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Better late

By No Author
WHY BHATTARAI MUST STEP DOWN



People have had enough of the drama, Mr Bhattarai. If you still don’t get it, you are proving to be the biggest hindrance to a breakthrough in the long-stalled political and constitutional process. It is long past time that you stood down. Here is why.



One, as things stand, your resignation is the only way the country will find an outlet at the moment. It’s been nearly seven months since the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, and in that time it has become amply clear that an understanding under the current dispensation is impossible. There is no way the opposition parties will budge from their bottom-line that you stand down before meaningful talks can begin. Rightly so. Besides the reasons outlined below, you have lost the moral and legal legitimacy to continue in office after you failed to hold the self-declared CA polls on Nov. 22. But beyond that, you should stand down because if you continue to hang on, even what little of your political capital that remains will be lost in no time at all.





REPUBLICA FILE PHOTO



Two, you must be aware that consent on your prime ministership was straight out of your chairman’s playbook. The more you are discredited as the head of the government, the more profitable it is for him, both at the party and national level. Prachanda agreed to your premiership at such a volatile time that even with the best of intent, you could have achieved precious little. Another of his goals was to cut you down to size ahead of the party general convention. Your chances of challenging Prachanda for the top post in UCPN (Maoist) have all but disappeared (maybe forever) by your acceptance to playing second fiddle to him in the party in return for the top government job. Your one strong act of will could still disrupt his plans.



Three, everyone understands that there were many factors behind the failure of the Constituent Assembly, but when you announced its dissolution on national TV even before its natural end, you, more than anyone else, came to symbolize the CA’s failure. Your name is now so strongly associated with the dissolution of the most representative body in the country’s history that the opposition parties would be committing hara-kiri by joining your government ahead of the impending polls.



Four, you have broken your promise to the people. You promised the country a timely constitution and clean governance. People took you at your words. There were good reasons to trust you. You, the most educated prime minister in the country’s history, were thought to be above material interests. It was believed that what you craved was a legacy of a progressive leader who helped lay down a solid socio-economic foundation for his country. People’s hopes were sky high. Again, it was wrong of them to expect so much of a transitional prime minister, even one with your credentials. But fed up with year after year of petty politicking justified in the name of representative democracy, they believed you were the change agent. Little did they know that in just over a year you would come to fit the stereotype of Nepali political leaders who are ready to do absolutely anything to hang to power so perfectly.



Coming to government leadership with the promise to ensure meritocracy at all levels, you have since made all the wrong moves. For instance, you packed the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital with Maoist sympathizers. It took a courageous doctor’s fast-unto-death to make you see sense. But you didn’t learn. Next, it was the turn of Patan Hospital, which has the reputation of being the most reliable government-run health institution in the country, to bear the brunt of unwanted political meddling. Well over two months into disruptions at the hospital, which have deprived hundreds of thousands of Nepalis of affordable and quality care, you continue dilly-dallying over whether to take back your decision to appoint an unqualified vice-chancellor.

That is not all. Now it appears you let your wife run roughshod over KUKL, the government-controlled water utility. Thanks to your influence-peddling, its chairman chosen through free and fair competition has been kicked aside for one of your close relatives. The shareholders’ board that controls the company has similarly been packed with the near and dear ones of your beloved wife.



You have also accepted that yours is one of the most corrupt governments in the country’s history. Maybe you didn’t realize it at the time, but your candid assessment of the level of corruption in the state apparatus was an admission that you have been a huge failure as the head of the government and have compromised your integrity to maintain coalition support.



You and your party have been adamant that with no prior understanding on the future constitution, there can be no agreement on leadership change. Apparently, the Maoist-Madhesi ruling alliance believes that if it fails to secure some kind of a deal on future constitution, the new CA won’t be able to deliver either. Madhesi coalition partners even claim that without a deal on state restructuring, the whole federal agenda might come unstuck. The fifth reason your government must make way is because these arguments you and your coalition partners have been making are deeply flawed.



On the one hand, you accuse Nepali Congress and CPN-UML of not agreeing to your demands because they don’t want elections. They apparently fear going to the people as they fully understand how vulnerable they are to another electoral drubbing. But if you and your coalition partners really believe the electorate is on your side, why not call the opposition’s bluff and give them the responsibility of conducting the next CA election? If the main opposition parties are really afraid of election, the cat will be out of the bag.



Your government’s claim that it has the best interests of Madhes at heart is belied by the fact that the Madhesi forces outside the government see no bigger reason for the formation of the ruling Federal Democratic Republican Alliance than entrenching its hold on power for perpetuity. Now, sharp divisions over supporting your continued leadership are appearing even within the Madhesi parties in the government. In any case, the federal agenda is so closely linked to the question of identity of Madhesis, Janajatis and other marginalized groups that any attempt to subvert it will be fiercely resisted. Surely, no one in the anti-federalist camp has forgotten the sheer intensity of the 2007 Madhesi uprising and the subsequent rights-based movements right across the country. Whether someone likes it or not, a solution has to be found within the federal framework. The main political forces surely get this much.



In times of political crisis, the best course of action in a democracy is undoubtedly holding an election. Of course, the nitty-gritty of the next CA polls needs to be agreed to in advance, but more than that, people should be given the chance to decide what they want. If the Madhesi people want federalism with strong identity component, let them vote for the parties which take up that agenda. Ditto for the other marginalized groups. If the question is still unsettled, the best and the most democratic course of action would be a referendum on the most contentious issues.



But before all that, you, PM Bhattarai, must make way for an alternative arrangement. If something is not working, rather than plod ahead with the faulty instrument, it’s always wiser to fix it, and in case there is no fix, to replace it with a new one. Wouldn’t you agree?



biswas.baral@gmail.com


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