Sushil-led Government-48: Nepal: Nepalese Leaders Need Psychotherapy

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

“Anticipate good results from evil deeds is an illusion” U Ba Khin

The clique of NC and CPN-UML violated the fundamental principles of democracy making subject matters on federalism, republicanism, and secularism the agenda of no discussion at the CA. Condemning it, the RPP-Nepal decided not to participate in the CA sessions. It announced to launch the street protest probably in conjunction with the opposition front including the UCPN-Maoist and Madheshi parties. KP Oli had forgotten to talk decently. The clique set to promulgate a new constitution by the two-thirds-majority values. Such a constitution would be scrapped causing the waste of the high value votes. The Federal Democratic Alliance had demanded the government to send Oli for psychotherapy. Belatedly, Mohan Vaidhya of CPN-UML realized the need for unifying the left forces after he had tore it down. Chairman of CA Subhas Nemwang suggested reviving the Political Committee without thinking how the leader needing to have psychotherapy could sit with other leaders on the Political Committee.

Chairman of RPP-Nepal Kamal Thapa complained that the two-thirds-majority parties did not give him even a chance to get defeated by the two-thirds-majority votes not allowing three major subjects such as federalism, republicanism, and secularism to discuss at the CA; his party was boycotting the constitutional procedure to promulgate a new constitution; rather it would take the issue to the streets, according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 2, 2015.

The clique of NC and CPN-UML had been really powerful. It had no sympathy even for the loser. The clique had categorically rejected talking anything about the three highly contentious issues such as federalism, republicanism, and secularism. If they were not to discuss anything about these three issues then the CA would not have anything to discuss. The establishment and the opposition had been stuck on these three issues. None of the clique and the opposition was prepared to step back from their stand on these issues.

The ‘proposal-making committee’ had set up a nine-member subcommittee to prepare subject matters to discuss. It has categorically stated that subject matters concerning federalism, republicanism, and secularism were off-limits to discussion. The three-member RPP-Nepal team quit the ‘proposal-making committee’ in protest of not discussing the three contentious issues of a new constitution. The clique of NC and CPN-UML wanted to impose its will for crafting a new constitution in the way it wanted, on other political parties. The authoritarian rule was about to impose in Nepal.

The clique of NC and CPN-UML was not discussing federalism, republicanism, and secularism meant they could directly use their high value votes for promulgating a new constitution. The clique could take up a new constitution and passed it by the two-thirds-voice votes at the CA. They had more than two-thirds members that each member had been priced at Rs 20 millions at the CA to shout their voice votes for any bills to pass. So, each vote in terms of money values was very precious for the clique. They did not want to lose those votes as long as they were theirs.

They claimed that they have 450 members willing to vote for the clique. The clique could use 450xRs20 millions=Rs9,000 millions worth of members’ votes in the current CA. This amount was too large for a poor country like Nepal to ignore. Each CA member’s vote had been so expensive. Those votes were being used for a new constitution that would be scrapped immediately after promulgation. It was really the waste of money and energy that Nepal could not afford. Was it worth to promulgate such a new constitution by the two-thirds-majority votes? Not all.

Mr. KP Oli had been in a hurry to promulgate a new constitution of any sorts. He had been dreaming to take the office of prime minister immediately after the promulgation. He had shown so much of strength to say so many worthless things in public to laugh at the opposition. Probably, he had difficulty in understanding that he himself had been a laughingstock while knowingly or unknowingly making fun of others. From where, Mr. Oli had been drawing up so much energy. Had he not been on steroids?

Oli was not even a cabinet member. He was only a chairman of the partner party. He could be a prime minister at any time after the promulgation of a new constitution if the NC leaders including the prime minister were to keep their promise. The current fluid political situation gave the NC leaders a chance to break up the commitment. The opposition surely did not want Mr. Oli to be the next prime minister. He had been a political villain to the opposition when he was nothing but a regular CA member worth of Rs 20 million. His price would rise up sky high when he would become a prime minister. Then, he would be on sale for anybody to buy. He would sell all ministerial positions, and other high value official positions.

The political scenario did not favor Mr Oli for a next prime minister to be. He had been mad at the opposition for demanding to follow the constitutional procedures to promulgate a new constitution. The opposition wanted nothing but their say in it. KP Oli did not care about whether the world would accept his constitution or not to mention the Nepalese people. His constitution would most likely be an unworkable document. How Mr. Oli could anticipate being a next prime minister. Oli’s dream of being a prime minister after promulgating a new constitution would nothing but quixotic.

The funniest thing if not totally undemocratic the so-called democratic parties such as NC and CPN-UML had done was they refused the proposal of the RPP-Nepal to take the issues of republicanism, secularism and federalism to the CA for discussing and voting. These parliamentary democratic parties made republicanism, secularism and federalism a sacred cow that nobody could touch for anything. What an authoritarian attitude of the democratic political parties had been. With this attitude, what sorts of a new constitution these parliamentary leaders would promulgate remains to be seen.

Mr. Oli had said that the UCPN-Maoist would not garner even four slots in the next parliamentary elections, according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 2, 2015. Nobody knew why Oli had been so worried about UCPN-Maoist for the next elections. Perhaps, Mr. Oli was trying to convince himself that the UCPN-Maoist had been reduced to an insignificant party; it could not pose any challenge to him. That was exactly what the authoritarian ruler believed in the past and fallen from the power. It would be so in the future, too.

Ambassadors of United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, France, Finland, Norway and Switzerland met with Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at his Baluwatar official residence in Kathmandu on February 2, 2015 to inquire whether the ruling parties had been for promulgating a crash constitution. According to the news posted on thehimalayantimes.com, Prime Minster Sushil Koirala said that he could not build a consensus on a new constitution because of the some political parties taking rigid stand on certain contentious issues; so, he was following the due constitutional process that was also democratic.

Had Mr. Koirala any democratic values on his mind he had lost them at the CA passing the ‘proposal-making committee’ unconstitutionally. He had exposed his shameless undemocratic mind to the world. Those honorable European diplomats knew what were the democratic and undemocratic procedures. They had been concerned with the undemocratic procedure at the CA; so, they were at the Koirala’s office to enquire about it. Mr. Koirala’s claim for the undemocratic process as a democratic one had been irrelevant to the diplomats. They were there not for asking the prime minister whether the process was democratic or not but they were there for asking the prime minister why he had taken the harsh procedure that was unlikely to be welcomed by the common folks.

Speaking at the district-level preparation for the protest movement of the 30-party alliance, chairman of Nepal Sadbhavana Party Rajednra Mahato urged the government to take KP Oli to Ranchi for treatment. “Oli has lost the control of his speech. I demand the government to send Oli to Ranchi immediately for treatment,” the news posted on nagariknews.com quoted Rajednra Mahato, February 3, 2015. Ranchi is the renowned place in India for treating the psychopaths.

At the meeting held on February 4, 2015, the Federal Democratic Alliance affiliated to the UCPN-Maoist condemned the statement: “the 30-party front would stop the movement if the front-member political parties were offered Rs 10 billions” of the chairman of CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli; the alliance also said that it seriously suspected that Oli must be not only physically unbalanced but also mentally, too, to state such an apolitical, misleading, baseless, irresponsible statement; so, the alliance demanded the government to make an immediate arrangement for the treatment of Oli. The alliance also demanded to set up a high-level committee to investigate his statement to find out the truth and facts, and then to make them public if Oli were found mentally fit after the medical investigation. (Source: Demand For KP Oli’s Mental Treatment, nepalisamachar.com, February 4, 2015)

Chairman of CPN-UML KP Oli told the so-called intellectual audience at the event held by CPN-UML-aligned Nepal Progressive Professors' Association that the constitution would be promulgated no matter whether the opposition alliance led by UCPN-Maoist would participate or not in the constitution crafting process. “The constitution drafting process has moved ahead. Now, the country will get a democratic constitution and CPN-UML will take the lead,” the news posted on ekantipur.com on February 3, 2015 quoted Oli. He also said, “The upcoming constitution will be based on national unity, prosperity of country, sustainable peace, communal harmony and social transformation.” Would any rational people believe in Oli’s words? The answer is certainly ‘no’.

“Feeding milk to the poisonous serpent had been the mistake”, said Prachanda. “The serpent should have been killed hitting by a stick there and then”, regretted Prachanda, according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 4, 2015. Prachanda was speaking to the cadres at the cadre-training event at Bhrikutimandadp in Kathmandu on February 4, 2015. “Our mistake had been in trying to understand NC and CPN-UML”, he said. He declared a new war but this time a peaceful one. Prachanda also warned of building a large army if the ruling parties were to suppress the movement using the police and the army. He also sarcastically thanked Suhsil Koirala and KP Oli for pushing the opposition out of the CA to the people.

The 19-party alliance had decided to boycott the CA session the chairman had called for February 6, 2015 in protest of the CA adopting the two-thirds-majority process, and sessions of all the CA committees to be held. Alliance-member parties had not sent any representation to sit on the ‘proposal-making committee’. The alliance had been vehemently opposing the setting up of this committee. The alliance had announced its protest program. The alliance would not stop the protest movement until the CA would not adopt the process of building a consensus on promulgating a new constitution, according to the news posted on nagariknews.com, February 3, 2015.

For improving inter-party relations and for creating an environment conducive to expedite the constitution-crafting process, Chairman of CA Subhas Nemwang told reporters on February 3, 2015 that the time had been to revive the Political Committee (PC) that held together top leaders of four major political parties such as NC, CPN-UML, UCPN-Maoist and the alliance of Madheshi political parties, according to the news posted on myrepublica.com on February 4, 2015. "The major task of the political committee is to prepare favorable political environment when inter-party relations sour," Nemwang told reporters at his chamber at Singha Durbar on Tuesday. "So the top leaders´ committee can be one of the forums that can contribute to ending the ongoing deadlock," the news quoted Nemwang. The committee had remained dormant after the ruling parties NC and CPN-UML had been against discussing the disputed issues of a new constitution on the committee.

“Efforts are under way to resume talks before the political situation turns from bad to worse. The Political Committee could be the best platform to initiate negotiations," the news posted on ekantipur.com on February 3, 2015 quoted senior leader of UCPN-Maoist Narayan Kaji Shrestha. The international community has put immense pressure on the political parties for dialogue, and on Prachanda to abandon the protest movement.

The revival of the Political Committee was almost impossible in the current environment of some leaders had been intoxicated with the two-thirds majority while others had been for a new kind of revolution to tear down the two-thirds-majority political parties. How Mr. Oli of CPN-UML would sit face-to-face with Rajendra Mahato of Sadbhavana Party at the Political Committee meeting. Mr. Mahato wanted to send Oli for psychopathic treatment while Mr. Oli wanted Mahato to Bihar. The Federal Democratic Alliance also believed that Mr. Oli had suffered from the unbalanced mind; he needed to be sent for treatment. How Mr. Oli could sit on the Political Committee when Madheshi leaders had said that they would not talk to Oli until he apologized to the Madheshi leaders for his foul comments on them. Oli was not for apologizing. Would Madheshi leaders o swallow their ego to sit on the Political Committee meeting? Both the cases were unlikely to happen, so the revival of the Political Committee, too.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told the representatives of the Reporters’ Club that came to submit him a memorandum for expediting the promulgation of a new constitution that the constitution-crafting process would not stop at any cost, according to the news posted on ekantipur.com on February 3, 2015. “The obstruction caused in the constitution drafting process has been criticized and rejected ubiquitously. They [oppositions] don’t want to forge consensus and try to blackmail us when we ask them for an agreement,” the news quoted Koirala as saying. “As the prime minister, I have raised myself above party politics and even gate crashed Prachanda’s party meeting for talks. But he put a condition of dissolving the Questionnaire Committee. Who am I to dissolve a committee formed by the CA? I replied him I don’t have the authority to dissolve it,” the news quoted Koirala.

At the meeting with the chief of Asian Development Bank, Prime Minster Sushil Koirala said that democracy was indispensable for the prosperity of a country, according to the gorkhapatra of February 3, 2015. Mr. Koirala had been a smart guy to pretend as a democrat when all his recent activities had been the most undemocratic ones. He had been pushing the country to the political chaos and instability that would be deterrent to development and the prosperity of the common folks.

Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidya proposed to launch the “people’s action campaign” against the growing anomalies in society at the ongoing CPN-Maoist Central Committee meeting. Spokesperson for CPN-Maoist Pampha Bhusal said that Chairman Mohan Vaidya proposed initiating crackdown on corrupt, brokers and black marketers. “Now we are preparing to change the form of our protest programs. We will initiate the campaign to take actions against corrupt and black marketers. Anti-national elements will be exposed as part of the campaign,” the news posted on ekantipur.com on February 3, 2015 quoted Bhusal as saying.

Chairman of CPN-Maoist Mohan Vaidhya told the reporters at the press conference held at Budhanagar party headquarters in Kathmandu on February 5, 2015 that the unification of the revolutionary forces started off, according to the news posted on ratopati.com on February 5, 2015. The revolutionary forces advocating for changes had been in the minority after the general elections to the second CA; so, the NC and CPN-UML had disregarded the past understanding and agreements, and had been driving other forces including the UCPN-Maoist out of the CA resulting into the need for unifying the revolutionary forces, said Vaidhya.

In the past, Vaidhya exactly wanted what the NC and CPN-UML had been doing now. Then, he got it. He was trying to do the damage control after he had done a fatal damage to the revolutionary forces. He himself could not emerge as a revolutionary leader after splitting the UCPN-Maoist; he even lost the revolutionary cadres including Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav.’ How he would unify the revolutionary forces remains to be seen. He had already demonstrated that he could not even run his political party. His cadres had been joining either in UCPN-Maoist or in CPN-Maoist of ‘Biplav’. Vaidhya was trying to build a new house tearing down the large and beautiful one.

Not only KP Oli was needed to send for psychopathic treatment but also some other political leaders that had been doing and talking irrationally. If the State could pay Rs 14 million for the treatment of Prime Minster Sushil Koirala alone then the State might be able to pay another few tens of millions of rupees for treating the political psychopaths if the country were to have a new constitution acceptable to the common folks.

February 6, 2015