UML Politburo Meet

UML’s politburo meeting is taking place even as the country passes through extraordinary circumstances, but no less extraordinary are the circumstances facing the party. Seven weeks have elapsed since Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who also happens to be a senior UML leader, resigned mainly due to pressure from within the party. Prime Minister Nepal resigned, just before the start of the budget session, fearing that his government´s policies and program would be defeated in parliament because of some lawmakers of his own party playing truant. That was what happened to the late Girija Prasad Koirala in 1995. But far from contributing to any solution, Nepal’s resignation seems only to have deepened the crisis for the country and for UML.



Since the beginning of the process of electing a new prime minister, UML has remained deeply divided and there are questions whether the party will be able to stay united until the election process is over. So the UML politburo meeting faces the twin challenges of suggesting a way out of the present quagmire, partly of its own making, and avoiding a party split. The UML leadership can meet these challenges if it gives up any prime ministerial ambitions, and focuses on resolving the contentious issues. However, under the facade of a quest for consensus, party chairman Jhalanath Khanal in reality continues to nurture his Baluwatar hopes and is stalling the constitutional process from reaching a logical conclusion.



Agreed, consensus among the parties is the best option (though the bitter reality is that there is no consensus even within Khanal´s party), and it´s also true that the peace process cannot be concluded nor the constitution written unless there is broad agreement among the parties. This newspaper has consistently maintained that the best way out of the crisis is a consensus government under Maoist leadership, following an agreement on all contentious issues among the major parties. If the UML is serious about it, it should reach out to the Maoists, the NC and the Madhesi parties with a reasonable proposal related to the peace process, constitution writing and power sharing, including the issue of leadership of the new government, and genuinely explore the opportunities for consensus.



If the Maoists are serious about concluding the peace process and transforming themselves into a civilian party, they will take up the proposal. If not, the UML should remain committed to electing a new leader from within the ruling coalition. Khanal´s calculation that the NC and Maoists will not accept each other and therefore government leadership will eventually come his way is flawed. Since the constitutional process for electing a new prime minister has already begun and neither candidate -- Ram Chandra Poudel or Pushpa Kamal Dahal—is likely to withdraw, there is no alternative but to elect one of them in case the parties fail to find consensus. The UML politburo must bear in mind all these considerations and take a decision to end the stalemate; any indecision that prolongs the stalemate will only harm the party in the long run.

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