KATHMANDU, Feb 10: Former prime minister and Nepali Congress (NC) President Sushil Koirala joined politics during the political upheavals of 1950/51 when Nepal ushered in a democratic system, ending 104 years of Rana oligarchy.
It was also the time when the idea of writing a new constitution through an elected Constituent Assembly (CA) was first introduced in the country.
Sushil Koirala's political career spanned some seven decades, the same span of time when the Constituent Assembly remained an unresolved political agenda in the country.
With the promulgation of the new constitution last September, this issue has been logically concluded. And Koirala's life has also come to an end.
It is under his leadership that Nepal got its new constitution through an elected CA, although various other leaders claim to have championed the agenda themselves.
Promulgating a constitution through the CA is the biggest political achievement of Sushil Koirala.
Producing a new constitution was also a national task that remained unfinished business for eight years since the election of the first CA in 2008. Four other prime ministers tried to deliver the new constitution during their tenures. But they could not.
Another success of his is maintaining a lifelong clean image, which is rare among Nepali politicians.
Koirala, who remained a bachelor all his life, happily rejected offers of ministerial position and rose directly to the position of head of government in 2014 at a fairly advanced age.
As party leader, he succeeded in transforming the NC from a distant second largest to the largest party after the second CA election in 2013 under his leadership. But he was also criticized for promoting factional politics and the nepotism of the Koirala clan.
During his 20-month stint as prime minister, he successfully organizing some international events in Kathmandu, such as the SAARC summit conference and the international conference on Nepal's reconstruction after the devastating earthquake in April last year.
Koirala as prime minister was criticized for indecision and lack of dynamism and enthusiasm in taking pro-active initiatives over some crucial issues.
He wasn't a charismatic leader and oratory wasn't his cup of tea. But during his public speeches he could hold the audience because the words he spoke carried meaning. He didn't use empty rhetoric just to earn short-term popularity.
His latest major decisions indicate that Koirala knew when and what decisions to make.
He succeeded in promulgating a new constitution under his leadership, garnering a two-thirds majority in the CA by bringing the major political forces together.
Later, he also managed to win the confidence of the Madhes-based political parties by tabling a constitution amendment bill just ahead of his exit from office, mainly with the objective of not to losing the party's command in the Tarai-Madhes districts.
At times, he didn't hesitate to take some unpopular decisions as well.
He gambled in breaking the alliance with the two other large parties -- CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoistt) -- with a view to improving the party's relations with the dissident Madhesi parties.
Despite strong criticisms, he became ready to contest for the prime ministerial post against KP Sharma Oli, though his victory was unlikely.
Just like his political guru the late Girija Prasad Koirala, Sushil would repeat without fail some key words such as loktantra [democracy], sahamati [consensus] and sahakarya [cooperation].
He would always repeat his trademark statement that "the Nepali Congress can't compromise on democracy, and consensus and cooperation are our priority."
Former prime ministers B.P. Koirala and Girija Prasad Koirala,who were from the same family, were his idols, political gurus and mentors. Their influence would always be reflected in his speeches. He often referred to the two senior Koiralas, saying, "B.P. used to say …." or "Girijababu used to say that …." without fail whenever he made a speech..
He however left a public impression just opposite to that of B.P. and G.P.
Left politicians and some other sections of society accused the senior Koiralas of being loyal to India and of compromising national interests at times.
But his rivals -- be they from the left or other nationalist groups -- couldn't level the same accusation at Sushil.
It is widely believed that India imposed a blockade on Nepal just because as prime minister Sushil Koirala listened to leaders from rival political parties in the country at the crucial time of finalizing key provisions of the constitution, instead of working on cue from India.
This helped him cultivate his "nationalist image" during the final days of constitution making.
As implementation of the new constitution becomes a challenging task due to opposition from some political parties to some constitutional provisions, key leaders from major political parties said Koirala's absence will be felt in the days to come. In their messages, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, among other key leaders, underscored that implementation of the new constitution will be a real tribute to him.
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