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VOL. 03, NO. 01, June 01, 2009 (Jestha 18 2066)
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MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL
Rise Of A Phoenix
MK Nepal dons the cap of Prime Minister after many a false starts
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
Though Nepal was a front-runner for the position of prime minister and president many times in the past, he always had to contend with last-minute defeats.
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Name: Madhav Kumar Nepal
Father;s name: Mangal Kumar Upadhyaya
Address:Gaur Rautahat, Bhansar Tole, Ward no 3.
Date of Birth: 1953, February
Religion: Hindu
Education:
Trijuddha High school Birgung 1967
I.Com. Thakurram Multiple Camputs 1972
B.Com. Mahendra Moran Campus Biratnagar 1974
Politics
Since 1966 affiliated to communist ideology
1970 Joined Nepal Communist Party led by Pushpa Lal
1975-1976 Full time political worker
1975 actively involved in the activities in Jhapa and Morang district to constitute Central Party
All Nepal Communist Party Revolutionary Coordination Committee 1976
Founder member of Nepal Communist Party Marxist-Leninist
1994-2008 General secretary of CPN-UML2048-2056 leader of opposition in National Assembly
1995 Deputy prime minister foreign and defense
2000 opposition leader of Parliament |
This time, however, Nepal was successful at taking over the reins of Singhdurbar as the second prime minister of the republican Nepal.
A person who had lost from two constituencies – Kathmandu and Rautahat – in the last year’s Constituent Assembly (CA) election, he not only was nominated as a member of the CA but also was elected by the majority of the assembly as the prime minister within a year.
Last year, immediately after the April 10 election, then general secretary of CPN-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), Nepal, had called a press meet at party headquarters in Balkhu to announce his resignation as party chief following his defeat combined with the dismal performance of his party.
“As a leader of the party, I must shoulder the responsibility of this defeat,” he had then told the reporters.
He not only resigned from the position of general secretary of his party, Nepal also declined offers to stand in by-election.
But hardly a year later, Nepal has come forward to take up the mantle of chief executive of the country.
Nepal was little known beyond his party periphery before 1990. He was catapulted to the central leadership of the party as its general secretary in 1992 after then general secretary Madan Bhandari, whom many considered a charismatic figure, was killed in a mysterious jeep accident.
What he lacked in Bhandari’s charisma, Nepal more than filled with his political acumen and dexterity – which ensured that he remained a central character in Nepali politics for the next decade and a half.
In between, Nepal once became a powerful deputy prime minister during UML’s nine month rule back in 1995. He continued to hug the political limelight as a prospective candidate for PM’s position before, during and after the King’s direct rule.
CA Turn
Little over a year ago, Madhav Kumar Nepal’s party CPN-Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) had canvassed in a victorious mood for the Constituent Assembly (CA) election.
Buoyed by sundry opinion polls and newspaper analyses, Nepal was confident that his party would emerge with majority and he would become the first elected prime minister of a republican Nepal.
Those hopes were dashed when his party came in third behind Maoists and Nepali Congress (NC), while he, himself, had to contend with defeats in two constituencies.
But again, his hopes soared when Maoists dropped hints of backing him as the first president of Nepal.
The last-minute switch of loyalties by the Maoists meant that Nepal had to contend with defeat once again. He later told a magazine in an interview that ‘anybody else would have gone crazy (having suffered series of such near misses).’
Nepal’s stars changed four months ago when, overnight, he was not only nominated as a CA member after compelling a UML CA member to resign and make room for him, but also backed by all major parties including the Maoists to lead the powerful Constitutional Committee.
Whether in the efforts to bring the Maoists to mainstream or amid the political hard bargain during the often-tricky peace process, Nepal established himself as a flexible leader with a special knack for coordinating.
These same knacks were often criticized as signs of unstable and weak character by the critiques.
The man who had been knocked out a number of times during the contest for power by the NC president Girija Prasad Koirala in the past, ultimately became the prime minister at the strong proposal of the Congress veteran.
He was elected unopposed in the parliament. The Maoists boycotted the election process.
But that does not mean he remains unopposed in his affairs of state. He will have to face Maoists’ huge opposition at every turn. And that is where his much-clamored skills like flexibility and coordination will be put to severe test.
