Fortunately, not all NC members agree with their chairman. Through a Nepali article in a national daily and in talk-seminars, Dr Shekhar Koirala argues that the PM shouldn’t resign until a consensus candidate for the post comes forward. If the PM left his seat before parties decide on his successor, he warned, the nation would again fall into chaos. We have no guarantee that the post-June 2010 seven months’ "vacuum” without a PM won’t repeat itself.
Sushil Koirala harps upon the May 28 five-point agreement. The last two points of that have to do with the extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA) by three months and the PM’s resignation. The first three aim at: (1) the completion of the peace process within three months, (2) preparation of the first draft of the constitution through the CA during the same period, and (3) the implementation of various agreements, including that of making the Nepal Army inclusive, with the Madhesi Front. On May 29, JNK announced that he would resign as soon as a consensus successor to him appears.
Convention has it that the parliamentary party leader also becomes the PM. The three times "incompetent" former PM Sher Bahadur Deuba thinks he qualifies for the job again. During Sushil Koirala’s absence overseas, Deuba led a signature campaign to unseat Poudel as the parliamentary party leader of the NC. Now, he aims to initiate a no-confidence motion (which Sujata Koirala too has opposed) against Poudel. Deuba shows not only impatience but also treachery at a time when the NC can’t afford to exhibit such disunity in itself. While the UCPN (Maoist) has had three vice-chairmen, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Mohan Baidya “Kiran”, and Narayankaji Shrestha, trying to snatch away power from their boss Chairman Dahal, NC has Deuba plotting against Poudel. Deuba even claims that Sushil Koirala made a secret deal with him, which the latter vehemently denies.
Why did Sushil Koirala announce from the airport that JNK should resign? Previously, he had declared that the NC didn’t care about government formation but it wanted the draft constitution and the completion of the peace process on time. Recently, in a talk with Deuba, Sushil Koirala failed to convince the former to allow Poudel to continue as the parliamentary party leader. Accordingly, to appease Deuba, Sushil Koirala hasn’t stopped asking for JNK’s resignation. Deuba and his cronies echo the same. Prakash Man Singh doesn’t qualify as Deuba’s lackey, but he too asked the PM to step down.
Deuba has already split the NC once. Now, his signature and no-confidence campaigns against Ram Chandra Poudel show that his bottomless greed for the PM’s post hasn’t decreased. Having started the Pajero culture, presided over the largest "jumbo" cabinet, and handed over martyrs-won democracy to King Gyanendra on May 2, 2002 by dissolving the parliament, Deuba’s record as PM in the past hardly inspires confidence that he can do any better than JNK.
Piqued that he couldn’t win the election to become the chairman of CPN-UML, K P Oli too demands JNK’s resignation. Oli claims that UML doesn’t own the Khanal-led government, which he blames for "prioritizing Maoist terms and agenda". Oli’s arguments ring true, except that now he as the pot calls the kettle black. After Parsuram Basnet’s programmed attack on Republica’s journalist Khilanath Dhakal and Oli’s defense of Mahesh Basnet who kept the culprit under his wings, Oli is no more holy. The former finance minister Surendra Pandey had accused Oli of acting like a godfather to dons. Pandey under pressure did the famous, communist "self-criticism"; but Oli’s criminal-protecting behavior, before and after he returned from Sri Lanka, has vindicated the former.
Whether we like it or not, hopeful, ignorant, fear-stricken voters made the Maoists the largest party in the CA. JNK has become the PM after the secret seven-point deal with the Maoists, at the cost of betraying his own UML which headed a 22 party coalition with his colleague Madhav Kumar Nepal as its head. Recently, Dahal has urged Sushil Koirala to make JNK’s administration the consensus government. Thus, the Maoists don’t show any sign of wanting another PM just now. They feel that after August 31 the hot seat will fall onto their lap anyway, according to the rotating scheme envisaged in the seven-point deal. The Deuba-led faction of NC and the Oli-directed section of the UML will have to realize that.
The present JNK-led government has shown mediocre achievement as the past ones, however it can boast of some success. After three years and without the Maoists’ breaking the finance minister’s brief case, it managed to bring the annual budget on time. This document has come under severe criticism, but it does have some positive features: Widows to get relief from the day their husbands die, constructions of old peoples’ homes, Karnali’s one-family-one-job project to reach Jajarkot, Accham, Bajhang, and Bajura as well; Rs 73 billion for women’s welfare, brisk courts to deal with gender and women related violence, obligation on village development committees to spend 15 percent of government grants on agriculture, 50 percent aid toward the import of certain food processing machines, Rs 3 billion for sudden/regular road repairs, job creation through government, cooperative, and private involvement; and the declaration of 41 new municipalities (Himalkhabarpatrika, July 17-31, 2011). The test lies in the budget’s implementation, but we should applaud the noble ambition. Energy Minister’s Gokarna Bista’s initiatives toward a load-shedding free Nepal have given us all a ray of hope for the future. Though we all condemn his Home Minister Mahara’s drive to grant a general amnesty to Maoist criminals, JNK can boast of instilling some encouragement into our despairing society.
Wanting to become the chief executive of the country, politicians of all shapes have joined various parties. So, in reality, Deuba and Oli have every right to ask JNK to resign and wish that somehow they may win the top job. However, JNK has already stated that he will step down the moment a consensus PM appears. Before asking JNK to quit, the Deuba-led NC and the Oli-driven UML should show such a PM candidate first.
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