Dr. Baburam Bhattarai Stays On-Part XXV

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

The current power struggle going on between the ruling coalition and the opposition coalition has been entirely for and against federalism while the power struggle going on in the NC and the CPN-UML is for meeting the ambition of individual leaders and their colleagues. Small political parties have been helplessly watching the activities of the major two opposition coalitions. The newly formed CPN-Maoist has been trying to find its place in this web of the power struggle. The ethnic politicians have been looking at the leaders of the major political parties with suspicion. The Madheshi leaders in an alliance with UCPN-Maoist have been enjoying cozy positions in the government. Democracy does not work without compromise but the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML doesn’t want to compromise their stand on anti-federalism, and the opposition leaders let the CA dissolved without completing its mission on crating and promulgating a new constitution. They need to play by democratic rules not by their own rules. They also need to know that Nepal cannot turn back from federalism.

Leaders of the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML have thought that they could avoid the federalism letting the CA dissolved, as the Head of State would follow what they would ask him to do in other words the Head of State would fire Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and appoint one of the opposition leaders to the office of prime minister. Thus, they could break up the ruling coalition of the UCPN-Maoist and UDMF, and then they could run the administration indefinitely, and hold an election to a parliament following the terms they would dictate. UCPN-Maoist and UDMF individually or jointly would have no choice but to take the issues to the streets but the Nepalese people would not support them. As such, UCPN-Maoist and UDMF would fail in their mission to set up federalism and federal provinces.

But the Head of State did not support the leaders of the opposition coalition, and did not follow the advices of leaders of the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML. Firstly, NC leaders Ram Chandra Poudel along with CPN-UML leaders such as Jhalanath Khanal and Madhav Nepal went to the Head of State and tried to convince him of the need for firing the prime minister and then turning over the power to the opposition coalition. The Head of State was not convinced of what the opposition leaders had told him to do, as following the advice of the opposition leaders meant overstepping the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007. Once in 2009, the Head of State had already committed a mistake directly writing the letter to the then Chief of Army Staff following the advice of the then opposition team headed by Jhalanath Khanal. This time, President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has made it clear to the opposition leaders that he is not for repeating the same mistake again and having a blot on his image. As the first elected Head of State of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav wants to keep his historical image as clean as possible, President Yadav has told those opposition leaders. Speaking at a public interaction event, one second-tiered leader of NC Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat had even said what the Head of State had been doing not firing the prime minister. Then, one leader after another of NC and CPN-UML went to the Head of State for telling him to fire the prime minister and turn over the power to them. But President Yadav did not move from his stand on not violating the constitution. Finally, NC leaders such as Sushil Koirala, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel together went to see the Head of State to try the Head of State follow their advice of firing the prime minister and turning over the power to them. That did not work, too rather President Yadav invited the top leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF on Friday, August 31, 2012, and frankly told then either they should build a consensus on reviving the dissolved CA and promulgate a new constitution or go to the polls for electing a new CA. Thus, the anti-federalists had desperately tried to take President Yadav on their side for achieving their goal of making federalism a failure but could hardly achieve it.

The struggle between pro-federalists and anti-federalists has not done with, yet. Anti-federalists do not mind continuing the current state of the ruling coalition of UCPN-Maoist and UDMF running the administration rather than going to polls or building a consensus on federalism. Even after the Head of State had forcefully told them that they had one choice: either to reinstate the dissolved CA or to go to polls for electing a new CA, the opposition leaders had not been prepared for recognizing federalism and federal provinces. The opposition coalition leaders have been playing the drama of talking to the ruling coalition leaders but they are not compromising their stand on anti-federalism. So, the outcomes of their talks are clear that the ruling coalition and the opposition coalition stay on where they have been.

Leaders of the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML fear that Nepal will have the federal setup means they will lose their firm grip on power. Most of the current NC and CPN-UML leaders have lost the people’s support. For example, President of NC Sushil Koirala lost the lection to a seat of the CA in 2008, Madhav Nepal of CPN-UML lost the elections in two constituencies, and a number of other leaders also lost the elections in 2008. Sushil Koirala and Madhav Nepal have been embarrassment to the respective party. They have no confidence in winning the people’s support but they need to stay on in power. The only way they believe to stay on in power is to grab the power and then stay on in power as long as possible.

Anti-federalists believe that federalism means the opposition coalition leaders will not be able to hold on to power. Most of the state power will be transfer to the federal provinces. The central leaders will have nothing to hold on to. So, these opposition guys will continue to fight against the federalists within their parties and outside their parties. For example, ethnic-origin leaders of CPN-UML have been fighting against the anti-federalists in the party. Most of the ethnic-origin leaders have been either to set up a new party or to force the anti-federalism leaders to accept the federalism and federal provinces. Similarly, the struggle between the federalists and anti-federalists has been going on in the NC, too but it is not as visible as in the CPN-UML. A team led by senior leader of NC Bhim Bahadur Tamang has prepared a report on federalism for the NC to adopt for federalism but nobody knows whether the NC leaders will consider it or throw it in a trash can remains to be seen.

The so-called NC and CPN-UML leaders have been so ambitious for power; they hardly allow their junior colleagues to enjoy power. For example, NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Vice-chairman of CPN-UML Ishwor Pokharel had joined the current government of Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai in May 2012 as deputy prime ministers. Then, in the last week of May 2012, as the deputy prime minister, Sitaula had even register a motion at the parliament to extend the term of the CA for three months to complete the crafting of a new constitution and then promulgating it. However, President of NC Sushil Koirala did not want to see his junior colleague Sitaula continued as the deputy minister and pulled him out of the government, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal followed the suit. Sitaula was deputy prime minister for about a week while Pokharel was for about three weeks. Then, the CA got dissolved thanks to Mr. Sushil Koirala, according to Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda.

If Sitaula and Pokharel had been in the government, both Sushil Koirala and Jhalanath Khanal would not be able to do much to topple the government; then, both Sitaula and Pokharel would enjoy the power for some time, that was what not digestible to Sushil Koirala and Jhalanath Khanal. Consequently, these poor junior leaders of NC and CPN-UML had be denied to stay on in power. Pulling out these two junior guys out of the coalition government headed by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, both Sushil Koirala and Jhalanath Khanal were sure to topple the government, and then to make Sushil Koirala the next prime minister; that was what in the mind of Sushil Koirala but Koirala could not speak it out, according to Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda.

Surely, Sushil Koirala would have been a next prime minister, had the Head of State President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav followed the advice of the leaders of NC and CPN-UML. If Sushil Koirala would have been the prime minister, he could have added another blot on the history of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. Sushil Koirala was not elected to a member of the CA-cum-parliament in 2008 but he was elected to the president of NC by a group of his followers in his party. He could easily be the prime minister if President Yadav had fired the current prime minister and appointed him to the office of prime minister but unfortunately for Koirala, President Yadav refused to follow the advice of the NC and CPN-UML leaders to do so saving the country from having another unelected person as a prime minister. Thanks to the NC leaders, failed in two constituencies to get elected Madhav Nepal became the first unelected Prime Minster in the history of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal making an irremovable taint of corruption in the history of Nepal. However, Madhav Nepal could make a lot of money for him to remain in the leadership of his party.

Small political parties have been helplessly watching the activities of the major two opposition coalitions such as the ruling coalition of UCPN-Maoist and UDMF, and the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML. These small guys could not play any significant role in the political games played by the two major coalitions. However, they could talk to the anchor of Radio Nepal: state-run radio, or speak at the events held by the Reporters’ Club in Kathmandu and vent their rage and despair. Chitra Bahadur KC had even attempted on holding street protests against federalism. He was one of the strong anti-federalists but he stopped campaigning against federalism after he got death threats, according to KC himself. Another small-party leader but the fan of a dictatorial regime is the leader of Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party Narayanman Bijukchhe. He has been asking the Head of State for taking over the executive power from the prime minister and running the administration absolutely. He also had been helpless either to influence the Head of State or other political parties to go for a dictatorial rule. His sphere of influence has remained the Bhaktapur district. Even that sphere has been eroding from his hands. CPN Mainali is another self-proclaimed leader of CPN-ML. He always talks a lot about the Nepalese politics but he lands nowhere in the politics of Nepal. Currently, Nepal has about three dozens political parties, and as many leaders as the number of parties to lead. Political parties grow as mushrooms for meeting the ambitious goal of leaders to lead but some of the political parties have been one-man show only.

The newly formed CPN-Maoist has been struggling to find a role in the current political game after splitting away from the UCPN-Maoist that has been holding the first position in the political game even after losing Mohan Vaidhya Kirana and his junior colleagues. Chairman of CPN-Maoist has been trying his best to place his party in the third position after the coalition of UCPN-Maoist and UDMF, and the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML. He had even visited China for 10 days to demonstrate the Chinese support he had but it backfired him, as upon arrival in Kathmandu after 10-day visit to China, he told the reporters that the Chinese had warned him of not going for federalism that would split the country into pieces; and he was not for such federalism provoking strong reactions from the pro-federalists. Chinese had refuted the claim made by Chairman Vaidhya. His meeting with the Head of State President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, and with President of NC Sushil Koirala did not produce any results for placing his party in the third position, as Chairman Vaidhya was not invited to the meetings of top leaders held to discuss the contentious issues or to build a national consensus. Chairman Vaidhya has formed an alliance but how it has been faring nobody knows. Ultimately, he has joined the hands with Chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal Kamal Thapa that has been madly pursuing his attempt on reviving the dead monarchy. So, CPN-Maoist has remained as one of the newly formed small political parties. On September 5, 2012, in a press conference held to inform the public of the decisions made by his party on the current political issues, Chairman Vaidhya of CPN-Maoist told the reporters that his party had prepared a 70-point demand to submit to the prime minister in a few days; and if the government were not to meet the 70-point demand then his party would launch a peaceful protest, and if it were not to work then his party might go for taking up arms. The 70-point demand is 30 points added to the 40-point demand the current Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai had submitted to then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in 1996. Prime Minister Deuba brushed it off; then the communists took up arms against the state, and fought a war for 10 years before signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Government of Nepal in 2006.

The ethnic politicians have been suspicious of the motives of the leaders of the major political parties. Some of the ethnic politicians have started off thinking that most probably all the leaders of the three major political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have been simply pretending to talk to each other just to deceive the ethnic people. So, some of them have thought that they need to form a strong political party to offset the anti-federalism stand of the major political parties. Others believe that they need to counter the anti-federalism stand of their political parties from within the parties. Some other ethnic groups prefer to go on their own to achieve their goals.

The Madheshis have formed a United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF). After the Madheshi movement in 2008, they have realized that as a UDMF they could have a strong voice against anybody, and could be a strong force to reckon with. So, UDMF has remained intact so far. An alliance between UCPN-Maoist and UDMF has been a strong force, and has been in power. Despite the persistent efforts, the opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML has not been able to tear down the ruling coalition of UCPN-Maoist and UDMF. Surely, some small groups of Madheshis led by ambitious politicians have been trying to claim a separate identity. For example, Sharad Singh Bhandari has formed a new political party breaking away from the party headed by Bijaya Gacchedar; Chairman of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Nepal Upendra Yadav also has been staying aloof from the UDMF. These guys surely will have a problem of going alone and not going with the UDMF: the force to reckon with.

Not participating in the all-party interaction held by the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA) in Kathmandu on September 4, 2012, the NC and CPN-UML have clearly demonstrated that they are anti-federalists. Leaders of NC and CPN-UML have used the stand of the FDRA on federalism as an excuse for not attending the interaction called for building a consensus on major contentious issues concerning a new constitution. They have said that the FDRA would lead the political parties to confrontation but they don’t realize that they have already confronted with the federalists not attending the interaction called by the FDRA.

In the meeting held at party headquarters Balkhu, talks between the leaders of CPN-UML establishment and the party's dissident leaders belonging to Janajati (ethnic groups) and Madhesi communities on Saturday, September 1, 2012, could not arrive at any conclusion; the establishment side urged the dissidents to remain in the party and that the differences could be resolved through dialogue. However, the dissident leaders said that they would take final decision once the party furnished a written response to their 9-point demand. Vice chairman Bam Dev Gautam led the team of leaders from the party establishment while another Vice-chairman Ashok Rai led the dissident Janajati and Madhesi leaders. Vice-chairman Rai and most other Janajati/Madhesi leaders are said to be preparing to float a new party, politburo member Gurung has said that he was not in favor of quitting the party right away, according to nepalnews.com

At the three-party meeting of UCPN-Maoist NC, and CPN-UML at the Balkhu headquarters of CPN-UML on Saturday morning, September 1, 2012, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda proposed a referendum on the key issues of a new constitution if the parties were to fail in building a consensus on the contentious issues through negotiations or through the parliament; Prachanda also suggested that the parties should be able to break the current political deadlock latest by September 16, 2012, according to myrepublica.com.

On September 2, 2012, the CPN-Maoist-aligned Limbuwan Rastriya Mukti Morcha Nepal has concluded the two-day national gathering held in Damak making a decision on reviving the ‘people’s government’, which was active during the 10-year-long Maoist insurgency. The ‘people’s government’ is needed to achieve the ultimate goals of the people and prepare for revolt, said the Morcha. Newly elected chief of the Morcha Dhruba Aangdambe said, “We decided to revive the people’s government to complete the unfinished revolution in Nepal.” “The form of people’s government may differ from the one we had during the insurgency,” Aangdambe added. He urged ethnic leaders and groups fighting for federalism to root for identity-based federal structure. Aangdambe clarified that his organization could form an alliance with other parties and Limbuwan groups for a separate Limbuwan, according to ‘thehimalayantimes.com’.

Inaugurating a two-day training held by the Nepal Student Union in Nagarkot, Bhaktapur on September 3, 2012, President of NC Sushil Koirala said that the nation was heading to a serious crisis due to the protracted political instability and transition; the NC boss attributed the lack of consensus and cooperation among the political forces to the protracted political instability. “The country was already facing crisis due to the lack of consensus and cooperation among the parties but with the UCPN-M’s recent act of forming a new alliance the nation is now heading to a serious confrontation,” he said, adding, any conflict in Nepal over the two mighty nations India and China could be dangerous, according to ‘HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE’.

The opposition coalition of NC and CPN-UML boycotted the all-party interaction held by the Federal Democratic Republican Alliance (FDRA) on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. The NC and the CPN-UML have termed the FDRA as a confrontational move, so they do not participate in the interaction. The Mohan Vaidhya-led CPN-Maoist also skipped the interaction. Speaking at the interaction held by the FDRA, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda said that the NC's leadership in the would-be election government would not be acceptable until there is an agreement on the issues of a new constitution and the reinstatement of the dissolved Constituent Assembly. Prachanda also said that the CA could be revived only for a few days to promulgate a constitution, but the constitutional issues must be settled beforehand. Speaking at the same interaction, Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai said that he was ready to resign any time but resignation without consensus between the parties would not make sense. "Consensus is what is important. Who comes to Baluwatar or Singha Durbar [as PM] does not make much difference," said he, according to nepalnews.com.

President of NC Sushil Koirala and CPN-UML leader KP Sharma Oli held discussions about the ways to resolve the ongoing political and constitutional crises at the Koirala’s residence at Maharajgunj in Kathmandu on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the ways to end the current political stalemate and formation of a national consensus government, according to press advisor of Koirala, Bipul Pokharel. Koirala and Oli have agreed to reject the proposal floated by the UCPN-Maoist to end the present stalemate unless Prime Minister Bhattarai resigns from the post. Both the leaders shared a common view on either reinstating the dissolved Constituent Assembly (CA) and holding fresh elections only after resignation of the Prime Minister, Pokharel said, according to ‘thehimalayantimes.com’.

At the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the NC held at the party headquarters, Sanepa in Kathmandu on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, NC leaders concluded that the formation of a consensus government was a prerequisite for deciding whether to go for fresh elections to a new CA or reinstate the CA; so, they would discuss all possible options to break the current political deadlock only after the issue of a consensus government is settled. "We are ready for discussions on all possible options but there should be a unity government to build an environment of trust first," said NC spokesperson Dilendra Prasad Badu emerging from the meeting, according to nepalnews.com

Speaking at a press conference held to announce the decisions of the party's central committee meeting on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya said that his party was going to present a 70-point demand to the government before launching a peaceful protest movement to take it to power. He said that the party would take up arms if the demands were not met. Chairman Vaidhya said that the list of demands to be presented to the government is concerning the nationality and the daily lives of the people in general. The demands will be presented within five days. The 70-point demand includes the 40 demands the then Maoist party had presented to the government before launching the armed insurrection in 1996, according to nepalnews.com

Speaking at a press conference held in Bharatpur, Chitwan on Thursday, September 6, 2012, Chairman of Rastriya Jana Morcha, Chitra Bahadur KC said that he was positive about federalism based on the identity of multiple ethnicity instead of a single ethnicity. He also claimed that the leaders of the major parties started to advocate for the multiethnic federal states after they failed to garner support from the people for the federalism based on a single ethnicity. However, he made it clear that his party still wanted effective decentralization under the unitary form of the governance saying that federalism would invite anomalies in the country, according to nepalnews.com

Unimpressed by the party’s response to their demands, the dissident group of CPN-UML led by CPN-UML Vice-Chairman Ashok Rai is gearing up for creating an alternative force holding a rally in various districts. They are holding a first rally of the dissidents called ´the forward-looking group in CPN-UML´ in Janakpur, Dhanusha district on Saturday, September 8, 2012. Earlier this week, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal had floated a nine-page explanation of the CPN-UML’s stand on the nomenclature and delineation of provinces in a new federal set up, and refused to accept the dissidents’ demand for a federal model based on single-ethnic identity, and Khanal proposed multiethnic provinces, according to myrepublica.com.

On September 8, 2012, talking to reporters at the headquarters of UCPN-Maoist in Kathmandu, spokesperson for UCPN-Maoist Agni Sapkota said that though they were almost close to an agreement on all issues, NC has been avoiding the negotiations citing party’s internal functions. Spokesperson Sapkota said that though there was an agreement to hold meetings on daily basis to resolve all contentious issues by September 16, meetings have not been held since the past few days.  “Earlier, there was CWC meeting. Now all NC leaders have gone to the districts. This has given us the impression that NC is not willing to reach an agreement,” he said, adding that CPN-UML was willing to reach an agreement on the issues any time. Spokesperson Sapkota said that his party was ready for both the options: fresh election or the revival of the CA to break the current political deadlock. “But NC seems unwilling because they fear the Maoists would sway the country’s politics no matter which option is taken,” he further said, according to myrepublica.com.

September 8, 2012