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Kathmandu Friday March 01, 2002 Falgun 17, 2058.
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Koirala capers
In sending a letter to Prime Minister Sher
Bahadur Deuba, his erstwhile mentor Girija Prasad Koirala has fired another salvo. But it
was not something totally unexpected. The letter containing a list of do’s and don’ts
is purportedly designed to bring Deuba onto the right path as desired by Koirala.
Political pundits were waiting for such a bombshell from Koirala who frequently comes up
with new schemes that disappoint his own party members and surprise others. Since the
bombshell has come, all eyes are on Deuba, anticipating his reaction to the challenge
thrown by the Nepali Congress President. Not that it has raised hackles of any great
magnitude in the political arena, not even within the targeted quarters. The letter
episode has made it loud and clear that Koirala is again in a fighting mood. This is how
those within and outside the NC interpret his disposition. And what more can they expect
from someone whose hands are itching once again for the levers of power? Having felt
powerless for almost six months, the septuagenarian leader seems to be hell bent on
donning the mantle of premiership yet once again.
But this is easier said than done. Girija Prasad
Koirala is now pressing the government to comply with his list of directives which include
trimming of the cabinet, establishing a commission to look into the property holdings of
public officials and taking stringent action against those who fail to disclose the
sources of their income. This is indeed an encouraging call, but it sounds rather hollow
coming from someone with Koirala’s reputation for making and breaking promises. The
public has not forgotten how he rode to power on the crest of three high sounding pledges,
and how he subsequently floundered. Hurriedly and in a humiliating manner, Koirala shunted
out former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai two years ago, citing his failure to
quell the Maoist problem. In profuse words, he pledged good governance, a crusade against
corruption and restoration of law and order. Forget the first two pledges. How the last
one spun out of control was seen and felt by one and all. Ultimately, he gave up,
grumbling aloud at being unable to mobilize the army.
Since the declaration of a state of emergency,
he appears to have gone into fits. His recipe for a Broad Democratic Alliance has not
worked either, and it has only been interpreted as a ploy to grab power again. Koirala is
now working with renewed energy to find fault with the Deuba government. But pinpointing
faults alone is not enough. Hitting them in a right way is what the political and economic
scenario of the country calls for. The country is going through turbulent times,
staggering under a slew of domestic problems. Further political instability now could be
disastrous. Another bout of bickering within the NC will only hurt party morale and send a
wrong message to the public which has entrusted the ruling party with a
"mandated" responsibility. Over stretching the intra-party wrangling will
further erode credibility and dwindling popularity. At times of crisis, such squabbling
may trigger unwanted moves from unlikely quarters. More than on anyone else, the gravity
of the situation must dawn on the NC bigwigs such as Koirala, Bhattarai and Deuba. Instead
of washing dirty linen in public, they must put their heads together and defuse the
intra-party crisis. Or else, the NC could turn into a crumbling fort. |
