Khaobadi and Maobadi

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

After the resignation of Prime Minister Prachanda on May 04, 2009, Nepalese politicians have been polarized in three distinct groups such as Khaobadi, Maobadi and Madheshi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF). Khaobadi have been working very hard to retake the power from the Maobadi since they involuntarily surrendered the power to Maobadi in August 2008. The result has been the polarization of the politicians; it goes against the people aspirations for working together based on the consensus politics. The political situation has been almost similar to the situation in mid 1990s. Madhav Kumar Nepal has no people’s mandate for leading the government, as voters had rejected him in both the constituencies he contested for a seat in the election for a Constituent Assembly.

Khaobadi blames the Maobadi for the failure of the coalition government headed by the Maobadi. Khaobadi says that the Maobadi instead of bringing other political parties under the fold, have pushed them further away from the Maobadi and the result is the collapse of the coalition government headed by the Maobadi. This argument has certain truth and the Maobadi has clearly could not work together even with the ideologically near party called Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) not to mention the so-called parliamentary democratic party called Nepali Congress (NC).

The character of the leaders of the CPN-UML has clearly marked that in fact they are Khaobadi and they have been ideologically closer with the Maobadi because of the common name of the CPN. They have failed in taking a clear and strong stand on the Nepalese politics showing the character of they can take any side if they get the chance of going to power.

Maobadi says that they have tried their best to work together with the Khaobadi based on the consensus politics but the Khaobadi did not agree to it; Khaobadi has rather delayed the decisions to be taken by the government led by the Maobadi based on different pretensions and has blocked the parliamentary session weeks and weeks and has called for nationwide shutdowns even on trifle matters.

CPN-UML members of the parliament have blocked the parliamentary sessions for weeks calling for bringing the killers of their cadres in Butwal to justice. They have blamed the local Maoist leaders for the murder of their cadres. However, even in May 2009, nobody knows whether the police have booked the killers or not. Certainly, CPN-UML leaders have put this issue on the back burner when they have the possibility of grabbing the power.

NC members have blocked the parliamentary session since April 20, 2009: the day the Maobadi Prime Minster asked the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rukmangad Katuwal for providing the government with the explanations for defying the government’s order in three accounts within twenty four hours. As a disciplined soldier, the CoAS submitted the explanations within the deadline set by the government for submitting the explanations. However, the Khaobadi NC members have continued to block the parliamentary session.

The political drama reached at its height on May 3, 2009 when the Maobadi government fired the CoAS Rukmangad Katuwal and appointed the Second-in-Command Kul Bahadur Khadga as an Acting CoAS just informing the President. Khaobadi leaders of both the NC and the CPN-UML held emergency meetings separately and then jointly decided to request the ceremonial President to overrule the decision of the Maobadi government on firing the CoAS and appointing a new CoAS.

Khaobadi succeed in its mission as the President bowing to the request of Khaobadi and ignoring the constitutional provision at the late hours of May 3, 2009, directly writing a letter to the CoAS and giving a carbon copy of it to the Prime Minister saved the job of the CoAS at the same time invited the constitutional crisis putting his own position at risk, as the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 has no provision for the ceremonial President to write a letter to the CoAS without the recommendation of the government even though he is the ceremonial Supreme Commander of the Nepali Army.

Maobadi Prime Minister at the height of his anger called a press conference live on the TV and blamed Khaobadi for inciting the ceremonial President to act unconstitutionally and give a stay-on-in-the-job order to the CoAS fired by the government has set up a parallel power center and committed a grave constitutional mistake, and has hit hard on the civilian supremacy over the army, and announced his resignation.

Khaobadi has claimed that they have saved the country from falling in the hands of the authoritarian Maobadi, and the President reversing the decision of the Maobadi government on firing the CoAS has saved the Constitution, peace process and Comprehensive Peace Agreement. They do not believe that the President has overstepped the constitution and invited the grave constitutional crisis.

The Maobadi members of the parliament have stopped the parliamentary business demanding the reversal of the unconstitutional decision of the President on ordering the CoAS to stay on in the job bypassing the government elected by the people violating the suzerainty of the people. They have said that they would continue to stop the parliamentary business until the President would rectify his unconstitutional decision. Maobadi has intensified the street rallies protesting the President’s unconstitutional decision on reinstating the CoAS.

The President has asked the political parties to form an all-party government based on the consensus politics giving May 9, 2009 the deadline. He knows that the Khaobadi alone will not be able to form a government without the cooperation of the Maobadi; however, he asked to do so to move on to another Clause of the Interim Constitution for forming a government of majority in the parliament.

NC leaders have proposed another Khaobadi CPN-UML leader for forming a government pretending NC leaders are not for taking over power even knowing that forming an all-party government is almost impossible, as they have just pulled down the Maobadi government unconstitutionally and the Maobadi will never agree on participating in an all-party government led by anybody other than the Maobadi. So, one Khaobadi has made fun of another Khaobadi proposing for doing the impossible thing.

Then, through the Speaker, the President is asking the political parties to form a government of majority in the parliament repeating the same story of putting the members of parliament in the market for buying and selling for gaining a majority in the parliament. The combined strength of NC having 113 members and CPN-UML 109 members of the parliament stands at 222 out of the requirement of 301 votes for a majority in the 601-member parliament. Khaobadi is short of at least 79 votes for forming a new majority government.

Newly emerged cocktail political party called MPRF as it has both the Khaobadi and Maobadi has 53 members of the parliament; another similar party Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party has 21 members of parliament. So, Khaobadi will not be able to garner a required majority for forming a government even with the support of these two Madheshi parties demanding for ‘Autonomous Madhesh Province’.

In fact, all Madheshi political parties want to revive the United Democratic Madhesh Front (UDMF) and fight for enforcing the Eight-point Agreement the UDMF has reached with Khaobadi Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on February 28, 2008. However, they have not been able to reach an agreement on this matter, yet.

Cocktail MPRF has come to the conclusion that the President has directly issuing the letter to the CoAS has violated the Interim Constitution, as the Interim Constitution has no provision for the ceremonial President to act directly with the recommendation of the government, and the Maobadi Prime Minister’s decision on firing the CoAS is also legally faulty.

Cocktail MPRF has decided that it will support the political party that will agree on ‘Autonomous Madhesh Province’. So, MPRF has precluded supporting the Khaobadi CPN-UML, as its Chairman Jhalanath Khanal has been deadly against it. So, if Jhalanath Khanal keeps his stand on not recognizing ‘Autonomous Madhesh Province’ his nominee for a Prime Minister will not be able to form a majority government keeping Maobadi out of the Khaobadi government.

In mid 1990s, NC and CPN-UML not forming a coalition government had caused a political disaster. They individually went back to the once untouchable politicians called ‘Panchas’ of the previous regime and played a very dirty political game causing political disaster. The result was they institutionalized the bribery, made the state administration worst performer, and received the title of ‘Khaobadi.’ Relatives and friends of the major political parties became rich overnight. The state banks and other state credit organizations became the victims of the corrupt chiefs appointed by the Khaobadi politicians.

The CPN-UML leaders have overstepped the suzerainty of the people selecting senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal for the position of Prime Minister if the suzerainty of the people means rule by the elected people’s representatives, as voters had rejected Mr. Nepal in both the constituencies: Kathmandu and his hometown Siraha in the elections for a Constituent Assembly held on April 10, 2008. Madhav Kumar Nepal has no people’s mandate for leading the government. The CPN-UML leaders appointing Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal to the member of the Constituent Assembly-cum-parliament based on the proportional representation system have made the fun of the suzerainty of the people and have shown the political moral bankruptcy. Constitutionally eligible person for the position of Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal has surrendered his claims for the position of Prime Minister to the unelected senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. It marks the political moral bankruptcy of the CPN-UML leaders.

If the parliament elects Madhav Kumar Nepal to the position of Prime Minister, it will simply endorse the CPN-UML’s overstepping of the suzerainty of the people, and it will be another constitutional mistake of the parliament after the President’s unconstitutional act of directly writing a letter to the CoAS. If the President appoints Madhav Kumar Nepal to the position of Prime Minister it will be the breach of the suzerainty of the people.

Khaobadi NC leaders not willing to sit in the same government with the Maobadi have gone against the people’s aspiration for the consensus politics; and the Maobadi failing in bringing the NC leaders under its fold has been inviting another political disaster. Some politicians have already foreseen the possibility of an authoritarian rule of either the extreme left or of the extreme right parties.

Sincere politicians and political analysts say that Nepal has no alternative to the consensus politics and an all-party national government. They also said that American Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher has correctly and timely wrote a letter to Former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala advising him to follow the consensus politics and go to the court if any constitutional problem arises. This means NC needs to sit together with UCPN-Maoist to resolve the constitutional crisis brought by the unwise decision of the President on taking direct actions on ordering the CoAS to stay on in the job.

May 16, 2009

Note:

1.    Khaobadi is a word coined by industrialist Rajendra Khetan in one of his TV interviews at the time when NC and CPN-UML were in power and Maoists were in rebellion. He has clearly hinted that NC and CPN-UML are Khaobadi. Literally Khaobadi means eaters, and Maobadi means Maoists.
2.    MPRF is the mixture of Khaobadi and Maobadi.
3.    President Ram Baran Yadav was the member of Khaobadi NC before he was elected to the position of the President.