they can generate resources for the parties, employ their cronies, distribute money to their followers and avoid investigation for corrupt practices.

The appointment of tainted individuals in public decision-making bodies like the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has been motivated by a concern to prevent possible investigation of corruption by parties and party leaders.

Unless we have a political system in which people do not seek political patronage, we may not succeed in preventing corruption and bringing about development. In a way, a vicious cycle of underdevelopment, political patronage and corruption has engulfed our society. Unemployed youths, excluded groups and regions and poor and marginalised groups look up to their patrons to bring about development for them as they do not see any political or economic system that can deliver services and benefits. In the absence of such a system, patrons legitimise their actions, which include corruption. This is the reason why jail sentences for corruption charges have emboldened leaders.

Now, it is the time to accept the fact that there is something wrong with our political culture and political system. It is either not working or working in the wrong direction.

The political system needs to accelerate economic development, provide better public services, ranging from hospitals, schools, employment, and access to infrastructure for all. Until then, the culture of political patronage will prevail and corruption will continue.

By arrangement with The Kathmandu Post/ANN