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Peeved
donors
With the polarisation of forces into two camps, the ongoing conflict seems to be nearing a final showdown.
The King expanded his
cabinet in mid-July by
including a businessman,
one person with a criminal record (he served a jail term for attempted murder) and some others expelled from the political parties and known for their anti-democratic ideology. Meanwhile, the seven party alliance opposed to the February 1 move by the King came further close to the Maoists as the rebels seem to be coming to agreement with the conditions set by the seven parties.
It seems that the message communicated by the cabinet expansion might have prompted the parties and the Maoists to become closer. The decision of the Royal Commission for Control of Corruption (RCCC), however, to sentence former Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and a minister of his cabinet, Prakash Man Singh, to two years imprisonment on the charges of corruptly awarding a contract in the Melamchi project seems to be cementing the bond between the seven parties. Though Deuba and Singh might have been really involved in corrupt activities, the public opinion seems to be swaying in favour of the duo as the people have started viewing the RCCC as an unconstitutional body and the verdict as a part of a political vendetta.
The message of the verdict against Deuba has also irked the donors. The Commission rejected to accept a report from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the most important donor of the country and the leader of the consortium that was helping in Melamchi Project. The ADB report has concluded that there is no corruption in the Melamchi project as everything is done according to the standards and rules of ADB. The US government was very strong in its reaction to the RCCC verdict against Deuba. It termed the verdict as extra-judicial and a setback to democracy.
Even before the RCCC verdict, another major donor, Norway, announced a cutback on aid to Nepal in general, including for the Melamchi project.
When seen against the background of the repeated question from the members of the present government on whether the aid is meant for the general people of Nepal or a particular political system, the donors’ responses seem to be aimed at giving the message that the donations they provide is in fact for a democratic Nepal. India was likely to be an exception in this respect as she is trying to woo the present Nepali government to support India’s claim to a permanent seat in the US Security Council. However, India too lambasted the RCCC verdict terming it ‘regrettable’ and one that would complicate efforts for political reconciliation in Nepal.
The unity drive is gaining momentum also in the Maoist camp. This month the Maoist party reinstated Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and his colleagues in their respective previous position of party leadership (Bhattarai as a member of the standing committee of the party’s politburo) after seven months of suspending them for alleged activities against the party spirit.
Meanwhile, the government stopped the meeting of the dissolved parliament that the seven political parties were convening to discuss the budget for 2005-06. The government also amended the civil service law by an ordinance banning unions of civil servants. Meanwhile, student leader, Gagan Thapa, was arrested late July and kept in judicial custody on the charge of crime against the state. All these developments have helped to a growing polarisation of forces and increased unity among those opposed to the February 1 move.
With the main players in the ongoing conflict reducing to two as two of the three (political parties and the Maoists) are likely to be united, the final showdown seems nearer.
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