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Kathmandu Monday June 25, 2001 Ashadh 11, 2058.
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Parliament session
The twentieth session of parliament which gets under way
today has a lot on its plate. There is the unfinished business which has stock piled
because the last session virtually aborted. One of the pending works is the bill relating
to property rights for women. This will have to be tackled sooner or later if it is not to
become a permanent feature of every parliament session to come. Then there is the budget
for the new fiscal year which the government has to navigate through the shoals. It’s
not hard to imagine what will happen to the nation’s housekeeping, if the opposition
manages to run this session of parliament also into the ground. There is also the
ordinance on the armed police force which requires parliamentary endorsement, if it is to
retain legal status. And on top of all that is the rough weather the treasury benches are
likely to face over a number of issues that have arisen since the last session. The public
security regulations which the government pulled out of its sleeve at the very threshold
of the new session will add substantially to the decibel level in the halls of parliament.
The horrendous shootings at the royal palace almost entirely wiped out Nepalese royalty
and the full implication is still sinking in. The incident will no doubt figure
prominently on the floor of parliament. Questions may be raised over the loose ends left
by the high level probe commission. Security lapses at Narayanhity and the place of the
palace in the general call for transparency will also occupy the attention of lawmakers.
Since the Prime Minister looks after the royal palace portfolio also his moral
responsibility is sure to become an issue. Which brings us to the other point.
The nineteenth session was a session that never really was,
and all because Girija Prasad Koirala saw no reason to resign despite all the opposition
clamour for his head. Signs are the opposition parties are gearing themselves up again to
go for the jugular, and damn the consequences. Although they have not been able to make
Lauda stick on Koirala in a purely legal sense, they have, rightly
or wrongly, seized the moral highground and are breathing fire at his stubborn refusal to
quit. But Koirala is no quitter, especially under pressure. If the opposition wants to see
Koirala go, they are going to have to give him a chance to go gracefully. They, and in
particular the CPN-UML, should also realise that their moral stance has rather weakened
since their refusal to find Bhim Rawal guilty of irregularity in another airplane lease
deal. The public sees this as a clear case of double standard. Continued hounding of
Koirala by the leftists and others who have made common cause with them may raise hackles
even among sections of the Congress camp which would otherwise revel in Koirala’s
difficulties. Meanwhile, though the opposition cannot oust Koirala on legal ground, he
himself should come around to realising that his continued presence at Baluwatar is doing
the country more harm than good. In fact there is some hint that he may just be waiting
for the passage of the budget before he does bow out. But bow out or not, both he and the
opposition should now show the maturity to prevent Parliament from dysfuntioning again.
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