Troubling Signal

Madhav Nepal could rise to the occasion if he is able to rally the democratic parties around the core issues and find workable solutions to the country’s pressing problems. Unfazed by the Maoist attitude, he should continue trying to reach out to them, because their cooperation is vital to achieve his objectives and because so sooner or later they will have to soften their stance.

By Murari Sharma

After many false dawns, Madhav Kumar Nepal, the veteran leader of the Unified Marxist and Leninist (UML), has been elected prime minister of Nepal, while the Maoists, constituting the largest party in the House, boycotted the election. If the Maoist attitude towards him and his election is anything to go by, Nepal will have a tough time ahead, and his government could be short-lived. But this very existential challenge could give him the opportunity to prove himself as an outstanding leader.

Just four days before Nepal became prime minister, his predecessor Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, in an interview given to Nepal FM, declared that Nepal’s government would not last even for a single day. In his last speech in the parliament as prime minister, he personally criticised his successor and did not have a kind word for him in any shape or form. Sadistic to the core, this Maoist attitude puts in serious jeopardy the fragile peace process and infant democracy of Nepal. This is a troubling signal.

Dahal’s remarks have also made it amply clear that he has no respect for the tradition of giving the new government a honeymoon period of at least 100 days, so it could find its feet and announce its policies. Such tradition exists in the USA, UK, India and other democratic countries. This is as much a matter of minimum decency and courtesy between political parties as of practical expediency: until the new administration puts its policies on the table, there would be nothing to criticise.

In Nepal too, the opposition bench has shown such political decency in the past. The mainstream democratic parties – the Nepali Congress and the UML -- have shown such restraints whenever new governments have been formed. The Maoists, too, have benefited from such courtesy, when Dahal sat in the saddle of the now collapsed 10-month coalition government.

The Maoists are angry at UML, because in their view UML pulled the plug on the Dahal government at the behest of its “foreign masters,” perhaps a reference to India and the United States. They blame everyone but themselves for their failure, but the truth of the matter is this: the Maoist-led government was hoisted by its own petard. Their arrogance and their totalitarian goal turned out to be their ultimate enemies.

Evidently the Maoists behavior peeved their coalition partners by working arrogantly in power. Even though they have come a long way in the peace process and are the largest party in the House, some amount of humility could have taken them much farther. But they often acted unilaterally -- spent billions of rupees, transferred hundreds of employees, and removed political appointees, without taking coalition partners into confidence. They also protected their YCL cadres who killed, maimed and humiliated the partners’ workers.

Their agenda to capture power and impose people’s democracy was equally to blame for their failure. Never comfortable in democratic settings, the Maoists demolished opposition parties in rural areas by chasing their workers away. And they intimidated civilian and police bureaucracies into submission. Other political parties kept largely quiet. Emboldened by it, the Maoists began to grope the way to control the military, which was the last obstacle to their power grab.

In retrospect, the denial of term extension to 8 brigadiers was integral to this power-grab strategy. Most of these officers had opposed the integration of Maoist combatants into the military en masse. The removal of the army chief General Katuwal and appointment of his pliant deputy in his place broke other parties’ wall of patience. These parties walked out of the government, and President Ram Baran Yadav reinstated the general at the behest of 18 parties.

Once in minority, Prachanda had to either resign or face the no-confidence motion, as threatened by the Nepali Congress Party. To capture the moral high ground, he resigned accusing President Yadav of thwarting civilian supremacy over the military. The Maoists began to blockade the House and inflame the streets in protests to President Yadav’s decision, with support from some quarters. But the tide turned swiftly against the Maoists after Prachanda’s January 2008 videotape outlining his power-grab strategy surfaced.

Some leftist civil society leaders and brought them to the Maoists’ aid. It is truly sad that these leaders, who had earned immeasurable respect by playing active role in the People’s Movement II, got carried away and vilified the president, a committed life-long democrat. They should have shown known better and exercised some objectivity.

No one disputes that government functionaries should work within the ambits of law, and the military should obey the elected government’s decision. But in this case, the prime minister acted unlawfully to bring the military under his party’s control and the president foiled his bid by acting promptly, in an extraordinary situation. So the Supreme Court, which has the case now, should determine what went wrong.

Anyway, the Maoists are angry at UML for shattering their claim to indispensability and entitlement as the largest party in the house. Naturally they would want to queer UML’s pitch as much as possible. To start with, they prevented the House from electing Madhav Nepal as new prime minister for several days. And they will continue to sow thorns on his road in the future, if Mr. Dahal’s interview to Nepal FM and statement to the Parliament is any indication.

To make the Maoists look good in the public eyes, Mr. Nepal’s government must perform worse than Mr. Dahal’s. During the 9 months in power, the Maoists could not do one thing the people could remember positively. So they will make sure that the new government cannot function and do better than the Dahal government.

That means Madhav Nepal -- a sincere, dedicated and clean leader – will have to brace up for tough challenges ahead. His plate is full: he needs to provide leadership to bring the peace process to its logical conclusion, advance the process of writing a new and inclusive constitution, maintain law and order, and provide basic amenities of life to the people. He will have to perform while grappling with Maoist obstacles and ethnic and regional tensions.

But every challenge offers an opportunity. Madhav Nepal could rise to the occasion if he is able to rally the democratic parties around the core issues and find workable solutions to the country’s pressing problems. Unfazed by the Maoist attitude, he should continue trying to reach out to them, because their cooperation is vital to achieve his objectives and because so sooner or later they will have to soften their stance. The Nepali people and the international community will appreciate and support these endeavors.

So, Nepal’s task, though formidable, should not prove impossible after all, and he should last in his new post. My best wishes are with him.

(A former Foreign Secretary, Sharma was serving as Nepal’s ambassador to the United Kingdom until recently.—Ed.)

(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to editors@mos.com.np)

Have your say ! (Registration required)