Opinion Populism and chaos
Is Nepals new PM already running out of steam?
Prabhu Shah,a Maoist leader and minister,is wanted in a murder case by the police in Birgunj. They have written to police headquarters in Kathmandu to have Shah arrested and sent over. But Baburam Bhattarais government has put pressure on the police not to arrest the minister.
Prime Minister Bhattarai tried to play down media reports that his wife Hisila Yami has been interfering in day-to-day affairs of the government,but that has hardly ended the controversy. Not only did Yami a Maoist central committee member ask the chief secretary to get her a government vehicle,but she also summoned 11 government secretaries and asked them to provide financial assistance to a particular think-tank. Maybe the way she presented herself was not proper,but she has all the good intentions, Bhattarai said in a radio programme.
His embarrassment did not end there. Health Minister Rajendra Mahato called some journalists to his official residence during Dussehera (Dashain),and handed them greeting cards with currency notes inside. Journalists protested against the act of bribery,but given the fragility of the coalition,the PM has hardly taken cognizance of the ministers act.
Instead,Bhattarais mantra seems to be this: populism can salvage image. He handed over $2,300 his daily allowance during his week-long stay in New York for the UN General Assembly meet to the Prime Ministers Relief Fund for survivors of the recent earthquake. Back home,he instructed the government machinery to raid hotels and dhabas along the highways,following complaints that they are selling substandard meals. A couple of ministers from his party personally supervised such raids. On the festival eve,the cabinet also raised the monthly salary of Maoist combatants,lodged in 28 designated camps,to 6,500 rupees from 5,000. Wooing the combatants is necessary for survival among the Maoists.
Deputy PM Bijay Gachchhadar went to the district police office in Kathmandu and personally interviewed some detainees who complained that police dealing with them was arbitrary and against rules. These are already becoming counter-productive,as most media that initially supported Bhattarai are criticising his populism,and exposing his wife and ministers for their acts of omission. In the face of all this,Bhattarai backed out of his earlier pledge to finish the peace process within 45 days of assuming charge on August 28. I cannot be called a failure if other parties refuse to cooperate with me, he said on October 3. He does not talk any more about his determination to quit if he failed to meet his promises within a month.
He will have no right moral or otherwise to be in power after October 13, said the general secretary of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M). To add insult to injury,party chief Prachanda told his colleagues that he supported Bhattarais candidature out of compulsion,not will. On October 1,pro-government employees of Radio Mirmire,the official organ of the UCPN-M,took away transmitters and other equipment,resulting in the suspension of regular programmes after its dominant section expressed loyalty to the Mohan Baidhya faction of the party that is asking for Bhattarais head.
Bhattarai is scheduled to leave for New Delhi on October 21,but given the division within his own party,with his popularity in decline and the notion that he is more capable than his predecessors shattered,he may not be able to build consensus on issues of national importance. Bhattarai personally has been an advocate of scrapping the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship. But there has been absolutely no homework on an alternative draft. Similarly,India has been pressing for an enlarged extradition treaty to replace the one signed in 1953. Delhi,on the other hand,wants the suspended work on the Upper Karnali hydro project undertaken by GMR to resume. It is also sore with the Nepali side for the closure of Surya Nepals garments division,a subsidiary of the Indian Tobacco Company,following unrest by the pro-Maoist trade union. Bhattarai may give assurances to India,but that he will be able to implement them is doubtful,given his performance so far.
Bhattarai is likely to assure India that he is committed to the peace and constitution-making process,and that he would need an additional few months after the November 30 deadline. Indias moral support and the clout it wields in the neighbourhood will matter a lot,but pinning all hopes on Bhattarai will only help prolong the chaos and uncertainty. Yet Bhattarai will plead once again that his failure and exit will pave the way for the rightists and reactionaries to return to the centrestage in Nepali politics.
yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com
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