NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Games They Play

As the opposition members continue their demand for PMís resignation, deadlock seems inevitable

By BHAGIRATH YOGI

The third day of the winter session of the parliament on Tuesday was no different. Opposition lawmakers came heavily upon the government and continue demanding resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala for his alleged involvement in corruption in the controversial Lauda Air deal. As opposition lawmakers started chanting slogans gheraoing his rostrum, Speaker Taranath Ranabhat adjourned the meeting till Wednesday morning. "We will not allow running regular business of the House until the issue of Lauda controversy is resolved," declared UML spokesman and legislator Pradip Nepal.

PM Koirala : Feeling the heat

Ruling party lawmakers looked ill-prepared to counter massive attacks mounted by the opposition. Former assistant minister for civil aviation, Narayan Singh Pun-- referred to as a ërescue MPí by the opposition-- defended the state-owned Royal Nepal Airlines Corporationís decision to lease a wide-body aircraft from Lauda Air, an Austrian company. RNAC had leased the plane for a period of 18 months beginning December last year. "In the history of RNAC, the said deal is one of the most competitive and transparent one," said Pun. "There is no room for irregularity in the entire deal."

The ruling lawmakers defended the governmentís decision and said it was wrong to demand Prime Ministerís resignation at a time when the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is probing into the deal and is yet to come up with its findings. Prime Minister Koirala, too, brushed aside the allegations and said he would not resign under pressure. "The opposition should come in a constitutional way," Koirala told reporters in his hometown, Biratnagar, early this week.

Opposition members seem to be in no mood to listen to Koirala. Referring to the suspending of executive chairman of RNAC, Hari Bhakta Shrestha, and resignation by Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture Tarini Dutta Chataut, they said now it was the turn of the Prime Minister. "The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament has found the deal as an irregular one and against the interests of the RNAC after investigation," said Lilamani Pokhrel, a United Peopleís Front lawmaker. "As the Council of Ministers is also involved in the deal, as the head of the cabinet the Prime Minister has no way out than to resign in order to facilitate investigation."

Prime Minister Koirala had told the PAC a few weeks back that they should wait until the CIAA comes up with its conclusion. "The government will help in booking the guilty if there had been any irregularity in the deal."

In the entire controversy, the opposition lawmakers have failed to establish that the Prime Minister or somebody else on his behalf have received the kickback. They have been alleging the government of disobeying the directives of a parliamentary committee. "We did not want to disregard the parliament. The RNAC was compelled to enter into the deal through negotiations as there was no response to four global tendered," said former Minister Chataut.

As the opposition parties have joined their hands in seeking resignation of the Prime Minister, the issue has turned into a hot political issue. "Our fight is not against Nepali Congress. All we want is to remove a tainted Prime Minister," said former Finance Minister and UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari.

Analysts say the main opposition UML wants to take benefit out of the simmering discontent within the ruling party. They also want to exert pressure upon the government at a time when it has failed to fulfill its basic duty-- to provide law and order to the people. Opposition lawmakers laughed away when Prime Minister Koirala reiterated his governmentís commitment on the opening day of the parliament last week (Feb. 8). Amid attacks from ultra-left groups like the Maoists and its splinter CPN (ML), the UML badly needs some issue to rally its party workers around and draw popular attention.

As the ruling and opposition parties find themselves in a deadlock, important bills like Armed Police Force Ordinance and Amendment bill in the civil code hang in balance. UML and other opposition parties have registered a notification at the Parliament saying that they will not support the ordinance. The government wants the bill to be passed as early as possible in order to mobilize the force to contain the five-year-old Maoist rebellion.

Known as the "bill session," the winter session of the parliament was supposed to spend its time in discussing the bills. Unfortunately, no political party seems to be serious over it. "The role of the opposition is to work as a representative of the people and hold the government accountable to the parliament," said Purna Man Shakya, acting chairman of the Society for Constitutional and Parliamentary Exercise (SCOPE). "But the opposition doesnít look serious in this issue as it is pressing for the resignation of the Prime Minister instead of discussing the issue of nationwide corruption in a comprehensive way and find a way out."

In its decade-old parliamentary history, there have been a number of impasse in the parliament over the issues including ratification of Mahakali treaty and alleged irregularities in the 1999 general elections. All those controversies were resolved through dialogue between the government and opposition parties. "This issue, too, can be resolved through dialogue in a similar way," said Shakya. "For this, both the ruling and opposition should work honestly and stop staging a political drama like this."

Will the legislators listen?