CJ-led Government-33

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Can we believe in what the political leaders as the candidates for the seats in a new constituent assembly (CA) have been saying while they are in the election campaigns? Certainly, we cannot believe them. Then, why have they been saying so? They have been Don Quixotes living in illusion. They made themselves believe that they could do anything in this world only if they were elected in the upcoming elections to a new CA. They would be the supreme force after the elections. That is not true.

During the election campaigns in his far western constituency on October 26, 2013, senior leader also former many-term Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said, “I would be a prime minister again if you were to vote for me.” How many of the voters he visited them at their homes believed him remains to be seen, but he needs to go a long way to make his words come true. First, his party needs to get the majority seats in a new CA. Second, the claimant for the position of a prime minister is the president of the party means current President Sushil Koirala. Even if Koirala loses the election and he becomes not eligible for a prime minister, the next claimant for a new prime minister is Vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel. So, Mr. Deuba is a third in line to inherit the position of a new prime minister in his party. Whether voters believing Deuba would waste their votes?

On the same day, another senior leader of UCPN-Maoist also former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said, “I have been made the candidate for a seat in a new CA at the Lumbini constituency to develop Lumbini a Buddhist Center as Mecca for Muslims, and as Jerusalem for Christians.” However, we have not forgotten how Dr Bhattarai as a finance minister in 2008 tried to break up the tradition of the government providing the traditional revelers of Indra Jatra with some resources for celebrating the eight-day long Indra Jatra festival. How could he develop Lumbini a Buddhist center if he were to get elected to a new CA? He needs to pass over many hurdles of winning the majority seats in a CA, then to form a government of his party, and then he has to be either a prime minister or a cultural minister to have any say in building Lumbini a Buddhist center. Are the voters at the Lumbini constituency voting for Dr Bhattarai for that matter?

During his meet-the-voters campaign at the constituency number one in Kathmandu on October 26, 2013, General Secretary of NC Prakash Man Singh said, “His party has led every revolution since 1946; the leadership of his party is necessary to craft a new democratic constitution. His party would craft a new constitution within a year, and hold local elections that have been put on hold for several years within six months.” The fact is NC could not or did not craft a constitution in 1950s when it had reached the pinnacle of reputation and fame but agreed on the constitution given by the then monarch; and the NC became one of the culprits in not crafting a new constitution during the life of the previous constituent assembly. Second, the NC did not deliberately hold the local elections when his party leader Sher Bahadur Deuba was a prime minister in the past. How could voters believe the NC would both craft a new constitution, and hold the local elections this time?

Speaking at the Kathmandu constituency number two where he is one of the candidates, senior leader of CPN-UML also former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal said, “The prime ministerial system is very good. The presidential system might give birth to another Hitler or Jung Bahadur.” Certainly, the prime ministerial system is good for a crook politician such as Madhav Nepal that could not win the elections but could become a prime minister thanks to the faulty system. Madhav Nepal should know that the presidential system had neither given birth to Jung Bahadur nor Hitler but the unique political system gave the opportunity to Madhav Nepal to be a prime minister for more than two years.

Speaking at the meet-the-voters campaign in Kathmandu, General Secretary of CPN-UML Ishower Pokharel said, “The country would not be able to craft a new constitution until his party could win a majority and be a large party in a new CA. So, vote for him and for his party.” Would the voters believe Mr. Pokharel? We have seen how his party has performed when it led a government even though it had not majority in the parliament but became a largest party by freak in 1995. Then, his party chief Madhav Nepal became prime minister in 2009 even though he was a looser in the two constituencies in the elections held in 2008, passing over his party chairman but he did not do anything except for misappropriating the state resources. Then, his party chairman Jhalanath Khanal became a prime minister in 2011 for six months only to demonstrate that Mr. Khanal was the weakest and the most impotent prime minister in the history of Nepal.

Speaking at the election campaign in Chitwan, President of NC Sushil Koirala said, “Give two-thirds majority to the NC, he would craft a new constitution as the people wanted.” Does Koirala know what the people want? Obviously, he assumed the people’s desire must be the democratic system of giving sermons on democracy to others but acting as a dictator of his party. Mr. Koirala lost the elections held in 2008 but he managed to win the presidency of his party to remain as a leader without the people’s mandate. His party did not have any respect for the ethnic group, and resist the country making a federal democratic republic, and did not want any identity-based provinces, and so on. Is it what the people want? Do the voters need to vote for him and his party for all these negatives?

Speaking at the inaugural function of the Makwanpur-Kathmandu Federal People Relationship Front in Kathmandu on October 26, 2013, senor leader also former Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said, “(Be careful) a constituent assembly would not give any result if the UCPN-Maoist were not to get a majority and the forces opting for changes were not to get two-thirds majority.” He also said that the NC and the CPN-UML had obstructed the crafting of a people-oriented constitution. He further said that the constituent assembly, republic, federalism, and proportional representation are the agenda of the UCPN-Maoist. Senor leader Shrestha also warned of the chances of the foreign intervention in the country, of the nation being weak, of the possibility of conflict, and of the possibility of the country being a failed state if his party were not to get a majority. Do the people believe him?

Speaking at the function of releasing a book in Kathmandu on October 26, 2013, Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya said, “The election to a constituent assembly is only a drama; a constituent assembly will not craft a constitution; a people’s constitution will not be crafted without preserving the sovereignty. His party would vehemently oppose the elections to a constituent assembly.” Is Mr. Vaidhya serious about his statements? Yes, as his cadres have started off setting off bombs at two sites in Dailekh on the night of Friday, October 25, 2013. His cadres have attacked the candidate of UCPN-Maoist, and looted the election materials in Taplejung. The CPN-Maoists have been like the cats driven to corners by their own actions. So, they have been desperate, and they might attack anybody around them.

Speaking to the reporter of the ‘gorkhapatra’ in Kathmandu on October 26, 2013, spokesman for UCPN-Maoist Agni Sapkota said, “The CPN-Maoist of Mohan Vaidhya cannot make any dent on stopping the holding of the elections, as Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda has attended all the campaign rallies in the areas the CPN-Maoist cadres have called shutdowns. What the CPN-Maoist cadres have been doing are not political activities.” Pointing to the statement of the NC leader Prakash Sharan Mahat that has said that it is not the CPN-Maoist but the UCPN-Maoist has been trying to disrupt the elections, spokesman Sapkota has said that perhaps the NC might have been inciting the CPN-Maoist to create a conflict between the UCPN-Maoist and the CPN-Maoist to interrupt the elections.

(All the above statements of political leaders are from the ‘gorkhapatra’ of October 27, 2013)

Speaking at the training of his party’s cadres in Dhankuta on Thursday night, October 24, 2013, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda said that the NC, the CPN-UML, and the CPN-Maoist of Mohan Vaidhya have united against his party. Chairman Prachanda said that his party also would go to the polls for the second CA elections in an alliance with the parties opting for ethnic federalism, republicanism, secularism, inclusive and proportional representation to challenge the alliance among the NC, CPN-UML, and Vaidhya-led CPN-Maoist. "It is essential for the UCPN-Maoist to garner a clear majority in the November 19 CA elections to draft a proletariat-friendly constitution," he said. Chairman Prachanda arrived in Dhankuta on Thursday evening facing the obstructions put up by the Vaidhya faction of the Maoist in traveling, and left Dhankuta next morning. (Source: RSS news on Gorkhapatraonline.com, October 25, 2013)

Speaking to the reporters at the Bharatpur Airport in Chitwan on October 24, 2013, President of NC Sushil Koirala said that the Nepalese people were eager to give a thumping majority to his party, as the NC always stood for democracy, and in the manifesto, it had committed to writing a loktantrik (democratic) statute within a year of the CA polls. "The statute writing and development are our key agenda during the election," he said. (Source: RSS news on Gorkhapatraonline.com, October 25, 2013)

President Sushil Koirala is one of the candidates at the Chitwan constituency. He is facing the challenges of the rebel candidate Bikas Koirala of his own party. The Maoist candidate had won the polls with a large margin at this constituency in the previous elections to the dissolved CA in 2008. So, President Koirala would not have easy time in this constituency. However, President Koirala has his candidacy at the Banke constituency, too where he had badly lost the elections in 2008.

Speaking to the reporters in Biratnagar on Sunday, October 27, 2013, former deputy Prime Minister also leader of NC Sujata Koirala said that her party would garner two-thirds majority in the upcoming elections to a new CA if her party were to go to the polls united indicating her party was still divided. She also said that a constitution crafted without the participation of the Vaidhya-Maoists would not be relevant; so, the four-party leaders should bring on board the Vaidhya-Maoists before or after the elections. (Source: Gorkhapatra of October 28, 2013). What Sujata said might have truth but Vaidhya did not believe in a CA crafting a new constitution; so, Vaidhya says that the elections to a new CA are irrelevant; it is only a drama.

Speaking at the election rally held in Chitwan on Sunday, October 27, 2013, the central treasurer of NC Chitra Lekha Yadav said that a constitution would not be crafted again if the UCPN-Maoist were to win majority seats in a new CA; the first CA could not craft a new constitution because of the UCPN-Maoist and the CPN-UML. So, she urged the voters to vote for the NC to make sure that a new constitution would be crafted. Another central member of NC Pradip Giri said that the UCPN-Maoist kept the CPN-Maoist away from the elections fearing the defeat in the elections. (Source: Gorkhapatra of October 28, 2013). Would voters believe them and rush to vote for the NC?

Speaking to the cadres in Birgunj on Saturday, October 26, 2013, Chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-Nepal) Kamal Thapa said that his party would emerge as a decisive force after the elections to a second CA. He also has said that majority of Nepalis are for making Nepal a Hindu nation; his party will take the leadership of it. He also made it clear that the country would split into pieces if caste-based states were to create. (Source: Gorkhapatra of October 28, 2013). However, Chairman Thapa skipped to talk of bringing the dead monarchy back to life. Perhaps, he has stopped believing in it. So, he stopped talking of restoring the monarchy and reversing the course of history.

Speaking at the election rally in Baglung on October 28, 2013, one of the anti-federalists also chairman of Janamorcha Chitra Bahadur KC said, “As long as you talk of federalism, a new constitution will not be crafted. The previous CA could not craft a constitution because of the federalism.” He also said, “If you opt for federalism, the country will split into pieces. Please, vote for Janamorcha for saving the country from going to split.” (Source: Gorkhapatra of October 29, 2013). Why someone has not made him sane to understand that only federalism can save the country from disintegration.

Vice-president of NC Ram Chandra Poudel said that a CA could craft a new constitution only under the leadership of the NC. A new constitution was crafted under the leadership of the NC in 1990, and then an interim constitution in 2006; however, during the last four year, four communist leaders have become prime ministers, unfortunately none of them could craft a new constitution; so, waves of support for the NC have been coming in as the NC has done remarkable jobs of development in the country, said Vice-president Poudel. (Source: Gorkhapatra of October 29, 2013).

However, Vice-president Poudel forgot to mention most of the skinny leaders as he had been in the past became plump, and now have been carrying the bulging bellies; also four former NC leaders served jail terms for the abuse of authority and corruption; during the last 25 years of the NC in power most of the development structures such as the trolley bus, and the Sajha Bus service in Kathmandu were tore down; not even a single hydropower plant was built not to mention a few kilometers of roads.

Speaking at an election rally held in Dhangadi on Wednesday, October 30, 2013, Chairman of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-Democratic) Bijaya Kumar Gacchedar has said that other political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, and CPN-UML have been unsuccessful to run the country; so, now it is the turn of the Madheshi party to run the country. He also said that he would be the next prime minister. He warned of none of the political parties gaining the majority in the upcoming elections. (Source: Gorkhapatra of October 31, 2013).

Chairman Gacchedar forgot to say that his party had been a party of most of the governments that had run the country during the period he was indicating of the failure of the governments of the UCPN-Maoist, NC, and CPN-UML. However, he wanted to be smarter than other leaders stating others had failed but he did not. He also failed to say how he could be a prime minister when none of the political parties would have a majority according to his prediction. Does Chairman Gacchedar know what he is talking of?

Some political analysts and even some candidates such as Subash Nemwang have said that the upcoming elections to a new CA are not for the development activities but for crafting a new constitution. This is only a half-truth. A new CA as the past CA wears two hats: one of a CA for crafting a new constitution, another of a parliament for electing a government.  While a new CA will be busy with the formulation of a new statute, the government has to move the country to the economic progress. So, every party or candidate has to present their manifestos not only for crafting a new constitution but also for the development activities they will undertake after the elections.

November 1, 2013