Opinion Not getting together

UCPN-M and UML chiefs — Prachanda and Khanal — have thrown their hat in the race,but both are in a he minority in their respective parties. In the Nepali Congress,its working Chief Sushil Koirala has come into severe criticism for having declared unilaterally — without a meeting of the parliamentary board — that Ramchandra Poudel,chief of the Congress Parliamentary Party,will be fielded as the PM candidate. Nepali Congress General Secretary K.B. Gurung has already announced his candidature for the post.

Should the July 12 deadline for the choice of consensus PM be missed,the house shall have to opt for a majority decision. Given the depleted authority of the party heads,it seems anyone can be proposed as a leader on the floor — but securing 301 votes in the 601-member house will not be possible without a clear alliance among the 25 political parties,including at least two of the big ones,emerging. There is no sign of that yet. Instead,the major parties are suffering from internal bickering. UCPN-M Chief Prachanda has been asked by some senior leaders that Baburam Bhattarai should be fielded as the party candidate instead of him,as that would increase the chances of other parties supporting the Maoists. But Bhattarai has not yet made public his opinion or policy differences with Prachanda,if any. All these years,Bhattarai,like Prachanda,has been stating that the UCPN-M’s joining the peace and democratic process is more of a “tactic”,and that the party’s ultimate goal is to set up a “people’s republic”,a line that goes against the concept of plural democracy. Like Prachanda,Bhattarai was a party to the UCPN politburo resolution that it should enhance the level of exchange and engagement with “communist revolutionaries” all over the world and “support the Maoists” in India.

At home,a Maoist heading the new government — whether Prachanda or Bhattarai — is unlikely to be acceptable to other political parties as long as they are considered to be only insincerely implementing the provisions of the peace accord — including returning property it confiscated from ordinary citizens during the conflict. In essence,any alternative leadership from the UCPN-M may stand a better chance than Prachanda,provided he or she has clear alternative policies. Even so,Prachanda and Bhattarai now represent two clear poles within the party,with rank and file divided as clearly,like the Nepali Congress as well as the UML.

It may not have been mere coincidence that on that very July 7,ordinary citizens spent hours in long queues to greet Gyanendra Shah,the dethroned king,on his 64th birthday,with many asking that he needs to rescue the country that these leaders have pushed into a mess. Political parties may believe that the return of monarchy is not possible,but then they need to retrieve the country from the political,constitutional and economic crisis it is in.

yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com