Paving Way For Consensus

THE speculations have finally come to an end now. The "will he, won’t he" questions are now no longer relevant. In a not very surprising move, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala announced his resignation the other day. In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Koirala explained that he was stepping down in order to facilitate a broad national consensus in the country, which was very necessary for the resolution of some pressing problems facing the country at present. In what perhaps is a rebuke to his detractors, specially those from the opposition parties, Prime Minister Koirala said that he "preferred to give priority to new initiatives and roles in addressing the challenges of the nation and democracy rather than clinging to power". There is no doubt with this move, Prime Minister Koirala, who is the senior most leader not only in his own Nepali Congress party but in the country as well, has once again demonstrated his commitment and sacrifice for the cause of nation, people and democracy. For a senior politician like Koirala, who fought throughout his life for the cause of democracy, nation and the people, power and position probably are secondary, specially when the nation and system are in crisis. At this juncture also, by announcing his resignation, Koirala has paved the way for genuine national consensus in the country. When he came to power 16 months ago, Koirala had promised to ensure law and order, control corruption and provide good governance to the nation. He was sincere in making efforts to fulfil his promises to the people, though due to various reasons, including the mindless violence perpetrated by the Maoist insurgents, the commitments could not bear fruit. But his actions have proved that he was committed to his promises.

Even recently, the Prime Minister put forth a 14-point agenda for national consensus, which clearly demonstrated that he was genuinely interested in unity and consensus for solving the present challenges faced by the country and for nation building. But again, the already complicated situation did not permit him to bring every thing back to track during the short period of 16 months. It may be recalled that soon after Koirala came to power, he faced criticism not only from the opposition parties but also from within his own party. Opposition parties continued to block proceedings during the entire 19th session of parliament, the result of which was that some important Bills could not be passed and it was a set back for the entire nation. Koirala, as party president and Prime Minister, had the twin responsibilities —protecting the system and at the same time saving his own party from aimless factionalism. It can be assessed that he was not allowed to achieve success on these fronts. Against this background, his present decision to step down comes as a farsighted and liberal move.

Now, the nation is, indeed, in crisis. Both extreme rightist as well as extreme leftist elements have been unleashing attacks against the multi-party democracy in different ways. The Maoist rebels have been waging an armed insurgency in different parts of the country in the name of "people’s war", which has already claimed more than 1700 lives of security personnel and innocent Nepalese and also damaged property worth millions of rupees. Now, there is a big challenge for the government to control the insurgency, maintain law and order and provide the people a sense of security on the one hand, while raising the social and economic conditions of the people and the nation on the other. Development activities have virtually come to a stand still due to violence and terror in some districts. In the same way, the national economy has suffered because of instability and conflicts and the compulsion of the government to set aside huge budgets for security purposes.

At this crucial juncture, there is no alternative to national consensus and a collective fight against the common problems faced by the nation. It must be remembered that the present problems seen in the country are not those of the ruling Congress party only. It is high time that all political forces that have faith in the present constitution and multi-party democracy bury their differences and join hands in strengthening the democratic polity and ensuring stability, peace and development in the country. Conflicts, differences and debates are common in any democracy. But they should be constructive and resolved through dialogue. Such conflicts and differences should be resolved through compromise and consensus, which are the essence of a democracy. Koirala has shown enough flexibility and sacrifice for the nation by stepping down from the country’s top executive’s post even when he was enjoying a working majority in the Parliament. Now, it is the turn of other leaders and politicians to demonstrate similar attitude and spirit at the best interest of the nation. It is the need of hour that all political parties and people set aside personal and partisan interest and engage in nation building activities. As the hard won multi-party democracy is under attack and the national economy is suffering, all people and parties, irrespective of their ideologies and political leanings, need to be united to counter the conspiracies against the nation. For now, the Nepali Congress leaders must work unitedly and choose a new leader to take the reins of the government. It can be hoped with a new Prime Minister and a new team under him, the nation will see the end of various problems plaguing it at present.