Opinion Tussle over Bhattarai

Last July 30,Acting Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety announced that holding elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA),which is also to act as parliament,on November 22 as recommended by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai was “impossible”. A decade down the line,the king has been replaced by President Ram Baran Yadav,and Bhattarai steps into the shoes of a much vilified Deuba. The president is under pressure from almost all political parties to not let “Bhattarai continue in power illegally even for a day”,although no one except one or two parties has gone as far as demanding directly that the president sack Bhattarai.

“Maoists want to capture power and we will not let it happen. The president must act,” said Sushil Koirala,president of the Nepali Congress (NC). But neither the NC nor any other party opposed to Bhattarai has a clear roadmap for the country. That is the strength Bhattarai — a failure on all fronts — is banking on. He is making every effort to continue as caretaker PM for as long as he can,and at the same time trying to defer elections for April. Will the president follow the former king on a popular demand under the changed circumstances?

The constitutional crisis,the further chaos it may create and the erosion of the credibility of political parties which stood under the single umbrella of political stability,democracy and peace five years ago,are pulling the country in different directions,but certainly not in the desired one. As Nepal’s players failed to bring a democratic constitution as well as political and economic order,some of them have started shuttling between New Delhi and Beijing,soliciting their “goodwill” for stability in the strategically important neighbour sandwiched between the two giants.

K.P. Oli,senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML),visited Delhi and met top leaders of both the UPA and the NDA as well as President Pranab Mukherjee. Understandably,he spent most of his time complaining against Bhattarai. Bhattarai is considered the most trustworthy friend,especially by the architects of the post-2005 Nepal policy in Delhi,which is generally perceived as a failure in Nepal. Delhi’s larger failure,many believe in Nepal,was not in bringing the Maoists and pro-democracy forces together under the former’s leadership,but in looking away when the Maoists did not stick to the conduct and politics agreed upon.

Mohan Baidya Kiran,who heads the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M),the breakaway group of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M),was just back from Beijing when Oli headed for Delhi. “Beijing is worried about instability in Nepal and it fears that outside forces may destabilise the country through the demand for federalism,ethnic or otherwise,” Baidya said on his return. For China,“external forces” clearly include India,the US and some European countries. Baidya now also insists that the days of monopoly on power and the political process — hitherto exercised by the four major political parties — are over,and all forces have an equal say in finding a way for political stability. But the mother party insists that “we must move forward from the point that the CA’s tenure came to an end”,implying that the issues of federalism,republic and secularism are not open for review.

But the current concerns appear to be moving in a limited arena: whether to let Bhattarai continue or not. The much-hyped achievements of the failed CA appear to have no basis,as they were never adopted or finalised by it. In fact,a section of the NC,mostly those adoring its founder ideologue B.P. Koirala,now want the party to shun its alliance with the Maoists,and see if an alliance between the democratic and nationalist forces — remotely implying monarchy — will be more preferable. But Prachanda counters them: “The country may fail,but monarchy will not return,” he insists. But the parties are only debating whether Bhattarai should go or not. If Bhattarai is forced to quit,the Maoists will be weaker. But all that depends on the NC’s ability to assert itself and convince President Yadav that allowing Bhattarai to continue indefinitely will help the Maoists establish a totalitarian regime.

yubaraj.ghimire@expressindia.com