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Kathmandu Friday June 29, 2001 Ashadh 15, 2058.
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UML
victory
Unexpectedly, the main opposition party CPN-UML got eight of
its members elected to the National Assembly the other day. After winning so many new
seats, the UML now has a lead in the Upper House of Parliament, which is also known as the
House of elites. Constitutionally, any bill originating in the Lower House has to be
endorsed by the Upper House before it becomes law. This is the first time the UML has
commanded a lead in the National Assembly. It betokens a kind of balance of power between
the ruling and opposition parties. Now the ruling party will find it harder to push any
bill through the legislature without some understanding from the main opposition party. At
a time when the country has not yet fully recovered from the shock of the royal tragedy,
what we need is political stability along with measures to maintain law and order more
effectively. A greater responsibility towards helping bring this about has now fallen on
the shoulders of the CPN-UML, given the critical mass it has just acquired in the Upper
House. The UML should think twice before bringing the functioning of Parliament to a halt
again like it did during last session. The UML has garnered ample strength to help direct
the country towards economic development. Many a time in the past it violated basic
parliamentary ethics. It is now high time it recognized the problems facing the country
and worked with the ruling party for the overall good. The UML victory should be a sign
that the country will be back on track following the royal tragedy.
With the National Assembly polls, the number of UML members
in the 60 member Upper House has gone up to 23, while the number of NC members has dropped
to 17. Ten members are nominated by the Monarch and the remaining members belong to other
political parties. The King has yet to nominate one member. The UML managed to get its
eight members elected after it agreed to support the RPP candidate. Now more than before,
the ruling party led by Girija Prasad Koirala cannot exercise its majority (in the Upper
House) to try and railroad legislation like the Citizenship Act Amendment Bill through
Parliament. It was this arrogance of majority as much as anything else that made that
particular bill so unpalatable to the Nepalese public. The motive behind the controversial
bill was also considered suspect in many quarters. The Nepali Congress government, which
has just come up with a fourteen point agenda for all party consensus, should work in
earnest with the other parties, and in particular the UML even if that means making some
sacrifices. The UML should for its part exercise a greater sense of responsibility towards
the country as a whole. That should be the message of its electoral victory in the house
of elites.
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