OFF THE RECORD (Spotlight Weekly)

Koirala-Nepal Secret Meeting In Public

Nepal : Caught with the PM

The sight was unbelievable, given the political weather and the intensity of name-calling: a jolly Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala talking to main opposition party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal. When Koirala embraced Nepal, it was in front of Public Account Committee Chairman Subhas Nembang, another important player in the current political wrangle. Although the venue was a reception organized by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya, the meeting of various political leaders indicated that it was a political function. Whatever differences our political leaders have in the streets and on stage, Koirala and Nepal showed that they can, after all, stand together.

Bhattarai : Will Koirala feed him?

Bhattarai’s Drama

Former prime minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai declared that he would go on a fast-to-death if Prime Minister Girija Prasad continued in power. For political observers, that hardly came as news, as Bhattarai has a flair for colorful theatrics. When Bhattarai had a dispute with Prime Minister Koirala in 1995, he had declared his willingness to move to Benaras to spend the rest of his life in peace. Five years later, Bhattarai was prime minister again. Instead of going to Benaras after resigning under duress from Koirala, Bhattarai went to Bhaisepati. Nobody believes Bhattarai will start that fast-to-death. He has enough flexibility to change his mind once Koirala appears to agree to his terms.

Oli : Prediciting D-day for the government

Oli’s Edict

CPN-UML leader K.P. Sharma Oli declared that the Koirala government would not last more than two months. Oli’s edict was issued at a time when the six left parties announced three-day general strike. Whether the extended standstill will bring any new pressure on the prime minister remains to be seen, but Oli seems to be confident that Koirala will quit. Having come this long in pressing for the prime minister’s departure, Oli knows that it would not be easy for him to go to party workers with Koirala still in office. For its part, Oli’s confidence will boost the spirits of his workers. A mutually beneficial arrangement, indeed.

Singh-Thapa Alliance

At a time when his proposal for national consensus was finding few takers, Rastriya Prajatantra Party leader Surya Bahadur Thapa found a serious listener in Nepal Sadbhavana Party chief Gajendra Narayan Singh. Although Singh is yet to make any final announcement on the proposal, Thapa is happy to have had the chance to explain his views. Those who know Singh, however, do not believe he would fall for Thapa’s prescription. Instead of going straightway to the proposal, Singh may want to bring a new proposal with salient features pertaining to the terai.

Real-life Plot

Madan Krishna Shrestha and Haribansha Acharya have performed numerous stage shows on story lines revolving around fraud. When they encountered a similar situation in real life recently, what do you think their reaction was? Well, we may have to wait for their next show to find out who plotted what against whom.