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| Kathmandu Wednesday March 27, 2002 Chaitra 14, 2058. |
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Endless bickering
Not surprisingly, another bout of intra-party
wrangling has gripped the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) party. The rival camps within the NC
throw a tantrum of one kind or another frequently. Now it seems to be the turn of the
freedom of expression. The party took disciplinary action against those who dared to use
this right "recklessly" at party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) meetings
and elsewhere. Ironically, it is the NC leaders who tirelessly brand their party as
synonymous with democracy. In a dramatic move the other day, Dhundi Raj Shastri, Badri
Narayan Basnet, Chhabi Prasad Devkota and Keshav Marhattha were expelled from the general
party membership for one year. Their crime? A couple of days ago they issued a press
release urging the King to take on an active role to quell the Maoist insurgency. Minister
for Water Resources Bijya Kumar Gachchhedar, State Minister for Women, Children and Social
Welfare Rajendra Kharel and Minister for Information and Communications Jay Prakash Gupta
were not spared either. However, they got away with relatively moderate punishment. While
Gachhedar has been banned from attending two CWC meetings, Kharel was given a warning
letter not to make such derogatory comments. For the bigwigs of the rival camp, the
statement came by as a bitter pill to swallow. So much so, it raised hackles of great
magnitude within the ruling party. Which in all probability will further widen the chasm
between the rival camps who want someone younger and more competent to take over the party
reins. But this is asking for too much at least in the CWC, heavily dominated by the loyal
lieutenants of NC President Girija Prasad Koirala.
Crisis in NC is nothing new. But everytime it began to go
wayward, NC leaders like Krishna Prasad Bhattarai stepped in to defuse the crisis,
sometimes even keeping his own political power at stake. In a bloodless coup two years
ago, Koirala shunted him out of the office on the ground of failing to contain the Maoist
insurgency. Though the reshuffling was humiliating, Bhattarai stepped down gracefully, and
did not try to create troubles for Koirala and the ruling party in general. Even that did
not help. Koirala found the premiership too exacting. Ultimately, he resigned after his
army mobilisation plan failed to take off. Now, in the thick of the state of emergency,
his urge to power has rekindled. And as the President of the party, he is over-stretching
his power from all sides. He sent an official letter containing a list of do’s and
don’ts to his erstwhile protégéé Sher Bahadur Deuba. His recipe for a Broad
Democratic Alliance did not work either. He is also on record as saying: It is the army
not the government that imposed the state of emergency. "I know the people who
mobilised the army". Over the years he has earned himself a reputation for making
such inflammatory and inconsistent statements. But NC members are yet to muster courage to
take disciplinary action against the party President who is known for being consistently
inconsistent in the statement he makes. On this front too, NC must endeavour to usher in a
democratic culture. Also, there are pressing national issues to deal with, and the NC
leaders don’t miss a chance to acknowledge this in their speech. But such
acknowledgement gives a hollow ring when it comes from the mouth of those whose own house
is in disarray. The country is going through turbulent times, and the endless NC bickering
is the last thing the public wants. This will only help erode the dwindling popularity of
the ruling party. |
