Exit Of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

Exit of one of the infamous Prime Ministers in the recent history of Nepal, Madhav Nepal gave the political leaders more headaches than when he was in office. Dogfights have been going on among the leaders aspiring for power in all political parties. Certainly, some legislators will have either monetary benefits or will have the ministerial portfolios at the cost of the nation.

Immediately, after Madhav Nepal has announced that he is quitting the office on June 30, 2010, Chief Secretary Madhav Ghimire to the Council of Ministers has advised his colleagues not to work under the pressure of officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal and his ministers saying that the officiating Prime Minister and his ministers might put pressure on them to do things that don’t follow the rule of law; however, they are accountable to whatever decisions they make. So, they might face administrative actions if they make any decisions not following the rule of law under the pressure of Officiating Prime Minister and his ministers.

At the same time, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal held a meeting with Defense Minister, Home Minister and secretaries to Home and Defense Ministries and the chiefs of all the four security agencies at his office in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu and has directed them to be alert in view of the current fluid political situation after his resignation.

Announcing the quitting of his office, Madhav Nepal has acknowledged that he has been the hurdle to completing the peace process and the writing of a new constitution. "It is already getting late to prepare and endorse the government’s budget programs and policies. It is not appropriate for me to remain in office as the country was becoming a hostage to indecision and uncertainty for a long time," he said in a televised speech. "I want my resignation to pave the way for political outlet and consensus." Prime Minister Madhav Nepal said his resignation would pave the way for completing the peace process, drafting a new constitution and resolving the current political deadlock. "I hope that a month would be enough for the political parties to come up with consensus on a next government and on taking the peace process ahead," he said.

On July 01, 2010, speaking at an interaction held in Kathmandu, one of the Vice-chairmen of UCPN-Maoist Mohan Baidya has said that Chairman of his party Prachanda should be the Prime Minister in the new government, and his party will hold talks with other parties on building a consensus on forming a new government under the Maoist leadership and complete the peace and constitution writing processes according to the state-run news agency called RSS.

On July 01, 2010, leaders of twenty-two smaller parties held a meeting at Singha Durbar in Kathmandu to discuss their positions on forming a new government. They decided to urge the three large parties especially the UCPN-Maoist to build a consensus on forming a national consensus government acceptable to all 25 parties represented in the legislature at the earliest and include them in it. The legislature has the representations of 22 small parties and three large parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML.

On July 01, 2010, following the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, President Ram Baran Yadav sent a message to the political parties at the legislature to form a consensus government in seven days in other word by July 07. The Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 says “The Council of Ministers shall be formed under the chairpersonship of the Prime Minister, on the basis of political understanding” and (2) says “Failing the understanding as referred to in Clause (1), the Prime Minister shall be elected by a majority of the total number of the then members of the Legislature-Parliament (the fifth amendment to the constitution added the second sub-clause).

On July 01, 2010, the day after the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, the three large parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have started off internal discussion about the formation of a new government and making decisions on their actions.

The standing committee of UCPN-Maoist has held a meeting in the morning of July 01, 2010, and decided to start off talks with other parties to form a Maoist-led national consensus government, and set up a three-member-talks team led by Chairman Prachanda with the support of his two vice-chairmen such as Mohan Baidya ‘kiran’ and Dr Baburam Bhattarai.

The standing committee of the CPN-UML has also held a meeting on July 01, 2010 and discussed its position on a upcoming next government, and has decided to ask the UCPN-Maoist for its position on a national unity government and has been indecisive on whether to be a part of a national unity government or to claim the leadership of a new government.

Similarly, the central working committee of NC is to hold a meeting on July 01, 2010 but postponed for Friday. However, Vice president Ram Chandra Poudel and senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba have been lobbying for the position of Prime Minister of a new government.

The Chinese news agency called ‘Xinhua’ has reported that spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry Qin Gang at a regular news briefing held in Beijing on July 01, 2010, has appreciated Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Nepal's contribution to the development of Sino-Nepali ties. M.K. Nepal announced his resignation Wednesday at a press conference at his official residence in Kathmandu: the Nepali capital. He took office in May 2009. During his tenure, M.K. Nepal was committed to developing Nepal-China relations, and had made great contributions to the establishment of a long-lasting Sino-Nepali friendship and comprehensive cooperative partnership said Qin. Qin has reiterated the Chinese government adheres to the principle of not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. As a friendly neighbor of Nepal, China sincerely hopes the political forces in Nepal will seek political consensus through dialogue, jointly push forward the hard-won peace process and achieve national stability and economic progress at an early date said Qin.

On July 02, 2010, leaders of the UCPN-Maoist have held a meeting at the UCPN-Maoist’s parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar, Kathmandu with the leaders of eleven small parties that have representations in the legislature to court their support for an UCPN-Maoist-led government. As a largest party in the legislature, the Maoists say that they have the rights to form a new government but they are for a broad consensus government.

On July 02, 2010, the three large parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have agreed on an advance budget for the fiscal year 2010, as they anticipate the need of some time for forming a new government.

The officiating government will submit an advance budget as a special bill following the Article 96 A (2). Following the Fifth Amendment, the Interim constitution of Nepal of 2007 has made the provisions for ’96 A Special provision relating to revenues and expenditures’: (1) Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in this Part, if there arises a special circumstance where an estimate of revenues and expenditures for the forthcoming financial year cannot be laid before the Legislature-Parliament by the end of the current financial year, revenues may be collected in accordance with the Financial Act of the current financial year. (2) If there arises a circumstance referred to in Clause (1), the Minister for Finance may, setting out the reasons there-for, present before the Legislature-Parliament a Bill authorizing to spend in the forthcoming financial year an amount not exceeding one-third of the total expenditures of the current financial year. (3) The expenditures made pursuant to clause (2) shall be included in the Appropriation Bill.

On July 02, 2010, ‘The Himalayan Times’ online has reported that speaking in an interview given to a private television channel, Chairman of Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party (NWPP) Narayan Man Bijukchhe has said that the presidential rule should be imposed in Nepal to resolve the current political crisis. He said, “Even if the other parties are not ready to accept the presidential rule, it is the only alternative to resolve the crisis.” He said that the key to state power should be turned over to the parties only after curbing corruption and criminalization of the politics.

On July 02, 2010, speaking to the reporters at the International Airport after the return from the USA, Acting President of NC Sushil Koirala said that the NC Parliamentary Party leader would become the Prime Minister following the parliamentary norms and values, and the NC would start consultations with other political parties for the same following the principle of consensus, cooperation, unity and reconciliation and claim the leadership of the national consensus government stated Online ‘The Himalayan Times’.

On July 03, 2010, in a meeting held at the residence of Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has asked the UCPN-Maoist leaders for their support for him to be the next Prime Minister; in a reply the UCPN-Maoist leaders have said that it would be illogical and unjustifiable to pick up another CPN-UML leader to succeed the Madhav Nepal-led government according to the online ‘The Himalayan Time.’

On July 03, 2010, the CPN-UML legislators together called the CPN-UML parliamentary Party have held a meeting at Singha Durbar to discuss what should be their role in forming a new government in the wake of resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, and thanked Madhav Nepal for quitting the highest job. The irony is that the CPN-UML legislators are obviously happy to see one of them resigning from the position of Prime Minister.

On July 04, 2010, leaders of NC and CPN-UML have urged the leaders of the UCPN-Maoist to immediately enforce the first of the three-point agreement reached on May 28, 2010 saying the resignation of the Prime Minister and one-year extension of the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) have enforced the second and third points. The first point of the three-point agreement says, ‘We are firmly committed to work on the consensus politics to fulfill the historical responsibility for making a new constitution and doing the remaining work without delay in completing the peace process.’

On July 05, 2010, lobbying support for forming a CPN-UML-led government, leaders of the CPN-UML have held separate meetings with leaders of Madheshi political parties such as Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Nepal (MPRF-Nepal) and Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party (TMLP) at the CPN-UML parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar according to the Nepalnews.com. Talking to the reporters after the meeting, Chairman of MPRF-Nepal Upendra Yadav has said that he made it clear to the CPN-UML leaders only a national unity government is the option for completing the peace process and writing a new constitution.

On July 06, 2010, at the meeting held on the premises of the International Convention Hall at New Baneshwor in Kathmandu, the three large parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML together comprising more than two-thirds majority in the Constituent Assembly (CA) have agreed on preparing a new calendar of operation for promulgating a new constitution by mid April 2011.

On July 07, 2010, an all-party meeting of twenty-five political parties represented in the CA has agreed on appealing President Ram Baran Yadav for extending the deadline for forming a new consensus government by five days, as the deadline is expiring at the end of July 7. Three large parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have agreed on asking the resident for extra five days to complete the homework on the formation of consensus government.

On July 07, 2010, speaking at an interaction program held in Kathmandu, UCPN-Maoist leader C.P Gajurel has said that the NC and CPN-UML are pretending to be in favor of a consensus government; in reality, they are engaged in forming a majority government, as they have created all sorts of hurdles on building a consensus; there is a least chance of forming a consensus government in the next five days according to ‘Nepalnews.com.’

On July 07, 2010, the CPN-UML central committee meeting has made a decision on lobbying for forming a new national consensus government led by Jhalanath Khanal despite Madhav Nepal and KP Oli opting for a majority government led by the NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel according to ‘The Himalayan Times.’

On July 07, 2010, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has taken over the coordinator of the team lobbying for a national consensus government from KP Oli indicating the new heights of the intra-party conflict the CPN-UML have reached according to the ‘Nepalnews.com’

On July 07, 2010, President Ram Baran Yadav accepted the appeal of the political leaders of all the 25 parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) for extending the deadline for building a consensus on a new government for five days a few hours before the expiry of deadline.

On behalf of the 25 parties, five top leaders of the parties including CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal, NC vice-president Ram Chandra Poudel and UCPN-Maoist vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha went to the presidential residence at Shital Niwas in Kathmandu with a written appeal to the President for extending the deadline for building a consensus on a new government saying the seven-day period had been insufficient for them to reach consensus stated the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 08, 2010. "We have appealed to the President to extend the deadline and he responded positively asking us to make efforts for the formation of a national consensus government. We will utilize the extended period to build bases of national consensus by intensifying discussions among parties," NC vice-president Poudel told the reporters after the meeting. Maoist vice-chairman Shrestha said that the President expressed pleasure over the commitment of the parties hoping that the parties would be able to reach consensus within the extended period.

On July 07, 2010, NC leaders held a meeting with the leaders of the Madheshi political parties such as Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party, Madheshi People’s Rights Forum (Democratic) and Mahato-led Nepal Sadbhavana Party to lobby their support for a NC-led government; talking to reporters after the meeting, president of Nepal Sadbhawana Party Rajendra Mahato said that any kind of national consensus without the representations of Madheshi political parties would not be acceptable to them according to the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 08, 2010. NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel said, "We discussed on how the issues of the Madhesh could be addressed as the conflict can not be resolved without addressing the demands of Madhesh."

On July 07, 2010, Voanews.com has reported “no political party there commands a majority, however, and their efforts to draft a constitution – the first since Nepal abolished its monarchy two years ago – have foundered. In a move that could salvage the country's fragile and nascent democracy, Nepal's major political parties are discussing forming a new government. The talks follow a decision by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down after 13 months of political infighting. The United States is watching the situation carefully and encourages all sides to continue constructive dialogue and reach an agreement for the greater good of their nation. The United States believes it is vitally important for the peace process to go forward. Continued stalemate benefits no one. Mr. Nepal's departure provides a chance for the various elements in Nepalese society to come together and reach an agreement that allows for the process to move forward and return stability to their country. Hopefully, the parties will recognize this opportunity and use it.”

On July 08, 2010, Zeenews.com has reported that “leaders of three Terai-based political parties -- Madheshi People's Rights Forum (Democratic), Terai Madhesh Democratic Party and Sadbhavana Party -- claimed the right to lead a new coalition government as the major parties have failed to agree on the formation of a consensus government. During a recent meeting, the Madheshi leaders claimed that if the three major parties-- the main Opposition UCPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist, the key ruling alliance partners -- could not forge a consensus then it is the turn of the fourth largest block in Parliament to stake claim for the government leadership.” The three Madheshi parties together forms the fourth largest block in the 601-member legislature.

On July 08, 2010, the parliamentary party of the UCPN-Maoist has held a meeting at its office in Singha Durbar, and has come to the conclusion that there is no alternative to a national consensus government to ensure peace and constitution and has appealed all the political parties to seriously commit themselves to the constitution drafting process and a lasting peace stated the ‘nepalnews.com’.

On July 08, 2010, about two-dozen NC youth legislators have met with Acting President of NC Sushil Koirala at his Maharajgunj residence in Kathmandu and have urged the party's leadership not to go for a majority government but for a consensus government, as only it can ensure peace and constitution; they said that the previous majority government was a failure and that installing a similar government would be the repetition of the mistake according to the ‘nepalnews.com.’

On July 08, 2010, leaders of UCPN-Maoist have courted the leaders of Madheshi parties at the parliamentary party office of Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party (TMLP) in Singha Durbar; at the meeting, the Madheshi leaders advised the Maoist leaders to build a national consensus on a new government with NC and CPN-UML; they said that they would accept a Maoist-led national consensus government if the would-be government would take the concerns of Madhesh seriously; they also said that they would claim forming a new government if the three major parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML could not form a consensus government according to the ‘nepalnews.com’ and ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 09, 2010. Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, and vice-chairmen Mohan Baidya, Baburam Bhattarai and Narayankaji Shrestha, Chairman of TMLP Mahanth Thakur, Gacchedar of Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic, and Chairman of Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) Rajendra Mahato were present at the meeting. UCPN-Maoist leaders and the alliance of CPN-UML and NC have intensified lobbying leaders of the Madheshi parties for their support for them.

On July 09, 2010, NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel has said that the chances of forming a national consensus government are slim according to the myrepublica.com. During the meeting with a delegation of NC legislators at Singha Durbar, Poudel said, “The Maoists are not ready to accept our leadership. And, we also do not have a situation to believe in the Maoists to be a part of the Maoist-led consensus government.”  Poudel told the lawmakers that Maoists were for forming a CPN-UML-led majority government under the leadership of Jhalanath Khanal if their lobbying for building a consensus on forming a new government in their favor would fail.

On July 09, 2010, officials of the UCPN-Maoist: largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA) have held a meeting at their office in Parisdanda to make a decision on an action plan with calendar of events for implementing the remaining issues of the peace process including the integration of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel into the state security forces according to the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 10, 2010. "The action plan is a written form of our views on completing the peace process including army integration, which we have been putting forward in the discussions with the other parties," Maoist vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha said after the meeting held at the head office in Parisdanda, Koteshwor. Shrestha said that the action plan would be made public on Saturday after giving it a final touch. The action plan has included the ways and timeframe for integrating and rehabilitating the PLA including their regrouping, the number of the PLA for integration, return of the property seized during the decade long armed rebellion, formation of disappearance commission and disbanding of the ‘paramilitary’ structure of the Maoist youth wing YCL. On norms for integration, “we have said such norms should be formulated and on modality of integration, we have even proposed for making a separate force of the PLA,” said Maoist vice-chair Shrestha, adding, we are saying both peace and constitution writing processes should go together but we are ready to complete integration prior to promulgation of constitution stated ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 10, 2010.

On July 09, 2010, officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has warned outsiders of not showing unnecessary concern for the internal affairs of the country, the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 10, 2010 reported; in an apparent indication to the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), he said, "I urge the outsiders, who are not related to the statute writing process, not to show unnecessary concerns over the same." He said only eleven months were left to write the new constitution but the UNMIN had suggested a 14-month long timetable to integrate and rehabilitate the Maoist combatants. "This is a ploy to derail the process of writing the new statute," he said and added that the country did not need those experiences, which have failed to work in other countries.

On July 09, 2010, opening the national cooperatives orientation program held at the party’s central office, Balkhu, Jhalanath Khanal said that the second and third points of the three-point agreement had already been implemented and therefore, the Maoists needed to enforce the first point of it to create an environment conducive to build a national consensus on forming a new government according to ‘The Rising Nepal’ of July 10, 2010.

On July 10, 2010, nepalnews.com reported that Acting President of NC Sushil Koirala has accused the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) of being loyal to the UCPN-Maoist on a number of occasions; his party will "not at all" go for extension of UNMIN's tenure anymore; "We don't need such a mission," "UNMIN is operating in Nepal by crossing its boundary." Talking to a group of journalists at his residence at Maharajgunj, Koirala claimed that UNMIN is openly defending the Maoist activities against the spirit of the peace agreement according to the ‘nepalnews.com.’

On July 10, 2010, one of the vice-chairmen of UCPN-Maoist Narayankaji Shrestha has unveiled the action plan of his party titled ''Basis For Building Consensus On Breaking The Political Deadlock'' to the reporters at the UCPN-Maoist Parliamentary Party office, Singha Durbar. The plan is for integrating and rehabilitating PLA fighters placing them under the Special Committee that will integrate or rehabilitate them following their desires, and will set the numbers of the PLA fighters to be integrated within two months and integrate them within a month. It proposes to extend the term of UNMIN and its mandate in Nepal. Following the plan, the UCPN-Maoist will ensure the return of the seized property to the rightful owners and restructure the YCL immediately. The UCPN-Maoist was supposed to make the plan public after the summit of UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML leaders but CPN-UML chairman Jhalanath Khanal did not show up at the summit opting to attend the funeral of the district leader of his party.

The three major political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML would not be able to build a consensus on forming a new national consensus government within the extended deadline for forming it. The regressive forces lead by the NC leaders and officiating Prime Minister Madhav Nepal and his colleague KP Oli of CPN-UML have been strong enough to oppose the building of a consensus on forming a new government. Chances of forming a new majority government led by any one of the three leaders such as Prachanda of UCPN-Maoist, Ram Chandra Poudel of NC and Jhalanath Khanal of CPN-UML are high.

July 10, 2010.