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Kathmandu Friday February 23, 2001 Falgun 12, 2057.
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PM meets Oppn leader
Fails to break deadlock
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 22 – Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala met the Leader
of the Opposition, Madhav Kumar Nepal, at his residence today in an attempt to break the
current impasse in the Parliament. However, the meeting failed to reach a breakthrough.
According to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Ram Chandra Poudel, the
Prime Minister asked the General Secretary of the main Opposition party Communist Party of
Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) to treat the Lauda Air controversy and the disruption in
the Parliament as two separate issues "so that the House can conduct regular
business".
The meeting lasted nearly one and a half hour. Nepal told Koirala that he
would have to consult other Opposition parties on the issue. Initially, both sides stuck
to their guns over the demand for the Prime Minister’s resignation. Defense Minister
Mahesh Acharya and Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola accompanied PM Koirala. The
other UML leaders were Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Ishwor Pokhrel, Yuvaraj Gyawali and Subhas
Nemwang.
Since its opening day on February 9, the 19th Session of the Parliament has
been stalled six times over the demand for the PM’s resignation for his alleged
complicity in the RNAC-Lauda Air wide-body jet lease deal.
Later speaking to The Kathmandu Post, both UML politburo members Adhikari and
Pokhrel admitted that the PM and his colleagues had indeed sought the Opposition’s
cooperation to help conduct the regular proceedings of the House. "We repeated our
five-party joint demand that PM Koirala has to resign to help facilitate investigations
into the controversial Lauda deal," said Adhikari. "They insisted on allowing
the Parliament to run and so it went. However, the atmosphere of the meeting was
cordial."
Adhikari revealed that they had questioned the PM on the reported four
proposals that he had presented at his party’s Central Working Committee meet to
break the present deadlock – his resignation, no confidence proposal against him in
the House, a national government comprising the parties represented in the House and a
snap poll. "We told him that neither are we demanding a national government nor that
a mid-term poll is the proper solution. Since we are not challenging the NC’s
majority, they could elect another PM. Koirala should resign and come clean. He can become
PM again if he is found not guilty."
On the UML’s proposal to include the other four parties – Rastriya
Prajatantra Party, National People’s Front, United People’s Front and Nepal
Mazdoor Kisan Party – the PM, said Adhikari, replied that he would discuss with them
at a later date. There is no schedule for immediate next dialogue with the government.
According to UML’s Iswor Pokhrel, Ministers Acharya and Bastola came to
General Secretary Nepal’s house in the morning, requesting today’s meet which
was confirmed during the Opposition parties’ meeting. "Our demand is legitimate
as PM Koirala has lost the moral ground," said Pokhrel, replying to the charge that
the Opposition had gone beyond its mandate in disrupting the House. "It is not a
politically motivated demand nor an issue of law and order. Since it is a case of
corruption, it is a criminal offence in which the PM is seen to be involved."
Pokhrel added that the agenda of PM’s resignation is the topmost issue
in the Parliament and until that was achieved, other matters could not be taken up. At
today’s meeting, the five Opposition parties decided that they will continue to
disrupt the House proceedings.
Meanwhile, at a programme called by Speaker Taranath Ranabhat, political
leaders and constitutional and parliamentary experts suggested the Speaker to continue
discussions with the parties to find a solution to the current impasse. Some
pro-government advocates suggested using the marshals to force the unruly Opposition
members out of the House and conduct regular proceedings.
Former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana suggested to Speaker Ranabhat to assert
his authority in asking the PM to be present in the House proceedings even when the
Opposition disrupted the House demanding his resignation. "PM’s absence is a big
factor in letting the situation worsen in the House. His presence in the Parliament will
make a big difference."
Terming the Opposition’s disruption of the House against the norms,
Dhungana questioned whether it was the communist parties that would decide which charges
should be levelled against whom. "Are they usurping the function of the executive,
the legislature and the judiciary?" Dhungana advised Ranabhat to ask the Opposition
to first table the PAC report on Lauda deal in the Parliament and ask them the basis for
their demand for the PM’s resignation. However, he blamed the infighting in the
Nepali Congress for the current crisis. A section of the MPs have been demanding
Koirala’s resignation.
Narhari Acharya of Nepali Congress too objected to the Opposition’s
adamant attitude. "How many Prime Ministers shall we go on changing?" asked
Acharya. He added that the party was fully united to face the situation.
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