A Missed Chance

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Leaders of NC and CPN-UML and others supporting them for that matter have lost the chance of discrediting the legislators that have snatched the portfolio the Minister for Finance has carried to the parliament for the presentation of the budget for the fiscal year 2010 (2067) after the officiating government of Madhav Nepal that has entered the parliament from the backdoor has bullied the opposition forcing the ceremonial President to discontinue the parliamentary session and announce the budget through the presidential order with the support of the NC and CPN-UML . These so-called democracy-loving guys have not realized that they have lost the opportunity of making the country without the budget and making the UCPN-Maoist responsible for that matter and discredit its leaders but have created an environment conducive to make the man despised by the people the Prime Minister forever.

On Friday, November 19, 2010, the officiating Minister for Finance has attempted to present the budget for the fiscal year 2010 (2067) without the consent of the UCPN-Maoist even though the three major political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have agreed on building a consensus on the budget and on other contentious political issues. So, legislators belonging to the UCPN-Maoist have snatched the portfolio containing the budget and engaged in the push and pull for stopping him from presenting the budget in the parliament.

Leaders of NC and CPN-UML can let the country be without the budget putting all the blame on the legislators of the UCPN-Maoist for that matter. Certainly, the state administration will suffer; some of the development activities will come to standstill, Prime Minister and other ministers will lose the opportunity of making money and so but they will have enormous political gain from this political episode but they cannot cash in it and rather have engaged in the politically disastrous game supporting the man defeated in two constituencies for discontinuing the parliamentary session and then introducing the budget through the presidential order.

Even though technically the officiating Prime Minister can take such a crucial decisions on discontinuing the parliamentary session and introducing the budget through the presidential order these actions have shown that the leaders of NC and CPN-UML have been morally bankrupt because they have been supporting such actions that are against the democratic values and norms and have strained the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007.

Such actions of these morally very poor politicians of NC and CPN-UML have benefited the backdoor Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, as he can act as a full-fledged Prime Minister. He can use this opportunity to travel to foreign countries. In fact, he has immediately left Nepal for Russia after the political shock that has probably made him a perpetual Prime Minister at the high cost of the people’s trust in NC and CPN-UML.

Political immature actions of NC and CPN-UML leaders have given the leaders of UCPN-Maoist to consolidate the unity in their party and gain the sympathy of the people despite the undesirable event of the legislators of their party forcibly snatching the portfolio of the Minster for Finance and stopping him from presenting the budget to the parliament. After the discontinuation of the parliamentary session and the introduction of the budget by force, reasonably thinking people will put the blame on the leaders of NC and CPN-UML for all these maters making legislators of UCPN-Maoist possible to erase their sins from the minds of the people. Have the leaders of NC and CPN-UML been able to read the political gains they can reap out of this scenario they would have let the country without the budget and keep the misdeeds of legislators of UCPN-Maoist fresh in the minds of the people until the country has the budget.

However, leaders of NC and CPN-UML have the immense greed for power or for the fear of losing the power have chosen the worst path of the politics in the democratic system of governance. They have been doing so for keeping the power no matter how far they have to go abusing the political ethics. As a matter of fact, the reins of NC have been in the hands of the corrupt politicians except for the Supreme Leader of the People’s Movement in 1990: Ganesh Man Singh. The corrupt politicians of NC have usurped the mandate given by the people from the sincere politicians in late 1950s and early 1960s and then from 1990 until 2001 and again from 2006 until today except for the brief rule of the UCPN-Maoist. Leaders of CPN-UML have done better than NC leaders in corruption.

If we draw a worst political scenario created by the political leaders of NC and CPN-UML without the vision of real politics then the actions taken by Madhav Nepal with the support of the NC and CPN-UML leaders and the ceremonial president pretending to be a really ceremonial this time have been for stealing the sovereignty from the people and then turning it over to the extremists of both sides: left and right.

The president could have simply deny the recommendations of the officiating Prime Minister telling him his recommendations have been politically wrong, as they go against the democratic values and norms but he has not done so showing he is no better than his colleagues in NC and CPN-UML. However, he has been smart to follow the recommendation of the leaders of the 22 political parties that have no mandate to make recommendations to the president but really has taken the action of directly writing a letter to the then Chief of Army Staff for saving his job and bring the current political crisis in the country. The president will be better of living the office that he has so poorly managed during the last two years.

The future events have unfold the direction of the real political wind that has been flowing so fast to the opposite of institutionalizing the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. However, the grassroots people have been politically so well awakened the regressive forces will have very difficult to pull the country back to the despotic rule no matter what strategy they follow.

The NC candidate for a new Prime Minister has been running for the office endlessly even though he has no chance of winning the election. Actually, leaders of NC have publicly announced running for the office of a new Prime Minister is the strategy the NC has adopted for taming the Maoists but for the common folks the strategy has been for blocking the possibility of electing a new Prime Minister for making Madhav Nepal Prime Minister forever. The life of the Constituent Assembly-cum-parliament remains only six months from now. So, the NC leaders are again playing a dirty political game.

Nobody knows when the officiating Prime Minister will make a recommendation to the ceremonial President to call a session of the parliament. Madhav Nepal has no time to do so, as he has been busy with visiting foreign countries and when he will be free to do so he will have no interest to do so in order to continue his officiating position of a Prime Minister. Obviously, the strategy of leaders of NC and CPN-UML is certainly to grab the power and send the democracy to a hell. So, NC and CPN-UML leaders talking about saving democracy or something for that mater are really pretending to but really not meaning it.

Previously, the NC candidate for a new Prime Minister has hold the election to a new Prime Minister hostage for delaying or even for killing the peace process and the writing of a new constitution in the hope of prolonging their hold on the power. Currently, the officiating backdoor Prime Minister has held the calling of a new parliamentary session hostage clearly for continuing his unauthorized rule. Rightly, the international donor community has warned the current unethical and corrupt government of ending the support for the development in Nepal if the current officiating government continues for long.

Now, let see what the political leaders have said in the aftermath of the incident in the parliament on Friday, November 19, 2010.

Talking to the reporters at a function held by Nepal Muslim Association in Kathmandu on November 25, 2010, President of NC Sushil Koirala has asked the officiating government to immediately make recommendations for calling the parliamentary session so that it can elect a new Prime Minister and can end the uncertainty of the political situation discontinuing the officiating government in the country. Similarly, on November 23, 2010, the Speaker of House has publicly called on the government to make recommendations to the President for restarting the discontinued parliamentary session to complete the election to a new Prime Minister and other important political businesses the parliament has to do. However, Officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has not listened to anyone of the politicians to do his duty of making recommendations to call a parliamentary session immediately, Asiantribune.com and the state news agency RSS including other local media report.

Addressing the function held by Nepal Muslim Association in Kathmandu on November 25, 2010, NC Parliamentary Party Leader Ram Chandra Poudel has urged officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal just arrived in Kathmandu from Russia after taking part in the Tiger Summit in St, Petersburg of Russia to immediately write to the office of the President office for calling a new House session to hold the election to a new Prime Minister, as a full-fledged government is urgently needed to restore peace and democracy in the country. He has alleged that the Maoists have been attempting on tearing down the democratic system in alliance with the liberal feudal referring to the recent call of RPP-N Chairman Kamal Thapa to the Maoists to form an alliance, myrepublica.com writes.

On Thursday, November 25, 2010, upon arrival at the International Airport in Kathmandu from Russia after participating in the Tiger Summit, speaking to the reporters, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has said that let the Maoists return from Palungtar first after completing their plenum before taking any decisions on summoning a House session, as he is for calling a new House session only after building a consensus on all political matters, my republica.com writes.

Talking to the Kantipur daily on November 23, 2010, Speaker Subash Nemwang has said that he is not happy with the government ending the parliament session abruptly even without consulting him when the process for electing a Prime Minister is going on and has urged the government to summon another session of the parliament immediately with the consent of all political parties and resolve all political differences at the parliament; ending of the parliamentary session has caused further worsening of the environment for building a consensus. The provision made in the Interim Constitution and the parliamentary regulations do not give any authority to the Speaker to summon a parliament session. The President summons and ends the parliament sessions at the recommendation of the Prime Minister, nepalnews.com writes.

On November 24, 2010, in a press statement released in Kathmandu, the Embassy of the United States in Kathmandu has shown the concern over the slow progress in the peace process, delay in forming a new government and the prolonged vacuum in key positions in various constitutional bodies on behalf of Asian Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency, Embassy of Denmark, Embassy of Finland, Embassy of Germany, Embassy of Norway, European Union, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Embassy of Switzerland, U.K. Department for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development, and the World Bank, and all the donors giving the support for the development of Nepal, and has warned of suspending the ongoing support to Nepal if the current political deadlock continues for long, nepalnews.com reports.

"The slow pace in implementing the peace process combined with the continued care-taker status of the government, lack of development leadership significantly reduces most donors' ability to secure future resources for Nepal," the press statement says. "Nepal's unstable political situation has made it increasingly difficult for many donors to justify why Nepal should receive support in a world where there are many competing demands for limited development resources," nepalnews.com quotes the statement.

The donors have pointed out the prolonged caretaker status of the government that prevents it from taking major executive decisions, the vacancy in numerous key senior positions including the Auditor General, Chief Election Commissioner, and Chief of the CIAA (Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority) and the lack of elected representatives at the local level as the major causes for slow progress in donor funded projects, nepalnews.com reports referring the statement.

Fearing the parliament will put an end to the budget introduced by the Presidential order, the caretaker government has formally turned down the call made by Speaker Subash Nemwang to summon a parliament session immediately to complete the pending issues including the prime ministerial election in the parliament and resolve differences among the parties through the parliament, nepalnews.com writes.

In the parliamentary party (PP) meeting presided over by PP leader Ram Chandra Poudel at the PP office at Singhdurbar in Kathmandu on Saturday, November 20, 2010, NC legislators have decided to condemn the Maoist legislators for snatching the budget briefcase and tearing down the documents from the Minister for Finance while going to present the budget for the fiscal year 2010 (2067) in the parliament on Friday, November 19, 2010 and have demanded actions against those involved in beating the minister, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes.

Talking to reporters at Gautam Buddha Airport in Lumbini, on Saturday, November 20, 2010, President of NC Sushil Koirala has demanded actions against the UCPN-Maoist legislators engaged in roughing the Minister for Finance up in the Parliament, and has condemned such rough behavior of the legislators, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes. He has also said that the Maoist legislators have trampled the parliamentary norms attacking ministers; the Maoists have agreed on the budget at the meetings held at the Hattiban and Gokarna resorts.

In a press release on Saturday, November 20, 2010, the Bhaktapur district constituency number-2 of the CPN-UML has condemned the rough handling of Minister for Finance Surendra Pandey, Minister for Energy Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat and Minister for Culture, Constituent Assembly and State Restructuring Dr. Minendra Rijal at the Legislature-Parliament on Friday night, November 19, 2010, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes.

As Pandey advanced along the aisle carrying his briefcase towards the rostrum, Maoist legislators sprung out of their seats and surrounded him shouting slogans. On of them has snatched the Pandey’s budget briefcase as other legislators have pushed him back while Speaker Subash Nemwang visibly at a loss, has looked on. Following the obstruction, Speaker Nemwang call off the House session and postponed it for December 02, 2010 when another round of election to the prime minister will be held. The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of the Parliament has taken the decision to this effect, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes.

The government has said that the Maoist’s irresponsible act is to push the country into a greater uncertainty not allowing the government to present the budget. Officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has said it is a condemnable incident and needs to be denounced. House Speaker Nemwang has also said it is condemnable and regrettable in the parliamentary history of Nepal, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes and quotes him, "I deeply regret the incident. Finance Minister was manhandled. I am investigating it and will take action on those involved in the incident as per the legal provision."

The meeting of three major political parties could not reach a consensus on the budget after the government has made a decision on recommending the President to clear the legal hurdles to present the budget. The Maoists have been for adopting other measures rather than recommending the President to remove the constitutional barriers. The Maoists have been against the government presenting a full-scale budget. The Maoists have stated that they will either picket the rostrum or boycott the House session if the government presents the budget without their consent.

Leaders of the three major parties have reached an agreement to allow the caretaker government to bring the budget by amending the constitution. They have formed a taskforce of former Finance Ministers Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, Dr. Ram Saran Mahat and Bharat Mohan Adhikari.

On November 21, 2010, myrepublica.com has reported that Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has condemned the actions of the legislators of UCPN-Maoist in the strongest words for roughing up the Minister for Finance and other two ministers that have gone to help the Minster for Finance on Friday, November 19, 2010. “Our party has taken the attack as authoritarian one on the norms and values of democracy, the incident that was carried out at a time of when all problems are needed to be resolved through national consensus is condemnable and regrettable”, myrepublica.com has quoted Chairman Khanal.

After the end of the parliamentary session, the prime ministerial candidacy of NC leader Ram Chandra Poudel has come to an end for some politicians and constitutional experts but for others his candidacy stands as it is for the next parliamentary session. Following the Article 38 (2) of the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007, NC leaders have interpreted that the status of the candidacy is equal to that of any bills presented in the parliament so it goes forward as other bills do in the next parliamentary session where as Vice-president of UCPN-Moist Naryankaji Shrestha and Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal have said that the candidacy of Ram Chandra Poudel is a proposal presented in the parliament so it comes to an end after the parliamentary session goes in recess; constitutional and legal experts have chosen the party line to say about the validity of the  prime ministerial candidacy for the next parliamentary session,  nepalnews.com of November 21, 2010 writes

On Friday midnight, November 19, 2010, the officiating government of Madhav Nepal has decided to introduce the budget for the fiscal year 2010 (2067) through the presidential order after it has failed in presenting a full-fledged budget at the parliament due to the protest of the UCPN-Maoist legislators, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes. The cabinet has held an emergency meeting at the Friday midnight and taken the decision on promulgating the budget through the presidential order. Madhav Nepal has gone to the residence of the President on the Friday midnight for sending the parliament in recess and promulgating the budget through the presidential order. The so-called ceremonial President simply has followed the recommendations of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal. The Minister for Finance has presented the budget for the fiscal year 2010 (2067) to a few people assembled at the hall of the National Planning Commission in Kathmandu going against the people’s aspirations for the officiating government following the democratic values and norms.

NC legislator Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat has said that the Maoists have shown their true characters and has demanded the Speaker to take strong actions against the UCPN-Maoist legislators that have roughed up the Minister For Finance, and has also asked the government to promulgate the budget through the presidential order putting the parliament in recess; he has also said that the possibility of building a consensus on political maters with the UCPN-Maoist has been slim, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes.

UCPN-Maoist legislator Dev Gurung has said that his party has objected the budget because the government has tried to bring it as a regular budget rather than the budget of the caretaker government, “The Rising Nepal” of November 21, 2010 writes and quotes legislator Gurung, "The caretaker government should bring it as per its caretaker status." The three major parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have formed a taskforce comprising former finance ministers such as Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, Dr. Ram Saran Mahat and Bharat Mohan Adhikari for building a consensus on a new budget but have not been able to do so after the Maoists have protested the government’s decision on approaching the President for clearing the legal hurdles to present the budget at the parliament, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of November 21, 2010 writes.

On Saturday, November 20, 2010, President Ram Baran Yadav has invited Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda and has asked him about the incident at the Parliament on Friday night, November 19, 2010; Chairman Prachanda has replied that legislators of his party have been forced to obstruct the House as the government has tried to present a budget going against the agreement the government has reached with them; he has further said that his party has been playing the role of a responsible opposition in the parliament so requested the president for not making a big issue out of the event, nepalnews.com writes.

On Saturday, November 20, 2010, speaking at the press conference held at the parliamentary party office of the UCPN-Maoist in Kathmandu, Vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist Narayankaji Shrestha has said that his party has been forced to protest against the government presenting the budget, as the government has violated previous agreement and democratic norms, nepalnews.com writes and quotes the Vice-chairman, "The government's attempt to present the budget was totally unconstitutional.” Concerning the taking actions against the legislators, Vice-chairman Shrestha said, “How can the Constituent Assembly chairman say he will punish our lawmakers when he is not in a position to stop the ministers of the caretaker government from acting unconstitutionally?" Vice-chairman Shrestha has also denied that anybody has attacked the ministers during the incident but there has been only minor pushing and pulling when the Maoist lawmakers are chanting slogans at the rostrum, and the inflammatory remarks made by the Speaker and senior leaders of other parties will provoke confrontation, nepalnews.com writes.

However, myepublica.com reports that speaking at the press conference attended by Maoist leaders Posta Bahadur Bogati, Dev Gurung, Jaya Puri Ghatri Magar and Lokendra Bista Magar, Vice-chairman Shrestha has reiterated his party’s commitment to the peace process, myrepublic.com writes and quotes Vice-chairman Shrestha, “We are fully committed to the peace process, and we urge other political party not to take an emotional decision about our party based on the event that has happened due to weaknesses and mistakes of the government and there should not be any polarization among parties and we urge all to make an environment for national consensus.”

On November 21, 2010, in a press statement, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has demanded a strong action against the Maoist lawmakers for attacking Finance Minister Surendra Pandey and vandalism in the Legislature Parliament on Friday night, November 19, 2010 and has asked Speaker Subash Nemwang to take an action against the guilty legislators and asked the Maoists for making an apology in public to the people for the incident, “The Rising Nepal” of November 22, 2010 writes and quotes Chairman Khanal, "It is a criminal act. The Maoist lawmakers attacked Minister Pandey and others in a gorilla style."

On November 22, 2010, speaking at a press conference held at the parliamentary party office of his party in Singhdurbar, Kathmandu, Chairman of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum Upendra Yadav has said that the presentation of the budget by the government sidelining the parliament even when the parliament is in session is the most undemocratic and will complicate the already difficult-to-deal-with politics, and has blamed the government for provoking the incident in the parliament trying to present the budget bullying others and criticized the Maoist legislators for their rowdy behavior, nepalnews.com writes.

On November 25, 2010, Speaker Subash Nemwang has called on President Ram Baran Yadav at the presidential palace, Shital Niwas and apprised him of the incident of roughing up the Minister for Finance in the Parliament on Friday, November 19, 2010; the Speaker has told the President that the incident has been the unfortunate one and that the UCPN-Maoist legislators need to apologize for the incident, and has further said that he has postponed the House session immediately following the parliamentary norms practiced worldwide to prevent the situation from going out of hand, nepalnews.com writes.

On Friday, November 26, 2010, as the regular consultations with the party chiefs, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav has talked to President of NC Sushil Koirala and Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal at the residence of the president Shital Niwas and has been concerned with the current political impasse, writes myrepublica.com writes and quotes the press advisor to the President, Rajendra Dahal, "It has been six months after the term of the Constituent Assembly was extended and nearly five months after the prime minister tendered his resignation but there is no indication of resolving the political stalemate. Therefore, he (the president) expressed his concern during the talks with the leaders." After holding a meeting with the president, Chairman Khanal has said the head of state is worried about the delay in constitution-writing and government formation. "He is worried that the recent development may turn the relationship among the major political parties sour mainly after the Friday’s incident of parliament," Khanal told reporters after the meeting.

Talking to the reporters after the meeting with President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, president of NC Sushil Koirala has said that the president has been serious about the existing political deadlock and has suggested a dialogue among the political leaders to work on the consensus politics, and the president has stressed the need for the political consensus among the three major political parties; President Koirala has further said that the tripartite dialogue will be started after the completion of the plenum  of the UCPN-Maoist and has stressed that the NC has been always ready for a high level political consensus, “The Rising Nepal” of November 27, 2010 writes .

Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has said that he has asked the president to call the parliament session to end the current political deadlock; the parliament session should start immediately to resolve the ongoing political crisis, “The Rising Nepal” of November 27, 2010 writes.

On Saturday, November 26, 2010, officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has said that the government will summon the House session after major political parties reach an understanding on resolving various outstanding issues; the government will talk to the return of Maoist leaders from their party plenum held in Palungtar, Gorkha, and will also hold talks with the NC and CPN-UML leaders to reach an understanding, myrepublica.com of November 27, 2010 writes. He has said that the House will not be called until the incident of roughing up the Minster for Finance at the parliament on November 19 is probed; however, he has been under the pressure of his own party CPN-UML, the UCPN-Maoist and NC to call the House session at the earliest, nepalnews.com writes

On Sunday, November 28, 2010, chief whip of UCPN-Maoist Posta Bahadur Bogati and chief whip of NC Laxman Ghimire have visited the office of the House Speaker at Singhdurbar and have jointly requested him for holding the parliamentary session immediately; at the same time, NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel has met with the House Speaker and has discussed with him various matters including the summoning of the parliamentary session, myrepublica.com and nepalnews.com write.

Madhav Nepal rejected by the voters at the two constituencies has tricked not only the leaders of UCPN-Maoist but also the leaders of NC and CPN-UML to send the House in recess and then enjoy his officiating status of the office of Prime Minister as long as possible mainly for siphoning the money from the state treasury to his pocket. This has been made possible thanks to the not visionary leadership of both the NC and CPN-UML parties.

November 28, 2010.