Be Different From Others

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Currently, the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) legislators have been holding the legislature hostage demanding President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav correct his unconstitutional move of directly ordering Chief of Army Staff Rukmangad Katuwal fired by Prime Minister Prachanda, to stay on the job overriding the decision of the Prime Minister. If it is the strategy of the UCPN-Maoist for achieving its goal then it has not been different from the strategy of other political parties skilled in shamelessly manipulating the political situation for their personal benefits. So, if the UCPN-Maoist leaders want to demonstrate that they are quite different from other political leaders then they have to adopt a new strategy for achieving the goal of capturing the state power.

Currently, for attempting to achieve their goal of forcing the President to correct his unconstitutional step, the UCPN-Maoist legislators have been holding the legislature hostage following the footsteps of the Nepali Congress (NC) legislators and then the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) legislators. The NC and the CPN-UML legislators have achieved their objective of tearing down the coalition government led by the UCPN-Maoist holding the legislature hostage for several weeks and even months. However, the UCPN-Maoist will be able to do it or not as the NC and CPN-UML legislators have successfully done is a serious question to answer.

On July 4, 2009, speaking at the mass rally held at Dulegauda of the Tanahu district, UCPN-Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has said that all national and foreign counter revolutionaries have been engaged in imposing a presidential rule in Nepal according to the news published in the state-run newspaper ‘Gorkhapatra’ of July 5, 2009. If Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is speaking the truth then the UCPN-Maoist holding the legislature hostage has been creating an environment conducive to such a counter-revolution.

So, the UCPN-Maoist leaders need to be careful not to allow the counter-revolutionaries to capture state power. The UCPN-Maoist leaders have already allowed the counter-revolution minded politicians such as Madhav Nepal and his cabinet to capture the state power. Mr. Madhav Nepal will surely continue to create an environment conducive to stage a counter-revolution. The person rejected by the voters in the two constituencies has been the Prime Minister following the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 means he has already stage the comeback using the loophole in the Interim constitution of Nepal of 2007, and has staged a counter-revolution. He certainly will attempt to stage one counter-revolution after another. So, he has been publicly saying in loudest possible voices that the UCPN-Maoist leaders have to take all blames for not materializing the writing of a new constitution at the same time blocking the process of writing a new constitution. Are these not the excuses for a counter-revolution?

The Maoist leaders have proposed an amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 for clearly defining the rights and duties of the President and the Prime Minister. It is certainly a desperate move of the Maoist leaders. The President has made the Interim Constitution a scrape of paper. Currently, the majority of the legislators are ruling the country not strictly following the constitution. It is not surprising that the CPN-UML leaders have rejected the proposal for an amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal. So, the Maoists need to understand it and then define their strategy accordingly if they really want to capture state power through the legislature.

The NC and the CPN-UML leaders will not agree on the demand of the UCPN-Maoist leaders for correcting the Presidential unconstitutional step, as they have come to power through such a constitutional move. So, these politically bankrupt leaders will not agree on whatever proposals the Maoists will put forward for amending the Interim Constitution or for correcting the unconstitutional move of the President, as agreeing on such proposals means suicidal to them.

Even if the Maoist legislators have been taking the legislature hostage the NC and the CPN-UML leaders have been feeling comfortable, as they want to push the Maoists to the wall forcing them to take up the arms again. So, they will not be alarmed even if the Maoists do not allow the legislature pass the budget for the fiscal year 2009 (2066). This situation will certainly be the excuse for the NC and CPN-UML leaders to bring forward the so-called ceremonial President and then declare a state of emergency and impose a presidential rule as anticipated by the UCPN-Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai. What the Maoists will be able to do in such a situation? They will not be able to do anything except for resorting to violence or peaceful protests. Violence should not be the choice of the Maoists anymore, as they cannot win the hearts of the people at the gunpoint. So, only peaceful protests remain.

So, the Maoist leaders have to adopt a new strategy for capturing the state power. That strategy is to cooperate with the current government the Maoist leaders themselves have created on expediting the writing of a new constitution and then going for general elections. Then the voters will decide who will run the country. Unfortunately, the Maoists’ strategists have not thought about it but have simply followed the footsteps of the NC and CPN-UML legislators holding the legislature hostage.

In fact, the Maoist leaders have not been much different from those NC and CPN-UML leaders when they were in power, too. They simply have ignored the democratic way of governance and simply followed the NC and CPN-UML ways of recruiting their cadres for the state jobs and forming their own unions of state officials leaving the sincere state employees high and dry.

The Maoist leaders have complained that they could not work while in power and give results as anticipated by the people because the bureaucracy is of the old regime and it is very hard to push the state officials to work. They need to know that the bureaucracy works on the rules and regulations not on the whims of the Prime Minister or ministers. So, the best way to push the bureaucracy is to follow the rules and regulations.

The Maoists will not be successful in their goal of capturing the state power through the arm revolution. The only way they have to follow is peacefully capturing the state power. If they follow the peaceful means and try to be different from the NC and CPN-UML leaders then the Nepalis will certainly support them again.

The Maoists have to follow the strategy of cooperating with the current government on expeditiously writing a new constitution if the NC and CPN-UML leaders have been coming closer and closer to declaring a presidential rule in the country as claimed by the Maoists. The Maoists could foil this grand design of the NC and CPN-UML leaders simply cooperating with them on writing a new constitution and on running the government smoothly, and then holding general elections as soon as possible.

As the opposition in the legislature, the Maoists will be well off to go to the people and disclose what the government has done and what the government has not done. Then the voters will decide whom to give the mandate. The Maoists will be able to save the country from falling to the presidential rule only through adopting a new strategy of cooperation on smoothly running the government and on writing a new constitution and disclosing the questionable deeds of the current government.

On July 6, 2009, addressing the legislature, UCPN-Maoist Chairman Prachanda has delivered a long interesting and frank speech. He has disclosed the plan of the counter revolutionaries on imposing a presidential rule in Nepal fabricating a story of the Maoists have been at the point of capturing the state power; so, leaders of other political parties have shown least interest in running the legislature smoothly; so, the Maoists have to push them to come to a dialogue for running the legislature smoothly. He has said that his party will foil such a dirty plan of the counter revolutionaries through a peaceful democratic means. He repeatedly has reiterated that his party is fully committed to democracy and has been sincerely willing to discuss issues such as the unconstitutional action of the so-called ceremonial President and the suzerainty of the people but the leaders of the so-called parliamentary parties have refused to discuss even such issues of the political nature in the legislature. He also has lamented that so many political parties have used their energy for saving the job of one high-ranking soldier disregarding the Interim Constitution. He has quoted an official of the Election Commission saying why do we need to hold general elections spending so many thousands of millions of rupees if unelected people are to rule this country.

The NC and CPN-UML leaders have followed the hard way of tearing down the Maoist government rather than following the soft way. They have successfully taken the legislature hostage and finally brought down the Maoist government earning bad reputation. The best way for them to tear down would have been to let the Maoists stay on in power for some time and let them commit one mistake after another and then let them fall from power for almost forever. However, the NC and CPN-UML leaders have no such patience and have been digging their own graves. Only the Maoists will be able to save them from falling in those graves adopting a wrong strategy for capturing the state power.

NC President Girija Koirala has earned as much bad reputation as possible appointing her daughter Sujata Koirala defeated in the election for the Constituent Assembly-cum-legislature in 2008 to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of another defeated politician Madhav Nepal in June 2009 irritating even his brother Acting NC President Sushil Koirala. The sincere NC politicians’ tolerance of misdeeds of Girija Koirala has proved to be beyond the limit of sky.

Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has proved to be nuisance to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. He has made the mockery of democracy appointing one person of bad political reputation after another to his cabinet and the positions of his advisors. He has split one ministry after another to make room for the unscrupulous politicians aspiring for ministerial jobs. He has been a jackal under the cover of a lion skin. So, he has tricked everybody to make him a Prime Minister.

Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has been the politician of no standing. He could say one thing today and then forget next day and do just the opposite of what he has said just a day before. He has proved to be an inept politician not to mention the leader. He has surrendered the position of Prime Minister to the person of virtually holding no position of his party while he himself being the chairman could not claim the position of Prime Minister.

All these political leaders have no guts to run the administration without the external support and the support of the army. They have still no faith in the people’s power despite the fact they need to return to the people for getting into power. So, they fall back on the army particularly the top military chief so that they could sleep quietly at night and run the administration standing on the shoulders of the army chief in day.

In this political situation, if the Maoist leaders correct their behavior and cooperate with all the politicians on running the government democratically in the interest of the people in general, then Nepalis could live in peace and freedom. So, the Maoists need to stop holding the legislature hostage and let it run smoothly, and disclose all the misdeeds of all unscrupulous politicians, the government and the Prime Minister, then expedite the writing of a new constitution and force the government to hold general elections for a new government and a parliament or assembly whatever a new constitution will prescribe a name for it. Then, the voters will surely meet their demand for the civilian supremacy over the army, and will punish the so-called ceremonial President for his unconstitutional act and his colleagues in misdeeds.

September 8, 2009.