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Kathmandu Sunday July 22, 2001 Shrawan 07, 2058.
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Deuba likely winner
By Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU, July 21 - Former Prime Minister and
young turk Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged as a firm favorite to be the next Prime Minister
as at least 62 ruling party lawmakers are known to have pledged support for him.
Party sources said that his rival, General
Secretary of the governing Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala, has been able to muster the
support of only about 48 MPs. Deuba’s stock rose after former Deputy Prime Minister
decided to withdraw from the race and throw his weight behind Deuba.
Although the stated objective remains to find a
consensus candidate as the next Prime Minister, hectic parleys in both the factions of the
ruling Nepali Congress marked the day on the eve of the parliamentary party elections to
elect the new parliamentary party leader on Sunday.
The election now seems inevitable to choose the
successor of the outgoing Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala as the chances of the
consensus candidate stands slim.
Tomorrow will be only the second time in its
54-year long history that the NC is going to choose its parliamentary party leader. The
first time was in March last year when the current frontrunner and former Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba had contested against his mentor Girija Prasad Koirala and had secured
43 votes against Koirala’s 69.
Talking to The Kathmandu Post today morning,
both Deuba and party General Secretary Sushil Koirala exuded confidence of being the
consensus choice of the party MPs and vowed to contest if the bid for consensus failed.
Deuba said, "I am one of the contenders and
expect to get the support of all the NC lawmakers," adding that he was prepared to
face the elections too. His body language suggested as much.
Observers say, he has reasons to be optimistic
with both Poudel and Khum Bahadur Khadka, former minister and powerful leader of the party
controlling a sizeable chunk of the MPs, have decided to throw their weight behind him.
Poudel did a see-saw with his candidacy till
late evening today. Though he initially projected only himself as the best-suited
consensus candidate, eventually he backed out of the race and issued a statement
supporting Deuba.
Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, NC lawmaker and close
Deuba-aide said that the outgoing Prime Minister Koirala could propose Bhattarai to
prevent Deuba’s chances to power. However, Bhattarai has reiterated what he said
after resigning back in March 1999: the leadership should pass on to the second-generation
leaders. Even Deuba remarked that neither of the two senior-most leaders would vie for the
top post any more.
Sushil Koirala said he "deserved" to
be the consensus choice and denied that his candidacy smacked of dynastic rule in the NC.
"My friends and supporters are asking me to take up the new responsibility."
Speaking about his "sacrifice", Koirala emphasized that he had not become a
minister even when he was offered portfolios in the past.
Speaking about how stable the next government
would be, both Deuba and Koirala said if the new PM was able to take the entire nation
into confidence, things would get back into right track - a mammoth asking by any account
in the current situation in the Himalayan Kingdom. When asked why no NC government was
able to complete its full term in the office despite the majority, Koirala denied that it
was infighting in the party. "Bickering in the party is a democratic practice; but we
have to follow certain values and norms of the parliamentary system which has not
happened."
However, Deuba admitted that the country’s
oldest democratic party had failed the people because those at the helm of affairs could
not manage dissidence in the party. Both the contenders do agree that Maoist insurgency
needs to be resolved at the earliest. Deuba opined that the new PM should first take the
opposition into confidence and then broach the dialogue with the Maoists.
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