Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Stays On-Part VIII

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Every day the May-27 deadline for promulgating a new constitution is coming nearer and nearer. Nepalis are anticipating that the Constituent Assembly will promulgate a new constitution on this final day of its existence. However, leaders of the four major political parties that hold the destiny of the Constituent Assembly are for promulgating a new constitution on their own terms. For example, the NC wants to promulgate a new constitution on its two terms of forming a new government led by its parliamentary leader and a new constitution with the provision for seven provinces for federal Nepal. The UCPN-Maoist does not want to compromise its 10 provinces whereas the UDMF wants ‘one Madhesh on province’. Only the CPN-UML seems to be flexible about the number of provinces: from seven to eleven. Now, the sincerity of these political on promulgating a new constitution has been in question.

At the meeting of the leaders of the four major political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF held on the Sunday evening, April 29, 2012, NC and CPN-UML leaders instead of picking up the state restructuring and governance system from the agenda for discussion came up with the topic of forming a new consensual unity government before promulgating a new constitution stating forming a new unity government is the part of the seven-point deal they have signed off on November 01, 2011. They also demanded the state restructuring, system of governance and formation of a new government should be a package and go together for discussion placing the main topics of concerns such as the state restructuring and governance system on the back burner. In other words, you cannot promulgate a new constitution without turning over the power to the NC leaders on a platter.

Now, the question is why the NC leaders need to be in the government before promulgating a new constitution. The government promulgating a new constitution stays on to hold parliamentary, presidential and so on elections. NC leaders for sure know that the police, state treasury and the whole state machinery including the district administration will be under the control of its party if they are in the government. So, they don’t want to lose this advantage during the elections. They could effectively use the police, the local administration, and the state money to make the election results to their advantage. They also have not forgotten how the then Home Minister Bamdev Gautam used his office to turn the local elections to the advantage of his party CPN-UML in the second half of 1990s. As such, the NC leaders clearly are for sacrificing the national interest for meeting their personal and party interest.

The stand taken by the NC leaders on forming a new consensual government is fairly a good clue that they are ready to go to any extent to win the political game. They know that the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF alone would not be in a position to promulgate a new constitution. So, they want to block the whole process of the promulgation of a new constitution if their interest is not met. In fact, they have already started off blocking the process of completing the constitution crafting refusing to talk about other issues such as the state restructuring, system of governance and so on without taking up the issue of the formation of a new government under the leadership of the NC.

NC and CPN-UML leaders have taken the position that the UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF have agreed on a consensual government in the seven-point deal they have reached on November 01, 2011. Other political leaders ask the NC leaders why you don’t build a consensus on a unity government if you are really serious about it. The answer of the NC leaders is first you quit the office of the prime minister following the seven-point deal then we will build a consensus on a new government. Other leaders say if you are so interested in tearing down our government why you don’t go to the parliament and register a no-confidence motion against our government and prove your majority in the parliament. To this question, the NC leaders simply insist on quitting the office of prime minister otherwise they would block the promulgation of a new constitution. However, the recent news in the Nepalese media has it that the NC and CPN-UML are preparing to register a no-confidence motion against the prime minister in the parliament.

If the NC and CPN-UML leaders are serious about submitting a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, and does it then it would be suicidal to a new constitution, and possibly to the country and to the political parties concerned. It takes a few days to register a no-confidence motion at the parliament, and then another few days are required before the parliament is convened to vote on the motion. If the motion is defeated the current government stays on if not then it goes off the office. By this time, the term of the Constituent Assembly will be in the last few days. The parliament might cease to exist. Thus, the end of the legislature might leave a political vacuum. So, what would happen then is anybody’s guess. One thing the NC and CPN-UML might achieve is the Vaidya faction of UCPN-Maoist voting for the no-confidence motion against the prime minister, and forcing the UCPN-Maoist to split up.

It seems that the NC and CPN-UML leaders are not worrying about the fast approaching deadline for promulgating a new constitution. We don’t know exactly what they have on their minds what they would do if they miss the deadline for promulgating a new constitution. However, their current stand on forming a new consensual government indicates that they are not worrying about the fast approaching deadline for promulgating a new constitution; most probably, they are deliberately making it an excuse for missing the deadline. The reality is that the Bhattarai administration would continue the office in case of the term of the Constituent Assembly ends on May 27, 2012 without promulgating a new constitution considering the Vaidya faction of UCPN-Maoist would not support the NC and CPN-UML voting for the no-confidence motion against the prime minister, and the coalition of the UCPN-Maoist and UDMF remaining intact. What the NC and CPN-UML leaders would have in their hands would be the option to go to the streets and attempt to tear down the Bhattarai government from the streets and then make their own. This might be the worst possible option for any serious political parties.

There is a possibility of the Vaidya faction of UCPN-Maoist supporting the no-confidence motion against the prime minister for tearing down the Bhattarai government of the coalition of UCPN-Maoist and UDMF. The interesting question is why the Vaidya faction wants to tear down the current government. Mohan Vaidya Kiran and the followers of his faction have been deadly against the current Prachanda-Bhattarai faction of the UCPN-Maoist making one compromise after another with other political parties for bringing the political situation to the current state. The Vaidya faction did not want to compromise anything with any parties but want to grab the power by any possible means. They believe that the state power has been almost within their reach but the Prachanda-Bhattarai faction has not grabbed it. So, tearing down the current government, the Vaidya faction most probably hopes to create a political chaos and then seize the opportunity of grabbing the power. However, it might be only a wishful thinking or a daydream of the Vaidya group of UCPN-Maoist.

Most probably, the UDMF will continue to cohabit with the UCPN-Maoist, as the UCPN-Maoist is more likely to meet their demands than any other political parties. One of their demands is self-government of the Madheshi people. The UCPN-Maoist is not only willing to meet this demand of the Madheshi but also the demands of all ethnic and underprivileged people for self-governments. NC and CPN-UML guys are not in favor of meeting such demands. So, unless the UDMF guys see a better chance of having a large slice of a power pie they are unlikely to change their mind in going along with the NC and CPN-UML guys. But you never know when and what causes the politicians to change their minds and switch off and on the partnership with different parties, as Nepalese politicians have totally lost their moral values and ethics.

The Bhattarai government is determined to stay on in the power even after the end of the term of the constituent Assembly. In response to the NC and CPN-UML leaders taking stand on forming a new consensual government at the meeting of the leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF held on Sunday evening, April 29, 2012, next day, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai convened a meeting of the coalition partners. At the meeting, the UCPN-Maoist and UDMF partners consolidated their coalition and determined to stay on together leaving a little chance of the change in the government, as the NC and CPN-UML leaders wanted. Thus, the NC leaders taking strong stand on changing the current government in fact strengthened the coalition of the UCPN-Maoist and the UDMF.

The recent history of the NC and CPN-UML also clearly shows that the NC and CPN-UML leaders have been more interested in their own welfare than the welfare of the nation. Starting in the mid 1990s, the NC and CPN-UML leaders had played a very nasty political game bringing back the most hated prime ministers of the Panchayat regime to power again and again making the hung parliament a boon for the former Panchas means politicians of the no-party system called Panchayat that had lasted for 30 years starting in early 1960s and ending in 1990. So, these NC and CPN-UML guys are very familiar with the dirty political games that they could play to trick the coalition partners into transferring the power to them. This time, they might not have such luck but we don’t know what tricks they might play on them. However, the current parliament also is a hung one; anything might happen that is what we could anticipate in the future.

NC and CPN-UML leaders could join the current government but they don’t do so. They want a whole pie not a piece of a broken one. They have not forgotten the better taste of a whole pie than a piece of it. They want to rule by the majority. They have no sympathy for the minority, and not empathetic to the minority. They have been still living in the past mind-set means whatever they do and say is good for all and everyone should follow them. They don’t need to listen to anybody but everyone should follow them. This attitude of these guys has led to stick to their stand on not making Nepal a federal state if making then on their terms only. Their terms are ‘damn it with the minorities, ignore their demands to redress their past sufferings under the monarchical rule, and enforce their rule not the rule of law, amass a huge assets by whatever means possible.’ This is simply unacceptable to the majority of the ethnic people and us, too.

We want to protect the rights of the minority and build an egalitarian society. We want greater equity, justice and prosperity of all Nepalis. We also want to end the tendency of the people not getting fruits of their labor perpetually as had been in the past. That is why the ethnic people and we have been for making Nepal a federal state and build provinces for the self-governments of different ethnic groups. However, the NC and CPN-UML guys clearly go against federalism and building provinces. That is how the majority of the ethnic people and the NC and CPN-UML go head-on collision. Some people called the current stand of the NC and CPN-UML against federalism and building provinces is the mind-set of status quoits. It is true that the NC and CPN-UML want to continue the age-old governance system and keep the majority of the Nepalis under their thumbs. However, we are in the 21st century; the world has been so small that a small group of people could never keep the large number of people under their control at any cost. It has been the thing of past, the NC and CPN-UML guys need to realize it.

Even going against the federalism, the NC and CPN-UML guys have to come forward with a number of provinces they want for a federal democratic republic of Nepal. So, all the major political parties have their own versions of federalism putting forward a number of provinces as they thing is the right one. Let us list the number of provinces each party has put forward starting from the largest party.

UCPN-Maoist has put forward 10 provinces with the combined names of ethnic people and geographic locations according to the publication made in the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of April 27, 2012. The ten provinces are 1) Limbuwan-Mechi, 2) Kirant-Koshi, 3) Tamsaling-Indrawati, 4) Newa-Bagmati, 5) Tamuwan-Gandaki, 6) Magarat-Dhaulagiri, 7) Karnali, 8) Seti-Mahakali, 9) Tharuwan-Lumbini and 10) Madhes-Birat. The Maoists have proposed the Chitwan area as a federal capital: an autonomous region governed by the center.

The NC and the CPN-UML guys rejected the 10-province proposal of the UCPN-Maoist saying it goes against the tentative agreement they had reached on six to eight federal provinces at the meeting of the leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF held at the Hattiban-Resort, Kathmandu on Sunday, April 15, 2012 and continued the next day.

According to the news posted on ‘The Rising Nepal’ of April 28, 2012, the NC came up with seven provinces. They want the districts such as Mechi, Koshi, Solukhumbu and Okhaldhunga in the eastern part of Nepal as one province, Saptari, Parsa, Udayapur, Sindhuli and Makanwapur with areas in the inner Terai as another, Nawalparasi, Bardiya and all districts in the Terai belt except Chitwan as a third province, districts of Bagmati zone and hilly areas of Janakpur zone as a fourth province, areas of Chitwan and Makawanpur districts as fifth province, hilly regions of Rapti, Bheri and Karnali as a sixth province, and finally, all districts of Seti and Mahakali zones as a seventh province. In addition, the NC wants to keep the current 75 districts intact. They did not assign any names to the provinces.

The UDMF vehemently opposed the NC’s proposal for the number and structure of provinces, as the proposal was against the Madhesis’ aspirations for ‘one Madhes-one Province’; the Maoist’s 10-province proposal was intended to build a consensus among the parties on the number of provinces, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of April 28, 2012 quotes Minister for Physical Planning and Works Hridayesh Tripati: one of the UDMF leaders as saying.

Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda has made it clear that the 10-province proposal of his party is the bottom line if the political leaders don’t build a consensus on it, and then the issue will go for votes in the Constituent Assembly.

The UDMF leaders stick to their demand for ‘one Madhesh one province’ but they are ready to compromise their stand on it with any political parties that come up with the logical proposal for the self-government of the Madhesh people. In other words they are willing to negotiate with any political parties for building a consensus on a number of states the Madhesh areas would have.

Tharus: the indigenous people of Terai are not for a single Madhesh province. They have proposed three provinces. On April 22, 2012, leaders of the Tharu community held a press conference in Bharatpur after the two-day national roundtable conference to make public the conclusions made, and have said that the Tharu community has the demand for making three provinces out of the Terai area, and no to the one-Madhesh Pradesh, ‘The Rising Nepal’ of April 23, 2012 writes. Tharu leaders have proposed to make three provinces such as 1) Tharuhat Kochila autonomous province comprising eastern districts such as Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Udayapur and Siraha in the east, 2) mid-Terai Simraugad autonomous province comprising Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rautahat and Makawanpur districts in the middle, and 3) Tharuhat Tharuwan autonomous province comprising Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilbastu, Dang, Banke, Surkhet, Bardiya, Kailali to Mahakali in the west out of the Terai area.

Leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF have continued to sit together to build a consensus on various disputed issues until the last Sunday, April 29, 2012 when the NC and CPN-UML leaders have come up with taking up the issue of forming a new consensual government stating it is the part of the seven-point deal they have reached on November 01, 2011. It is hard to say which political direction the current stand of the NC and CPN-UML on forming a new government before promulgating a new constitution would take the country. However, one thing it has made clear is that the NC and CPN-UML are not for working for what is best for the country but what would be the best for them.

We know that political leaders need to make compromise on many things to build a consensus on all contentious issues at the same time standing firmly on their bottom lines making it hard to reach the conclusions. Until the last Sunday, April 29, 2012, we have anticipated that these political leaders would somehow build a consensus on all disputed matters giving out some things and taking in some other things but suddenly we found that the NC and CPN-UML leaders came up with a different issue at the meeting of the UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF than concerning a new constitution, making all the exercises they have done so far in vain. We do not want any of the political parties betraying Nepalis and taking the country again to political chaos. We want them to work for leaving a legacy of making the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal flourish otherwise Nepalis would never forgive anyone of the political parties.

To be continued….