CJ-led Government-37

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

President of NC Sushil Koirala said that he was for forming an all-party government. Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal said that the ‘one Madhes one pradesh’ was finished. Other leaders of NC and CPN-UML dreamed of grabbing the top job of prime minister. UCPN-Maoist has not accepted the election results, yet. UCPN-Maoist and Madhesi leaders were not for leaving off their agenda. NC and CPN-UML promised to craft a new constitution within a year at maximum. The election victory of NC and CPN-UML was not the victory over the agenda of the UCPN-Maoist and the Madhesi say the leaders.

Voters in the elections to a new constituent assembly held on November 19, 2013 have denied the UCPN-Maoist and Madhesi leaders to join in the elite political club of the NC and the CPN-UML. Then, Nepalis don’t need to worry about the peasants and workers ruling the country for some time to come. In fact, the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) never could make a hold beyond the Bhaktapur district the home district of the great leader of NWPP Naryanman Bijukchhe. After the emergence of the UCPN-Maoist as the major political party especially after the elections to a constituent assembly held in 2008, Nepalese elites have feared that the workers and peasants might take over the power when Maoist cadres have sneak into the labor unions in the guise of workers, and seized most of the industries, businesses and so on.

After the elections in 2008, Madhesi leaders have dreamed of making the way to the top positions of the Nepalese administration. Chairman of Madhesi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) Bijaya Gacchedar had been saying that he was the next contender for the office of prime minister. Even during the election campaigns, he had been saying that he claimed to be the next prime minister. However, poor Gacchedar could win only four seats out of the directly elected 240 seats to a new constituent assembly. Other Madhesi leaders such as Mahant Thakur and Hrideyash Tripathi of the Terai Madhes Democratic Party conceded defeat in the elections. Their party won only four seats in the direct elections.

The waves of the Madhes movement swept the country in 2008. Most of the Madhesi leaders have thought that they would be major players in the Nepalese politics. In fact, their thoughts came true after the election in 2008, as the total seats won by all Madhesi parties put together came to 84 out of the 601 seats in the then constituent assembly. However, they contracted to 10 seats of the directly seats after the elections in 2013.

What the Madhesi leaders did with the 14% strength in the CA they had received in 2008. They played out their trump card for the position of the vice-president giving the position of the president to the NC, and of the chairman of the CA to the CPN-UML. What next, the Madhesi leaders did not know. They knew that they could not get what they promised to the Madhesi people during the movement and thereafter during the elections in 2008 from the NC and CPN-UML but they went along with the two elite parties: NC and CPN-UML for some time.

Madhesi leaders were in confusion. Some of them wanted to go with the NC others with the CPN-UML, and UCPN-Maoist. NC made it clear to them that its leaders were not for taking the Madhesi youths in groups in the Nepal Army and the Nepal Police, as demanded by the Madhesi leaders. CPN-UML also was not agreeing on these matters but some of CPN-UML leaders showed flexibility giving hope to the Madhesi leaders. UCPN-Maoist was ready to meet the demand of the Madhesis any time at any cost but most of the Madhesi leaders were reluctant to believe the UCPN-Maoist leaders.

In the most unfortunate political game, the three major parties such as UCPN-Maoist, CPN-UML, and UDMF (United Democratic Madhesi Front) formed a coalition government headed by Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda keeping one of the major parties NC out of the government even though the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 clearly stated that a government should be of all political parties following a consensus on it. NC successfully used its students’ association to create political instability and ultimately tear down the coalition government without the NC. Currently, the NC leaders have been concerned with the UCPN-Maoist using the same strategy of the NC to make the NC failure in the coming days.

What did these new powerful leaders of the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF do when they were in the most powerful chairs in 2009? Prime Minister Prachanda engaged in the power game. He wanted to use his vague prime ministerial power to fire the Chief of Army Staff. Political leaders including some of the Madhesi leaders found the alarming tendency of the behavior of the UCPN-Maoist leaders. Everybody thought that the UCPN-Maoist was going to grab the power through the military, as Prime Minister Prachanda was to appoint his man to the Chief of Army Staff after firing the incumbent.

Madhesi leaders showed off their power. They dreamed of ruling the country. Some of them even spoke in Hindi in the CA irritating even the Hindi speaking Madhesis. One of them was Hrideyash Tripathi that took pride in speaking in Hindi in the parliament. No wonder he lost the elections in 2013. They promised the Madhesi youths that soon the Madhesi youths would be in the Nepal Army and the Nepal Police but it did never happen but the Madhesi leaders managed to fight for power breaking the political parties into as many pieces as possible. Every one of the Madhesi leaders demanded a ministerial position, as the office of minister gave him or her power, prestige and money.

Madhesi people in general and the youths in particular waiting for their turn to be either in the Nepal Army or in the Nepal Police got disillusioned, as their anticipation did not come true even after four years of the CA, and two years thereafter. They started off disbelieving the Madhesi leaders as the warriors of the people’s liberation army (PLA) disbelieved the UCPN-Maoist.

UCPN-Maoist leaders betrayed the warriors of the PLA, and forced the farmers to return the lands the UCPN-Maoist seized from the elite landlords and distributed to the landless people. The UCPN-Maoist entered into the negotiations with the NC and the CPN-UML. Gradually, they gave in most of the things they seized during the war giving one thing or another back to the NC and the CPN-UML including the lands the farmers possessed so dearly, for which some of them gave lives while fighting against the landlords, and the government of the bourgeoisies according to the language of the Maoist cadres. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of cadres of the UCPN-Maoist alienated from the party.

Four major political parties have played every possible trick on each other. However, none of them could trick other to accept its agenda, and build a consensus on crafting a new consensus. NC and CPN-UML inched to the federalism and federal states as demanded by the UCPN-Maoist and the Madhesi leaders where as UCPN-Maoist and UDMF became closer to not accepting the ethnic-based federal states. Lately, it became so confusing that whether the political parties have telling the truth of what they have been actually doing. It became very difficult to distinguish between the stand taken by the UCPN-Maoist and the UMDF on the one hand, and the NC and CPN-UML on the other hand on various matters.

A faction headed by Mohan Vaidhya of the UCPN-Maoist has felt that the party has alienated from its fundamental agenda. So, he has been deadly against returning the land seized by the Maoists and distributed to the landless farmers. He also has been against going along with the parliamentary political parties calling them bourgeoisie parties, and saying the Maoists would not be able to accommodate with them. The rift between the Vaidhya faction and the main leadership of the UCPN-Maoist has been so wide that the Vaidhya faction spilt away from the UCPN-Maoist a year before the elections in November 2013, and set up a CPN-Maoist different from the UCPN-Maoist.

In order to show off that the Vaidhya Maoist was still the original Maoist, they seized lands of some people holding large lands including that of Chairman of Interim Election Council of Minister Khilraj Regmi. The Vaidhya Maoists vehemently opposed the elections to a new CA. They have tried every thing to stop holding the elections to a new CA. Ultimately, they did not go to the polls, and prevented their sympathizers from going to the polls.

The Vaidhya Maoists aimed at the UCPN-Maoist to defeat it in the elections in 2013. They knew that they could not stop the elections but they thought that they could do something to defeat the UCPN-Maoist in the elections. If they could defeat the UCPN-Maoist, they could continue the Maoists’ agenda. So they used every effort on defeating the UCPN-Maoist, and they succeeded, and they were right that they could continue the Maoists’ agenda.

After the defeat at the polls, Vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist Dr Baburam Bhattarai said that the UCPN-Maoist lost the elections but it was the victory of the agenda of the UCPN-Maoist. Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda said that his party would participate in the CA only if the crafting of a new constitution were to be done on a consensus. He also said that his party would go along with the 33-party alliance headed by the CPN-Maoist to build a consensus on crafting a new constitution. Leaders of the UCPN-Maoist and of the CPN-Maoist held a post-election meeting to discuss how to go along with each other. Thus, the UCPN-Maoist attempted to keep its agenda alive that it had almost lost going along with the NC and the CPN-UML in the name of building a consensus.

Speaking to the anchor of the Radio Nepal at the morning program called ‘antar sambad’ on the morning of November 26, 2013, chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal said that the election results demonstrated the rejection of the federal states based on the ethnic identity; the demand for ‘one Madhes one pradesh’ was dead; his party would go for crafting a new constitution following the process rather than building a consensus on it. Concerning the leadership of the government, Chairman Khanal said that the party leader was the claimant of heading a new government but his party could discuss about the possibility of other leaders of his party taking the leadership in the government.

Speaking to the anchor of the Radio Nepal at the morning program called ‘antar sambad’ on the morning of November 27, 2013, Vice-president of NC Ram Chandra Poudel said that a government would be formed of the major national forces, and a new constitution would be crafted following the majority votes, as a consensus could not be built on all the matters. Vice-president Poudel has hinted at keeping the Maoists out of the government and the constitution crafting process. It would certainly invite the political instability and direct confrontation with the Maoists; consequently, crafting a new constitution would be in limbo.

Immediately after the favorable election results, one leader after another of the CPN-UML such as senior leader of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal, and another senior leader KP Oli, and the party chairman Jhalanath Khanal said that they hoped their party would entrusted them with the top job in the government. Thus, the CPN-UML has three leaders claiming for the top job in the government.

Central Committee member of NC Sujata Koirala said that President of NC Sushil Koirala would be the next prime minister. However, Sushil Koirala has not said anything about it, yet making it clear that his silence is the acceptance of what Sujata has said. Another contender for the top job is Sher Bahadur Deuba. He also has been keeping silence on this matter although he had been telling the voters during the election campaign that he would be the next prime minister if they were to vote for him. The third contender for the top was Vice-president of NC Ram Chandra Poudel. He did not win the elections to the office of prime minister running for eighteen times after Madhav Nepal resigned from the prime minister in 2011.

Now, the top leaders of the NC and the CPN-UML have been eyeing the top job rather than focusing on crafting a new consensus. First, the top leaders would squabble over the top job in their respective political party, and then the emerging contenders would squabble over the leadership in the government at an inter-party meeting.

However, President of NC Sushil Koirala said that he was for forming an all-party government following a consensus on it. At a news conference held Chitwan on November 24, 2013, President of NC Sushil Koirala said that a coalition government of all political parties would be formed following a consensus among the political parties; there was no question of boasting about being a largest party and securing a highest number of votes, but crafting a new constitution was a priority. This statement was certainly the statement of a matured politician and statesman but the question was how far he could keep his words.

President Koirala knew that how his party had used the students’ union affiliated to his party to tear down the government headed by chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda in 2009. He also knew that how the UCPN-Maoist had tried to tear down the government headed by Madhav Nepal shutting down the country for six days, and so on. Certainly, President Koirala must have in the mind that the UCPN-Maoist might use the same strategy to make his future government a failure.

In fact, the UCPN-Maoist has already started off campaigning against the future government. The central committee of the UCPN-Maoist at a meeting has decided to run a campaign for informing the people about the irregularities in the elections at all the 240 constituencies. The central committee also has decided that the UCPN-Maoist would participate in the constituent assembly with the conditions of including the political parties boycotting the elections in crafting a new constitution, and following a consensus on crafting a new constitution rather than the majority rule.

The UCPN-Maoist contracted to 26 directly elected seats in 2013 from 140 seats won in 2008. The happiest man had been Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya. He achieved what he wanted making the UCPN-Maoist failure in the elections in 2013, and putting it the third position after the NC and the CPN-UML in the direct elections. After knowing he would not be able to stop the elections in 2013, Chairman Mohan Vaidhya sent his cadres to stop voters from voting for the UCPN-Maoist, and or diverting the votes either to the NC or the CPN-UML. Such things had happened in 1994, too, when one faction of the NC wanted to defeat another faction headed by the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. Then, the CPN-UML became the largest party in the parliament thanks to the dissident group in the NC. Currently, the NC and the CPN-UML won so many seats in a new CA because of the negative votes of the Maoists going to them. Thus, Mohan Vaidhya had extended help to the NC and the CPN-UML in winning the elections. Their victory was the victory of Mohan Vaidhya in other words the defeat of the UCPN-Maoist.

Chairman of CPN-UML said that the agenda of the Madhesi parties had come to an end. However, Madhesis rejected it. Vice-chairman of UCPN-Maoist Dr Baburam Bhattarai had said that the defeat of his party had not killed the agenda of his party. So, crafting a new constitution would face a serious challenge if the NC and the CPN-UML were to ignore the agenda of the UCPN-Maoist and other Madhesi political parties.

NC had stated in its election manifesto that the party would craft a new constitution within a year from the date of forming a new government if it were to get the majority, and hold the local elections within six months. CPN-UML had even stated that it would complete the crafting of a new constitution within six months. However, after the election victory, leaders of the NC and the CPN-UML had been talking about who was going to be a next prime minister rather than how a new constitution would be done. They should understand that the defeat of the UCPN-Maoist in the polls brought the UCPN-Maoist closer to the CPN-Maoist. NC and CPN-UML should not ignore the forces of the Maoists and Madhesis if they were to craft a new constitution rather than to steal anything from the state treasury and the people’s pockets.

After the fall of the Rana regime, Nepalis gave the mandate to the NC to run the country honestly following the rule of law in 1950s then in 1960 and 1990s but the NC leaders did not properly used the mandate from the people for the political and economic development but they grabbed everything possible from the people’s pockets and the state treasury to enrich themselves and their relatives. Similarly, the CPN-UML became a largest party in 1994 even though it was not the people’s mandate but the then leader of CPN-UML Madhav Nepal simply followed the path of the NC for enriching his party men and cadres. Consequently, they gave birth to the Maoists and Madhesis. Nepalis gave their mandate to the Maoist and Madhesi leaders to craft a new constitution in 2008 but they also simply followed the path of the NC. Now, we have seen the results of such unscrupulous activities of the politicians and political parties in the elections held in 2013, too. A new political party might be born if the political parties were not to learn the lessons from the recent political history.

Some people have been making the noises of the NC and the CPN-UML putting back the constitution of 1990 but the history never turns back; it goes ahead only the political leaders could repeat the mistakes. The noise might be the election campaign started off by the defeated political parties, as it was the customary of the defeated parties to do so immediately after the election.

Currently, NC and CPN-UML have the mandate to craft a new constitution. They need to utilize the people’s mandate otherwise they would be punished by the people as they did to the Maoists and Madhesis in the elections in 2013. The next elections are not very far off; the next elections would be due immediately after a new constitution was crafted. A new constitution must be in place latest by a year if the NC and the CPN-UML were to keep their election promises; if not political stability would prevail for some time to come. We have talked much about exclusive and inclusive administration; so, excluding the Maoists and the Madhesis would be next to impossible. So, take the easy path means include them in crafting a new constitution. Don’t try to face the street demonstration, and traffic shutdowns and Nepal shutdowns and so on in the coming days.

The defeat of the Maoists and the Madhesis in the elections in 2013 was not the defeat of their political agenda but the expression of the pent-up dissatisfaction with them in the minds of their supporters for more than eight years. So, the election-winning political parties should not think that they could crush the agenda of those defeated political parties; such an approach would lead to the confrontation than cooperation.

The Maoists and the Madhesis also should not go out of their minds, and do things that go against the law in other words they should follow the rule of law rather than the rule of traffic jam and shutdowns, and so on. The NC had used its students to burn tires on the streets and cause traffic jam, and call the shutdowns to harass the government headed by Prime Minister Prachanda. The Maoists and the Madhesis should not follow the path of the NC, too.

Some leaders of NC including President of NC Sushil Koirala have been saying that their party would build a consensus on forming a new government but the UCPN-Maoist leaders have not been in a mood to join a new government; they have been for building a consensus on crafting a new constitution, as said to the anchor of the Radio Nepal morning program ‘antar sambad’ on the morning of November 29, 2013 by one of UCPN-Maoist leaders Naryanakaji Shrestha. So, they have been demanding to amend the interim constitution of Nepal of 2007 to reinstate the provision for building a consensus on crafting a new consensus, and for institutionalizing the gains made by the people in various political movements. However, President of NC Sushil Koirala and Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal have rejected the demand of the UCPN-Maoist for an amendment to the interim constitution clearly demonstrating they would go for two-thirds majority for crafting a new constitution rather than following a consensus on it. It remains to be seen whether this will lead to a serious confrontation or not.

November 29, 2013