NATIONAL 4 - (Spotlight Weekly)

"This Is The Govt That Does Not Know The Art Of Governance"

— Pashupati SJB Rana

Former Minister and leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) PASHUPATI SJB RANA is a seasoned politician. A former Pancha, Rana has been elected in every election in the last ten years from his constituency in Sindhupalchowk district. Rana spoke to SPOTLIGHT on different issues of present day politics. Excerpts:

How do you see the present political instability in the context of infighting in the ruling Nepali Congress?

Fundamentally, we are facing a situation which is extremely grave. In fact the country is facing a crisis the scope and depth of which is unheralded for the last two hundreds years ever since the war of 1814/1816. The security situation in Nepal has deteriorated to such an extent that the government does not exist in large sections of the country. We all know that the government is limited to police checkposts and the district headquarters in Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Kalikot and Salyan districts. A very few people realize that a similar situation is being created around the valley. If you talk about districts like Ramechhap, Kavrepalanchowk, Dolakha or Sindhupalchowk, the government is not functioning except in the areas where there are police check posts and roads. The security situation is terrible and the government is simply not able to take control and provide law and order. In these areas, people are more dependant on Maoists as they are running schools and deciding cases. The extent of gravity is not being realized. People are living in Kathmandu in a fool's paradise. This is particularly worrying. The country is passing through this apalling situation but the Congress government which has secured a majority is engaged in infighting. It has frittered away this opportunity by infighting. It got rid of one Prime Minister last year. The present Prime Minister came in promising law and order, good governance and corruption control. Its been three weeks now since there's been a crisis. The government is simply not running. Its ridiculous to talk about good governance or bad governance in a situation where there is no governance. The Nepali Congress is simply not providing any governance.

Who do you think is responsible for the political instability in the country?

At this stage there is no doubt whatsoever that the Nepali Congress is responsible. They received the mandate. They have succeeded in converting a stable majority into a totally unstable situation. The situation at present is similar to that during the minority government era. The objective of the Nepali Congress during last year's election campaign was that they would give a stable government if they secured a majority government. Having received majority, they failed to show that their government is different than that of a minority. It requires genius to inject the virus of a hung parliament, into a majority of 113! The Nepali Congress with half a century of experience in running a party has proved that it has this unique genius. Nero fiddled while Rome burnt! at least he produced harmonious tunes. The Nepali Congress has produced nothing but discord and in-fighting while the country burns.

As you said that some parts of the country is under the Maoist control, what does the central government need to do?

I think the first thing the government needs to do is that they have to realize the gravity of the situation and that this situation should be discussed among all the important forces and institutions the country. This situation can not be solved by any single party or any single individual. The situation has totally gone out of hand.

What do you mean by common approach?

Congress has failed to carry out the mandate they have received and it has been proved that Nepali Congress government cannot solve the problem. This is, I must say, the most serious crisis the country is facing. How to sort out the situation is something that cannot be merely left to the Nepali Congress alone.

How do you see the role of CPN-UML regarding the Maoist problem?

UML also must be consulted as it has not come out with any particular approach to solving the problem. It is unlikely that anything can be achieved unless a common approach is formulated to solve the problem. Such talks that go to the heart of the problem have not taken place.

Then, how do you find the works of the high-level committee on Maoists led by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba?

Well, at the moment it is better to start talks with Maoists. But the condition of the dialogue has not been fulfilled. There is no palpable result so far.

Nepal is sandwiched between the two great countries India and China. In this light, is the growing Maoist insurgency a security threat for only Nepal or is it also to China and India?

Well, if you look at it from the point of view of interest of our neighbors, the minimum national interest of India or China would be that their national security should not be threatened by events within Nepal. So an efficient and competent national security system within Nepal is required. The total deterioration of the situation within Nepal could cause problems to India and China. That is the worrying part. That is why we must control the problem ourselves. If we don't control the security situation, our sovereignty may be threatened at some point. That is something that we cannot afford. All nationalists must get together now to put forward the national security of the country as the primary objective.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala recently visited India. There were many people who said the time was not opportune for the PM to visit India. What do you say?

That the visit was not made at the best of times was indicated perhaps by the fact that immediately after PM returned, he fell into an internal crisis. When he was not in control of the internal situation within his own party, going out seems to be a bit of a luxury, how expensive a luxury only the future will show.

How do you see the outcome of the visit?

In our evaluation, the visit did not achieve any major objectives but it didn't do any harm either at any rate its good to open l.ines of communications with our two neibhbors.

After the PM's visit to India, have you noticed any substantial progress in the direction of water resource development?

Most recently, the water resource secretary reported to the Mahakali Committee in the Parliament but all he reported was whatever there was in the joint communique. It is difficult to evaluate what has happened based merely on the basis of the communique. We expect the parliamentary committee to be taken into confidence by the government. But the situation is such that the political leadership does not have time even to come to parliamentary committee because it is so involved in internal struggle. The country is virtually at a standstill. This is not for the first time. The same thing happened twice during Mr. Bhattarai's time. How can you run a country like this where everything is brought to a standstill every two or three months.

So, how about the foreign policy of Nepal? Do you think our foreign policy is balanced?

Well, it is a good thing that foreign minister Bastola went to China after the PM's visit to India. This does indicate an attempt to maintain balance.

What about the possibility of developing Arun III project at a time when Nepal is yet to ratify the power purchase agreement?

My view is that the Power Purchase Agreement should be ratified. It has been over two years since the two countries reached this agreement. Keeping this kind of treaty in cold storage for such a long time is just silly. So the government should come forward and ratify it immediately. Arun or any other hydropower project in Nepal will be viable only if we have a buyer. That buyer could either be the private sector like capital market in India or the Indian government. Ratification of Power Purchase Agreement would be a great convenience for all this to happen.

Why is not the government doing anything in this matter?

It is not just this thing, everything hangs fire. Numerous bills have been brought to parliament and they are all hanging fire. Fundamentally, this is a government that does not know the art of governance.

While two major political parties Congress and UML have failed to raise issues that concern the people, what is the RPP doing?

We have been continuously raising the issues that we see are major problems. We have raised the issue of security, corruption and said that government must operate effectively. Governments cannot run like this in a totally disorganized manner. Ministers are not running their ministries. They are busy doing all sorts of other things. This state of total disorder is causing great harm to the country. RPP has demanded that the government start working and deliver results. In addition to that, we have raised issues of water resource. When the government tried to increase the power tariff, we objected. It is the RPP which continued to raise the issue of new agreement with the ADB that is causing all these problems. We warned the government to be very careful while representing national interest during PM's visit to India. We spoke on many fora including the Parliament about these issues. We were particularly keen about resolving the problem that arose with the inundation caused by Laxmanpur barrage and the long afflux bund but unfortunately that did not happen.

Nepal has a long history of political instability. Right from the Rana regime to Panchayat days there have been many instabilities. What could be the reason behind this?

You are right that the country has been witnessing instability since long. After the restoration of democracy Nepali Congress was able to run the show for three and a half years before it ran into internal problems. Probably, the reason lies within the political parties. If you look at the last ten years, the UML has split, RPP has split, it has come together again. Nepali Congress although it has not split has all the problems that a split could cause. It is not a monolithic party but a collection of factions. So the problem is perhaps inherent in the nature of the parties themselves. There should be a great deal of introspection regarding this.

Do you think this is the result of anything wrong in the process of political evolution?

I will certainly say that the time has come for us to look into ourselves, what we have done in the last ten years. This is the time for serious introspection regarding the balance of forces between different elements of the constitution. We need to examine what is the trouble. We need to work at making multi-party democracy just functional and productive.

As a member of parliament, how do you evaluate your performance?

I am deeply concerned by the fact that the central problem is the issue of governance and the problems of security. These things are not being dealt with. With the situation so grave, I don't think we can say that this is simply the responsibility of the party in power. The situation is such that in many parts of many districts, the government is absent. There cannot be a more serious problem than when the country's territorial integrity is being challenged. No person can feel satisfied at these moments. I cannot take satisfaction at my debating performance when the country is falling apart!

So, does your party have any plan to reorganize to give a serious competition to Congress or UML?

In this bleak picture before the nation, RPP can find a silver lining in the fact that the two major political parties of the country failed to deal with the problems of the country. There is a situation where we can extract the sympathy of the people. In these circumstances, if we organize our party we can go to the people and say look we have the ability and that the other two parties have failed. There is a chance there to mobilise opinion in our favor.