THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- December 12, 2017- Topic 1
A massive victory: On Left Alliance landslide in Nepal
Given Nepal’s mix of the
first-past-the-post system and proportional representation, the final picture
of its new Parliament may take some time to be clear. But it is already evident
that the Left Alliance is on course to win more than 70% of the 165
parliamentary seats being decided by the FPTP system. In the 110 seats
allocated based on proportional representation, the Communist Party of Nepal
(Unified Marxist-Leninist) is leading, with its ally, the Communist Party of
Nepal (Maoist-Centre), not far behind.
This is a decisive victory for the Left
Alliance, the first such win for the leftists since Nepal turned democratic in
1990. The UML had also emerged as the single largest party in the local
elections held earlier this year; with the Maoists joining them in the run-up
to the parliamentary polls, the resulting alliance has proved to be
ideologically coherent. The UML expanded its support base beyond the hill-towns
and the Terai into the far-west and the upper-hills, while the Maoists, who had
floundered in elections since the formation of the Constituent Assembly in
2008, got second place and staved off decline. For the Nepali Congress, the
third-place finish is a severe blow, limiting it to its weakest parliamentary
presence. Others in the “democratic alliance” led by the NC, the plains-based
Madhesi parties and the former royalist parties that tried using the Hindu
card, have also received a setback.
It is quite clear that the
Left Alliance’s win draws from a yearning for a stable and lasting government after
years of political instability. This is reflected in the fact that 13 leaders
have held the post of Prime Minister since 1990. The Left Alliance has been
seen as a natural coming together of like-minded forces which had both given up
on radicalism and were willing to work within the parliamentary system. With
such a big mandate, it is incumbent upon the alliance to finally focus on
governance. Such transformative moments have been visible in the past too —
during the initial sitting of the Constituent Assembly almost a decade ago when
nearly the entire polity voted for Nepal to become a republic, or when the peace process between the Nepali state
and the Maoists was completed, or after the earthquake in 2015 when political
parties decided to quickly narrow down their differences on the Constitution in
order to work together. But they all lapsed into more political wrangling. The
Left Alliance now has both the opportunity and the strength to deliver on
governance and development. As for the NC, the grand old party of Nepal has
much to introspect on. It was blindsided by the formation of the Left Alliance
and its own ragtag alliance was found to be wanting. It will now have to step
up to play its role in opposition.
Vocabulary
Evident: plain or obvious; clearly
seen or understood.
Example: She ate the cookies with
evident enjoyment
Synonyms: obvious, apparent, noticeable, conspicuous, perceptible
Ally: combine or unite a
resource or commodity with another for mutual benefit.
Example: He allied his racing experience
with his father's business acumen
Synonyms: combine, marry, couple, merge, amalgamate, join, fuse
Decisive: settling an issue;
producing a definite result.
Example: The Supreme Court voided the
statute by a decisive 7–2 vote
Synonyms: deciding, conclusive, determining, key, pivotal, critical, crucial
Alliance: a union or association
formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations.
Example: A defensive alliance between
Australia and New Zealand
Synonyms: association, union, league, confederation, federation, confederacy
Coherent: logical and
consistent.
Example: They failed to develop a
coherent economic strategy
Synonyms: logical, reasoned, reasonable, rational, sound, cogent
Flounder: struggle or stagger helplessly
or clumsily in water or mud.
Example: He was floundering about in
the shallow offshore waters
Synonyms: struggle, thrash, flail, twist
and turn, splash, stagger, stumble
Staved: break something by
forcing it inward or piercing it roughly.
Example: The door was staved in
Presence: the state or fact of
existing, occurring, or being present in a place or thing.
Example: Her presence still comforts
me
Synonyms: existence, attendance, appearance, company, companionship
Yearn: a feeling of intense
longing for something.
Example: He felt a yearning for the
mountains
Synonyms: longing, craving, desire, want, wish, hankering, urge, hunger
Instability: lack of stability; the
state of being unstable.
Example: Political and economic
instability
Synonyms: unreliability, uncertainty, unpredictability, insecurity, riskiness
Radicalism: relating to or
affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
Example: A radical overhaul of the
existing regulatory framework
Synonyms: thoroughgoing, thorough, complete, total, comprehensive
Incumbent: necessary for someone
as a duty or responsibility.
Example: It is incumbent on all
decent people to concentrate on destroying this evil
Synonyms: necessary for one
to, essential that, required that, imperative that
Wrangle: have a long and
complicated dispute.
Example: Weeks of political wrangling
Synonyms: argue, quarrel, bicker, squabble, fall
out, have words, disagree
Blindsid: hit or attack someone
on the blind side.
Example: Jenkins blindsided Adams,
knocking him to the sidewalk
Ragtag: untidy, disorganized,
or incongruously varied in character.
Example: A ragtag group of idealists
