NEPAL: Political Parties are losing out: Update 33.

NEPAL: Political Parties are losing out: Update 33.
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
It is now more than a month since Surya Bahadur Thapa took over as Prime minister in Nepal. His moves so far have been very conciliatory although he is yet to lure members of other political parties to join his cabinet.
Unlike his predecessor, he has made few statements. He has claimed that his government was "fundamentally and intrinsically" different in that he has met two of the demands raised by the political parties- namely one he has been given executive powers and two he has chosen his own ministers! But the fact remains that he was not elected but selected by the King.
Thapa also made right noises on the constitutional aspects- he said that he had an open mind on the revival of the House of representatives but insisted that this issue is interrelated to holding of elections to Parliament. In this he is not entirely correct as elections can be held even without convening of the Parliament. But the important point here is that the Maoists should be persuaded to contest the elections and the indications are that they may agree- either to a Constituent assembly or to the Parliament as such.
He expanded his cabinet on 11 June by including five cabinet ministers and a state minister- all from his party, the RPP. Except for finance and information, he has retained most of the portfolios in the hope of distributing them to members of other political parties if they agree to cooperate or to dissidents of such parties!
Prime minister Thapa correctly identified the two major problems facing Nepal. One relates to the Maoist problem and the talks and the second to the maintenance of sound relations between the King and political parties. Both issues could be tackled if there is sincerity and trust all round which unfortunately are lacking.
The five agitating political parties continued with the fifth round of protest programme that included torch rallies, effigy burnings, nation wide wall painting and also a demand on the King to disclose his royal assets.
The agitation has not picked up the expected momentum and the Thapa government has also been careful not to provoke the demonstrators.
The dilemma of the political parties. The Nepali Congress continues to insist on the restoration of the Parliament under the powers vested on the King by Article 127 of the Constitution. Koirala in the past had criticised the use or misuse of this article of the Constitution and now he wants the article to be misused again. There is another contradiction here- revival of the house would mean strengthening the King’s powers and this would go against the very spirit of the present agitation. His joint action with other parties against regression is being openly opposed by his close relative and senior member Shailaja Acharya.
Madhav Nepal of UML who in the past was insisting on an all party government has veered round to the view of revival of the house and he would also face the same dilemma. The political paper he presented to the party on July 2 ruling out a new constitution was opposed by almost half the members of his party. His senior colleague K.P.Oli openly challenged Nepal on the current joint agitation which he said lacked clear objectives.
Ten other leftist parties pointedly left out Madhav Nepal’s UML, in its meeting on July 6, to demand a new constitution and a constituent assembly to formulate such a constitution. Madhav Nepal is getting isolated in continuing the agitation without a clear objective even from amongst his leftist friends who at a suitable time may switch over to the Maoists in the event of any elections being held.
It was also pathetic to see Sher Bahadur Deuba’s party Nepali Congress- D, whose members are deserting him, demanding for restoration of his government of pre October 4, 2002, or the formation of a national government under Deuba’s leadership!
The five agitating parties who met in a mock parliamentary session on July 4 failed to arrive at a consensus on the question of forming a new constitution. Only the Nepali Congress and UML appear to stick to amending of the constitution while others insisted on a new constitution that is necessary to solve the problems. The five parties could not also arrive at a common agenda yet for "progressive and constitutional reforms." The fourteen point agenda contained some items like-
* trimming the list of persons holding royal titles and on allowances paid to royalty
* streamlining the powers of the King, making the assets of the King transparent
* the need to use the referendum process instead of opting for fresh polls.
* Nepal to continue as a Hindu State.
These suggestions are innovative but what use are these when they are unable to arrive at a consensus even on a simple issue on restoration of Parliament? The Palace and the government have rightly assessed that they could bide their time until the agitating political parties openly split and lose their credibility!
In this whole process of confusion and confrontation, it is the Maoists who are gaining ground. Independent observers who have gone round Nepal feel that there is an upsurge in favour of Maoists in rural Nepal. The Maoists have filled up the vacuum created by the political parties particularly that of UML of Madhav Nepal as very few workers of parties venture into the interior. The Maoists are settling local disputes punishing the guilty, use the funds they have amassed in looting the treasuries to build small projects for the benefit of the people and it is said that people look up to the local Maoist leadership to deal with the day to day issues as many villages are without the VDCs. ( Village Development Councils)
Wherever the army has tried to open health centres to win over their "hearts" the Maoists have firmly opposed such camps and prevented people from attending camps. There have been clashes with the army on this score in some places like Ramidanda in Jajarkot district.
Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a Politburo member openly told a Maoist gathering that there are only two state powers in the country. Maoists, the new power had already defeated the old power in the rural areas and now they are focusing their movement in the urban areas.
Talks with the Maoists to be revived. The new government made some tentative moves to revive the peace talks stalled by the resignation of the former government led by Chand. Two ministers Kamal Thapa and Dr. P.C. Lohani have been appointed by the government to continue the talks and an informal channel to the Maoists has been established through the four facilitators. The main sticking point will be the differences over limiting the movement of the Army to within five kilometres of the army camps. This was agreed to in the previous round but denied subsequently on objections from the Army. The Maoists claim that even the non controversial points agreed to in the previous round like releasing the detained Maoists leaders and appointment of monitors for the cease fire have not been implemented.
What is significant is that the Maoists are willing to continue the negotiations with the new government’s representatives.