Time To Be United

THE internal democratic exercise that had pre-occupied the leaders of the ruling Nepal Congress party and its 113 parliamentarians in the Lower House of Parliament for some days was resolved when the no-trust motion registered against Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was effectively defeated on Thursday. While 69 out of the 113 Members of Parliament clearly and openly signaled their choice by voting for Prime Minister Koirala, 41 MPs, led by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, had walked out before the voting on the no-confidence motion commenced. The no-trust motion was registered against Prime Minister Koirala by 56 MPs last Thursday with the Nepali Congress parliamentary party. It may be recalled that since Thursday last and the day when the voting for and against the no-trust motion took place, the leaders of the ruling party, namely Prime Minister and President of the NC party, Girija Prasad Koirala, former prime ministers Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Sher Bahadur Deuba as well as other party stalwarts, had sat together for a number of times to find an amicable resolution. This search for a congenial solution went on till the last minute of the crucial day of voting—Thursday—on the no-trust motion brought against Premier Koirala by some MPs of the ruling party.

The fact that the majority of the ruling party’s MPs have made known their decision through an open balloting procedure may not be lost to all the MPs of the ruling party. And, more importantly, to other political parties and people who have had followed the internal democratic exercise resorted to by the NC in resolving the challenge faced by it in the form of a no-trust motion. For democracy, among others, not only means that opposing factions within or without a party take to peaceful ways—herein, balloting—to find a speedy yet amicable resolution to the challenges facing them, but the means resorted to should and must be open, free and fair too. As such, the ruling party, by taking to an open, free and fair mechanism—which, incidentally, is also in vogue in the Parliament to resolve any no-confidence motion brought against the government of the day by the opposition to clearly ascertain the will of the majority of the august parliamentarians—can be said to have set a healthy precedence in the parliamentary annals of the nation. However, having said that, what also should be mentioned is that the timing of registering of the no-trust motion by some MPs of the NC simply cannot be said to be appropriate. Nor, for that matter, opportune. The more so at a time when the government is not only grappling with problems that are begging for immediate and focused attention but also facing some grave challenges, the Maoists’ recalcitrant attitude and actions being just one. Moreover, the bringing of the no-trust motion by them at such a time when the entire nation is going through troubled and challenging times was generally perceived by a large cross section of the people as being motivated by motives that pertain more to the personal domain.

Now that the majority of the ruling party’s MPs have voiced their will freely, fairly and openly, the need of the hour is for all the ruling party’s MPs to not only put aside their differences, if any, but also to work unitedly with the parliamentary party’s leadership so as to fulfill the pledges that they, as their party’s candidates during the last general elections, have had given to the voters of their respective constituencies. For, surely the august MPs are in the know that problems and challenges facing their ruling party are plenty—while, on the other hand, the time for them to fulfill their promises made to their voters is always limited in a parliamentary democratic system of governance like ours.