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| Kathmandu, Friday June 06, 2003 Jestha 23, 2060. |
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Pragmatic wisdom
Five major political parties are not quite happy
with the appointment of Surya Bahadur Thapa as the new Prime Minister. Legal opinion
differs about the constitutionality of the King’s latest move in appointing Thapa as
the Prime Minister in place of CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, the unanimous
choice of the five parties to succeed Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who resigned on Friday
following the agitation launched by these parties.
Nevertheless, the return of ‘executive
powers’ to the council of ministers, which the King had taken in October after he
sacked Sher Bahadur Deuba and appointed Chand, is a major endorsement of the demand that
the five political parties had been raising through their agitation. While the five
political parties’ recommendation that Nepal be made Prime Minister cannot be called
unjustified, it was nevertheless, not constitutionally binding on the King in absence of
the House of Representatives.
The King, it seems, chose to go by pragmatic
wisdom in order to bring the constitutional process back to the trail after his October
Experiment did not quite work. Thapa has remained a strong supporter of the constitutional
monarchy and at the same time remained truly sympathetic to the demands raised by the five
parties. He has been thoroughly advocating the policy of conciliation between the King and
the political parties. By virtue of his stature, seniority and commitment, he looks more
suited to bring about the rapprochement between the King and the political parties. The
five parties’ mood of confrontation with the King and the judiciary, especially the
Supreme Court in the wake of Chand’s resignation probably spoiled Nepal’s case
more than anything else.
Although Nepal was not very forthcoming about
how he would solve the Maoists problem and how soon he would conduct elections as the
Prime Minister, he was more enthusiastic in spelling out other priorities like reviving
the dissolved House. This politics of muscles flexing was certainly going to put the King
and the Judiciary in confrontation with the new executive - something which was clearly
not what the country deserved at the moment.
Thapa’s pragmatic wisdom now faces a
crucial test since he is, for all practical purposes, a stop gap government meant to hold
elections where all political parties can have their legitimacy and the support tested by
facing the peoples’ court. It is, indeed in their interest to facilitate the process
of holding early elections by co-operating with the government on national agenda, from
inside or outside the government, including in the peace process with the Maoists. It will
be in the country’s interest if Premier Thapa can rope in these parties’
support. And at the same time, he should not repeat the previous government’s tactic
of encouraging and promoting individuals or groups opposed to the multi-party system of
government. |
