Backing
From Party
WHEN it came to the
crunch, despite some internal differences, Nepali Congress party made a wise decision
Tuesday to rally around Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The three-day meeting of the
Central Working Committee ended on a note that bodes well for the current administration
as far as the ruling party’s unequivocal support is concerned. The top leaders of the
party decided to bury differences and put up a united front to fight the present problems
confronting the nation. Former prime minister and founder leader of the Nepali Congress
Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and party president Girija Prasad Koirala both spoke in favour of
forging unity and forgetting minor differences. That the top brass has come out advocating
unity is only a sensible step. Any other kind of sentiments could have adverse effects on
the obtaining situation in the country which is, as was admitted at the meeting, at a
critical juncture. The government at the present moment is seeking to extend the state of
emergency for the simple reason that the battle against terrorism is not yet a mission
accomplished. That the fight would be over in a just a couple of months was never
considered a possibility to start with. Though there has been significant improvements in
the law and order and the Nepalese in general have heaved a sigh of relief at the
mobilisation of all security personnel, it is clear that the state of emergency needs to
be extended to allow the campaign to reach its logical conclusion.
This truth seems to
have dawned on all the Nepali Congress leaders if the expressions of support for the Deuba
administration heard at the committee meeting are any indication. Apparently,
notwithstanding some stray noises calling for a change of guards at the government, the
meeting spurned any thought of changing the horse mid-stream. Furthermore, the party
decided to appeal to all the parliamentary parties to endorse the proposal for extending
emergency submitted by the government on Monday following the commencement of the
parliamentary session. Such an appeal that comes from an undivided Nepali Congress house
should give further legitimacy to the government proposal. There are sufficient
indications already that the government would receive the needed votes on the
parliamentary floor to get an extension of the emergency. The issue of extension should be
wrapped up as soon as possible in the parliament so that the law and order problem could
be solved expeditiously.
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