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Kathmandu Wednesday November 08, 2000 Kartik 23, 2057.
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Koirala to contest NC
top job
By Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU, Nov 7 - It is official. Prime
Minister and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala is standing for re-election
as NC president after all.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the 76
year-old Koirala said he was seeking re-election to the party's topmost post "to
fulfil many promises I made in the 9th General Convention".
Chief among those goals, Koirala said, is
to better manage and strengthen the party. Also, a bill on political parties now pending
in the Parliament, needed to be shepherded through the legislature, he said.
"It is my responsibility to see
through the Bill on Political Parties in the Parliament as I had initiated it,"
Koirala said.
The party president spoke of strengthening
the party and move it in an organised way. "After the mid-term general elections (in
1994) I had pledged to take NC back to its old state (of strength). Although there has
been progress, many things are yet to be done."
Koirala's announcement today puts an end to
speculation that the NC strongman would retire due to old age. His entry into the party
election fray is now certain to deepen the divide between his supporters and those of his
rival and predecessor Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, and young Turk Sher Bahadur Deuba.
Many analysts believe that Koirala is
standing for re-election to blunt the challenge from former prime minister Sher Bahadur
Deuba, who is almost certain to contest the top post himself. Without an alternative in
the Koirala camp, anyone other than Koirala himself could find it tough competing against
Deuba, analysts say.
For this reason, and to ensure that the
leadership is handed down to someone closer to him when the time comes, is Koirala
contesting again, they say.
At today's press conference, Koirala also
threw some barbs at his detractors within the party. Speaking about the street protests by
his partymen against his leadership, president Koirala said it was wrong to air party
matters outside the party forum. "But if someone does it, as president it will not be
proper for me to take any harsh measure."
As regarding criticism from the rebel group
that Koirala's aides had tampered with the roll of active members of the party ahead of
the general convention, the prime minister said that there were no such irregularities. He
said the list has been checked several times to remove anomalies. "I have personally
checked the lists of those districts where disputes have arisen to ensure fairness."
During the press conference, Koirala also
indicated that he had changed his leadership philosophy. While once he campaigned for
"one man, one post principle," he is now for "one man two posts," with
apparently both the posts of party president and prime minister going to himself.
About the reshuffle in the Cabinet, PM Koirala said "everything will happen at
its appropriate time".
Asked about the talks with the rebel
Maoists, the prime minister said the door for dialogue was always open. On the now
infamous Dinesh Sharma episode, PM Koirala said that the government had shown honest
intentions. "Dinesh Sharma's later statement, in which he said that the earlier press
conference was a forced one, could be concocted. If he had been under duress, then why
didn't he state so in front of the media?"
Sharma and another rebel were released last
week after a high voltage drama, in preparation of talks with the rebels. But the Maoists
have brushed aside talking to the Koirala government for extracting a statement from
Sharma.
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