OFF THE RECORD (Spotlight Weekly)

"I Reserved The Right To Resign At Any Time"

- PALTEN GURUNG

PALTEN GURUNG, who had refused to be part of the new cabinet, changed his mind within hours and joined the other new faces in taking the oath of office at the Narayanhity Royal Palace. Gurung, who was with the dissident Deuba group for long, stunned many of his own party colleagues by bolting to the Koirala camp. The new minister for labor and transport spoke to SPOTLIGHT after the oath-taking ceremony on the reasons for his U-turn. Excerpts:

What led you to change your mind barely hours after issuing such a hard-hitting statement?

I changed my mind after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala made a renewed call for party unity. I decided to join the government in the larger interest of party unity.

At a time when such a large number of MPs are against the way the prime minister reshuffled the cabinet, how do you believe your joining it would unite the party?

Girijababu has assured me that he would take necessary steps to bring unity in the party. If he fails to fulfil his part of the pledge, I reserved my right to resign at any time.

But some of your colleagues see your decision as opportunistic. What do you say?

If you look at the faces of some of the people who are accusing me of opportunism, you can easily see the kind of reputation they have. As a member of the Nepali Congress, I cannot defy the order of party leader without giving adequate reasons.

After your decision to join the government, have you switched your loyalties?

I am a loyal Nepali Congress worker. I don't have group or sub-group loyalties.

Bhattarai's Man

In his formal reaction to the new cabinet, former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai publicly disowned Omkar Prasad Shrestha, who joined the Koirala team as minister of culture, tourism and civil aviation. After the new cabinet line-up was announced, the Koirala camp wasted no effort to emphasize that Shrestha was appointed on Bhattarai's "quota". For his part, Shrestha still considers himself to be Bhattarai's man. The new minister knows that it was Purna Bahadur Khadka, Dr. Narayan Khadka and others who are conspiring to poison his ties with his dear leader. Will Bhattarai reciprocate Shrestha's warm sentiments?

Shadow Statements

CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal is known for his long and winding speeches. The leader of the opposition spoke for over an hour at the inaugural session of the 19th session of the House of Representatives. There was nothing new or constructive in his speech. Nepal seemed to believe he was addressing a special parliamentary session on corruption. At a time when the country is facing many crises, Nepal focused on irregularities in the appointment of a teacher. It looked like the head of the shadow government was reading a shadow statement prepared by a shadow colleague.

Strategy For Survival

While reshuffling his cabinet, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has used a new tool for political survival: placing henchmen as ministers of state in key ministries. Take the instances of Finance Minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Omkar Prasad Shrestha Forest and Soil Conservation Minister Prakash Koirala. All have diehard Koirala loyalists - Gopal Rai, Mahadev Gurung, and Shiva Kumar Basnet - as subordinates. After two ministers declined to take the oath, nobody knows whether - or how long - Koirala's formula might work. But you have to commend Koirala's strategy of keeping rivals on a leash.

Partyless Politics

From the way some Nepali Congress members are snubbing their leader, it seems the politics of partylessness has come back into prominence. Barely hours after he issued a statement with Khum Bahadur Khadka against the manner in which the cabinet was formed, Minister of Labor Palten Gurung took a U-turn to take the oath of office. Another new cabinet appointee Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat suddenly felt sick. It really looks like the individual takes precedence over the party.

Film Formula

Nepalese film producers seem to be convinced that a film cannot be considered complete without a potent mix of sex and violence. This is probably why Haribansha Acharya's new comedy "Tan Ta Saraini Bigris Badri", too, contains the two ingredients in full measure. Whatever the production banner or story line, the celluloid formula seems to be the same.