In France, a 23-year-old undergraduate, Jean Sarkozy, has been named to manage the country’s wealthiest district. There’s no issue at all over a 23-year-old or an undergrad managing something big. The world is full of examples of precocious talent. The problem is Sarkozy, dubbed ‘Prince Jean’ by the French press, happens to be the son of the most powerful individual of France – President Nicholas Sarkozy. Opposition parties have leveled charges of nepotism, and promotion of ‘Sarkozy clan’. Of course, the French press is full of stories about the meteoric political rise of Prince Jean.
PM Nepal is beholden to GPK for his prime ministership and promoting Sujata Koirala as DPM is but a payback of gratitude.
Powerful parents bending a few rules and norms in favor of their offspring is not a one-off occurrence. It happens both in developed as well as developing world.
It is, thus, surprising to see the kind of ruckus that Sujata Koirala’s promotion as deputy prime minister (DPM) has created.
A grateful prime minister (PM) just paid back his benefactor in kind by anointing the latter’s daughter. Madhav Kumar Nepal owes his prime ministership not to his party chairman or even his party. The man owes it big time to GPK, who runs NC like a grocery shop.
A little refreshing of memory of those feigning surprise (especially ‘all sound and fury signifying nothing’ types in NC) is needed here. After the fall of the UCPN (Maoist) government in early May, the NC, the second largest party in the parliament, did not stake claim to lead the government. It instead said it would be happy to play second fiddle to CPN-UML, the third largest party in the House. More importantly, GPK did not even bother to hide his condition for NC’s support to UML-led government: The PM had to be MK Nepal. Jhala Nath Khanal, duly elected UML chairman who had also earlier won the CA election, was left fuming. His own party went along with NC’s choice (read Koirala’s diktat) for the head of the coalition government. No wonder Khanal keeps harping on “consensus” government despite his party leading it.
Where does this leave NC? NC leaders who are against GPK-engineered Sujata’s meteoric rise have ‘roared’ against the decision to appoint her DPM. But notice how helpless and weak they are. Don’t go by their reactions to the press. It means nothing, absolutely nothing.
NC parliamentary party (PP) leader Ram Chandra Poudel has reportedly ‘threatened’ the PM of withdrawing his party’s support to the government. Who is he kidding? If he and his party colleagues had any courage, Sujata – who also lost the CA election – wouldn’t have been in the cabinet in the first place. They failed to prevent her entry; they also failed to act after she boycotted the PM’s India visit at the eleventh hour, except securing a token presence of Sujata at the party HQ to explain her non-existent illness just before the visit; and they failed this time around as well. Notice that all the while they tried to make the right noises for public consumption but were very clearly short of any action.
How can the NC demonstrate its protest in tangible terms over the circus surrounding the party president’s daughter? They need to actually act on their ‘threat’ and withdraw their support to the government or expel the father-daughter duo from the party. At least summon Koirala duo to PP for explanation? I know I should not have even mentioned the prospects, which are way too big for NC leaders’ shoes. Minus these, they can protest and protest and get a few headlines in newspapers and a few bytes in the electronic media.
PM Nepal knows very well who still calls the shots in NC. He (for that matter, any PM) would do anything to keep his government afloat. MK Nepal is too acutely aware of credibility crisis that his government is associated with. It is a cabinet full of people who were trashed by people in the CA elections, with MK Nepal himself losing from two constituencies. He has put more premium on this factor than the fact that his government is constitutionally valid and commands a majority in the parliament. Hence, he goes out of his way to prove that his is a legitimate government, besides repeating in public about the legitimacy. The more he does so, the more he reminds people the very fact he wants them to forget. It is surprising that neither he nor his band of advisors – who cook up all kinds of unsavory publicity stunts, like the tourist bus ride around the capital – realize this.
It is duplicitous of PM Nepal and his advisors to project him as a helpless victim in the Sujata episode. Having Sujata in the cabinet is unpalatable; seeing her as leader of NC ministers is embarrassing; appointing her as DPM is damaging to the government’s fragile image. Hence the overzealous attempt to wash the PM’s hands off the Sujata circus and the constant leaks to the media about how helpless the PM is against the unholy might of the Koirala duo.
Where does the UCPN (Maoist) figure in? Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has two immediate goals: Reclaiming the leadership of the government and retaining the party’s chairmanship during the convention to be held next year after an 18-year gap. Post-Sujata promotion, Dahal will have to redraw his strategy since the Koirala duo won’t be interested to his overtures, at least for a while. Be prepared for more heat to the ‘civilian supremacy’ soup in the meantime. Since the Maoists too suffer from a self-engineered crisis of trust, it will take a change in tactic to plot the downfall of this government. So, readers, wait for the next episode of the circus. Until then, take a break.
damakant@myrepublica.com
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