COVER STORY (Spotlight Weekly)

A Fresh Turmoil

Resignation by Finance Minister Mahesh Acharya has thrown the nine-month-long Bhattarai government to tatters. With the Prime Minister unable to prevail over his ministers, anarchy-like situation dominates the cabinet meetings. Following the differences over the appointment of governor at Nepal Rastra Bank, Acharya has resigned sending wrong signals

By KESHAB POUDEL

When the Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar was releasing the report prepared by a special committee formed to probe the incident of IC 814 hijack, Prime Minister's chief advisor Dr. Narayan Khadka was inspecting Tribhuwan International Airport's security arrangements under orders from prime minister. Strangely, assistant minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Narayan Singh Pun was conspicuous by his absence during the press meet organized by minister Gachhadar.

Last month during the hijacking episode, when all ministers including Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka defended the security system at TIA, prime minister Bhattarai "admitted security lapse" before the Indian media.

Uncalled for interference by Bhattarai and his advisor Dr. Narayan Khadka along with other advisors in the administration has challenged the legitimate jurisdiction of ministers and secretaries.

Only last week, Kaushal Raj Regmee, the newly appointed Vice President of Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB), defied the directives of Education Minister saying that he was appointed by the Prime Minister. Interestingly, HSEB falls is a subordinate department under Education Ministry.

Sources close to Congress party say Acharya's resignation was also prompted by regular interference from Dr. Khadka whose ambition to become the finance minister was shattered following his ignominous defeat in the elections to the House of Representatives in 1999. Bhattarai had projected Dr. Khadka, whose wife is a Canadian citizen, as would-be Finance Minister.

The differences between Acharya and Bhattarai is not new. Six months ago, when PM promised a million rupees development expenses to each member of parliament, Acharya only sanctioned half that amount in the budget of current fiscal year. Though their relations have not been in the best of form, it was over the appointment of governor of the central bank that they publicly locked horns.

After intense discussions, prime minister finally informed Mahesh Acharya on Monday about the acceptance of his resignation. What turn the Nepalese politics will take in coming days remains to be seen.

Bhattarai's supporters claim Acharya's resignation will not harm the stability of the government. "Acharya's resignation will not affect the stability of the government," Dr. Narayan Khadka told SPOTLIGHT on Monday." Dr. Khadka declined to comment any further.

Bhattarai's camp accuses Acharya of betraying the Prime Minister, who they say had accepted all of his recommendations in the past. "Bhattarai projected Acharya as one of the very closest colleague in the cabinet," said one insider. "Prime Minister Bhattarai even tried till the last minute to convince Acharya to withdraw the resignation."

Unlike other ministers who have reconciled to Bhattarai's non-functioning, Acharya chose to rebel at the cost of his plum portfolio.

Last month, Minister Acharya left for India along with his wife for almost a month thanks to brewing misunderstanding with prime minister. As pressure was mounting on him to take some decisions which he did not like, he avoided it by absenting himself.

Finance Minister Acharya had been feeling uneasy from the very beginning of his appointment. During the presentation of annual budget when Dr. Khadka demanded to be included some points without any legitimate authority, Acharya had refused to concede to his demands. Finally, the governor's appointment was the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"I tendered my resignation after the prime minister rejected a candidate proposed by me. I don't see any reason to continue in office after losing confidence of the Prime Minister," said Acharya. "Prime minister is now free to choose the governor on his own. I proposed finance secretary Ram Binod Bhattarai on the ground that he understands the macro economic policies" said Acharya. He became the first minister to resign citing differences with the Prime Minister in the ten-year history of multi party democracy that was restored in 1990.

Although Acharya's resignation may have negligible political impact, the country may have to suffer in economic front. Already the World Bank has hinted that Acharya's resignation may postpone the meeting of Nepal Aid group scheduled to be held on March 15-17 in Paris.

"The change of finance minister will postpone forthcoming meeting of Nepal Aid group," said an economist. "This is not a time to think who is going to be governor or finance minister but the question is how to protect Nepal's interest."

As a damage control exercise, Bhattarai has already told his colleagues about his intention to appoint Ram Chandra Poudel as his deputy. Some suggest this is aimed at absorbing the shocks that will rock the party following Acharya's ouster. Others say the move is intended to keep the powerful second generation leader Poudel in good humor at a time when Bhattarai is feeling pressures from opposite camp.

For the first time after the formation of the Bhattarai government, Monday's marathon cabinet meeting lasted for four hours which took decisions to accept Acharya's resignation and replace him by Foreign Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat. The same meeting also proposed the name of Dr. Tilak Bahadur Rawal as the governor of the central bank.

Surprisingly, Prime Minister Bhattarai, who has accepted proposals of other ministers in spite of them being arbitrary, has opted to confront with Acharya. A month ago, Bhattarai had endorsed decision made by Minister for Water Resources Govinda Raj Joshi indiscriminately sacking eight senior employees of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

These incidents speak volumes about how the Bhattarai government has been functioning for the past nine months and how the situation of coordination and collective responsibility exists among cabinet members.

"If Prime Minister Bhattarai has no trust in his Ministers, he should replace them. Despatching his adviser Dr. Narayan Khadka to inspect security arrangements at the airport reflects lack of coordination within the cabinet,' said a constitutional expert.

Others do not blame Dr. Khadka. "As an advisor to the prime minister, it is his duty to follow Bhattarai's guidance and coordinate on different issues," said an observer.

In the event of lack of collective responsibility, the fresh dispute between Prime Minister Bhattarai and minister Acharya over the appointment of governor at the Nepal Rastra Bank was not surprising.

"At a time when Bhattarai himself has been exhibiting irresponsible manner humiliating his ministers, the latest resignation was long overdue," said a political analyst.

"When the Prime Minister is physically weak, he has no option other than to rely on non-legitimate persons like his personal advisers," said Sunil Bhandari, CWC member of Nepali Congress.

While appointing governor, Bhattarai relied on others instead of following his right and legitimate political advisor -- the Finance Minister. In a Prime Ministerial system, Prime Minister is all powerful and his ministers are regarded as political advisors and secretaries as administrative advisors.

Finance Minister Acharya is said to have proposed finance secretary Ram Binod Bhattarai as NRB's governor while the PM along with other ministers backed Dr. Tilak Rawal. Rawal- former chief of Rastriya Banijya Bank and a man from far western region - is said to enjoy strong backing from former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and 14 other ministers including party president Girija Prasad Koirala.

Observers see the nine-month-old Nepali Congress government led by Bhattarai as full of contradictions among ministers with the essence of collective responsibility in the cabinet virtually missing.

When prime minister Bhattarai asked finance minister Acharya to propose Dr. Rawal's name, instead of sending new proposal minister Acharya forwarded his resignation.

Heated debates and firy statements following the news of Acharya's resignation, brought up the chilling temperature of Kathmandu valley.

From the very beginning, the present government has failed to work according to the spirit of collective responsibility. Neither Bhattarai honors prime ministerial responsibility, nor ministers realize they are answerable to the sovereign people through the parliament, say observers. In the same breath, observers note that political advisers are not accountable to anybody since the constitution does not recognize them

Surprisingly, Nepalese history is full of chapters where a person without responsibility always remains powerful while the person with responsibility has to work as a dummy.

During the Panchayat days secretaries of Royal Palace exercised enormous powers though they did not hold any responsibility or any accountibility. Today, advisors are taking the position of yesteryears' palace secretaries.

Nepali Congress has faced crisis whenever power is exercised by persons who are not accountable to the people. During 1994\1995, Congress government collapsed when non-accountable persons tried to maintain their supremacy in the government. This time, too, one cannot rule out similar happenings.

By accepting the resignation of Acharya, Bhattarai may have attempted to contain the dissidence but it has invited mistrusts and chaos in the party.

The expulsion of Acharya has also sent bad signals to the donors and other international communities who are said to be backing Acharya's reform efforts.

In an emotion-packed interview, Acharya expressed his unwillingness to continue as the finance minister and said he would work as a full time party worker. Even after his resignation, Acharya is influential because of the political weight he carries inside the party.

The revolt by Acharya, who only last month had defended the beleaguered Prime Minister's leadership against the onslaught by Party President, is the strongest signal that the intra-party squabbling could go beyond the control of prime minister Bhattarai and his lieutenants.

"I have already expressed dissatisfaction on the functioning of the government. At a time when the country demands a strong and capable leadership, prime minister Bhattarai may not be able to provide it physically," said Sushil Koirala, general secretary of Nepali Congress.

The whole controversy surrounding Acharya's resignation, according to some ministers, could eventually prove to be futile especially so soon after the election.

With doubts surfacing in the party regarding his leadership, Bhattarai may well be content to go ahead with minimal changes in the cabinet. That is why political analysts may not be taking the resignation seriously. The damage control exercise after Acharya's resignation is set on a low key.

Insiders say Minister of Industry Omkar Shrestha and Dr. Narayan Khadka who are acting tough on Acharya's issue, do not enjoy political base. Once again Bhattarai has approached Ram Chandra Poudel and Sher Bahadur Deuba to initiate counter moves to pacify Acharya. On Sunday, Deuba met with Acharya to settle the issue.

Meanwhile, Bhattarai's followers are demanding the overall reshuffle in the cabinet by kicking out Koirala-loyalists.

Although the Congress is no longer pre-occupied with the survival of the government, lack of collective responsibility has weakened it.

"Congress leaders have never tried to understand the importance of governance. Acharya's resignation exposed the inefficiency of Bhattarai government," said RPP leader Rabindra Nath Sharma who predicted last month that the government will fall at the end of February. "The trouble has begun in the Nepali Congress."

The duty of prime minister is to form homogenous collective team --that is cabinet. When the government moves towards all direction, it can go nowhere.

Prime minister as a leader of the cabinet has a responsibility to coordinate with all ministries. At present, there is no coordination among different ministries.

Nepalese need a government which performs and functions efficiently. The Bhattarai government has proved to be a non-starter. Many important positions including the Secretary at the Ministry of Law and Justice, Secretary at Judicial Council and Chief Commissioner of Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) are still lying vacant even after months have passed.

Interestingly, the government in the last nine months has formed 34 committees to probe into and recommend different matters related to governance. The same cabinet meeting of Monday had formed a new committee to recommend the setting up of separate armed police department.

Due to Prime Minister's lack of monitoring, assistant ministers have already ganged up against ministers demanding better treatment and clarified authority. The credibility of the prime minister is at stake as he has failed to convince his subordinates.

Sensing the trouble that is likely to brew in the party against him, prime minister Bhattarai has begun to engineer splits within the rival Koirala camp to ensure the safety of his office even if Acharya deserted him.

With Bhattarai's command and control mechanism failing to improve the collective responsibility and coordination, the latest episode could torpedo the credibility of the government.

"There Is Virtually No Coordination Between The Party And The Government"

— Sushil Koirala

Sushil Koirala, general secretary of Nepali Congress, says Acharya's resignation is proper on moral grounds. In the aftermath of fresh tensions within the nine-month-old government, Koirala spoke to SPOTLIGHT at his residence in Maharajgunj on Monday morning. Follows excerpts:

What is the overall political situation at present?

It is totally frustrating. Law and order is totally broken and there is anarchy everywhere. Although this is a majority government, no one feels the sense of political stability. Due to political instability there is a growing trend of corruption and Mafia activities. From top to bottom there is corruption. Party workers and MPs are dissatisfied with the performance of the government. Last month, even a group of MPs expressed their anger against the government in writing but two leaders (Bhattarai and party president Girija Prasad Koirala) reached a compromise formula. We don't know what that formula is. After the compromise, I have not seen any kind of improvement in the performance of the government. The government is not clear about the Maoist problem. The party has already declared the Maoist insurgency as a terrorist problem. The cabinet ministers, however, do not have unified views. Some see Maoists as nationalists other see them as terrorists. The government is full of contradictions. It even released top Maoist rebel Dev Gurung. After his release, the violent activities have further increased.

It is said that there is lack of coordination among ministries. What do you say?

There is definitely lack of coordination. The government is not functioning properly. Even ministers are not satisfied with the performance of this government.

How is the coordination between the party and government?

There is virtually no coordination between the party and government. A coordination committee is there which includes two ministers and two party leaders as its members but it has not functioned. If the government had been serious about the committee, there would have been no serious crisis like the present one on the issue of appointment of governor. The government does not entertain the suggestion of the committee.

Bhattarai's loyalists are trying to discredit the party. How do you look at it?

I have already told you that there is no coordination between party and government. The government have not shown any sincerity to respect the party. In parliamentary system, the government should follow the guidance of the party. The mechanism should be developed to coordinate between the party and the government.

How do you look at the Maoist movement?

It is a conspiracy against the multi party democracy. There is nothing to believe that Maoist movement is a political problem. In the history of Nepal, there always has been the trend to go against political system.

What happened to the move made by some of your party MPs demanding the change of leadership in the government?

The tendency in our party is that two leaders seem to be beyond the party constitution which I don't agree with. I have always stressed the need to work under the institutional process in the party. Our party colleagues have demanded the change in the leadership on the ground that prime minister Bhattarai is physically unable to work. Our intention is not to remove Bhattarai disgracefully. Unfortunately, our senior leaders and some second generation leaders refuse to follow the democratic process. Sher Bahadur and Ram Chandraji all opposed internal democratization of the party. As long as there is a lack of institutional and democratic system, it is impossible to settle all internal problems. I am very frustrated to see the role of second generation leaders. Election in the party is necessary. Even if Girija Prasad Koirala was in similar situation like that of Bhattarai, I would have been the first person to ask for his resignation. We have failed to inject the feeling of majority government to the people. When some of our party colleagues demanded the change of party leadership through democratic process, I did not understand why second generation leaders vehemently opposed it.

How do you see the role of second generation leaders in the context of recent crisis?

As long as we don't follow the democratic procedures in the party, such crisis may repeat again and again. Every problem should be sorted out according to the party's internal democratic procedure. Some of our party colleagues believe that the two leaders are above the party constitution. I don't believe that. Every one is equal before the party constitution.

Are you satisfied with the performance of the government?

The question is not of my satisfaction. As a whole people are not feeling that there is a government. There is anarchy like situation. Ministers have their own terms and conditions. There is a need to change the behaviors of ministers. Political stability and law and order should be maintained to carry out the democratic process to a fruitful conclusion.