National 2 (Spotlight Weekly)

Man Of Maturity

The leader of the main opposition party shows greater prudence than his in the Nepali Congress

By KESHAB POUDEL

If two recent statements of main opposition party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal regarding the dissolution of the House of Representatives and role of the King are any indication, they show that he is more mature and responsible than other Nepalese political leaders.

Nepal : Great transformation

Nepal has taken the dissolution of the House of Representatives as a normal constitutional process. Moreover, the republican communist leader has requested other party leaders not to drag the institution of monarchy into political controversy on his constitutional duty to accept the recommendation of the prime minister calling for fresh polls.

Having risen from a student leader of Thakur Ram Multiple Campus in Birgunj to the top of Nepalese politics, soft-spoken Nepal has shown mastery in negotiations and political maneuvering. Nepal's moves have often benefited his party. He has made political alliances from one extreme to another.

Nepal supported Nepali Congress dissident leader Sher Bahadur Deuba to oust Girija Prasad Koirala as prime minister last year. Not long after Koirala stepped down, Nepal cultivated Koirala against Deuba. As soon as Deuba dissolved the House of Representatives, Nepal's party decided to break its political alliance with Koirala and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

"Despite political differences over the decision of the dissolution of the House of Representatives, our party has decided to go for the forthcoming polls and get the people's mandate," said Nepal, at a time when senior leaders of ruling Nepali Congress are desperately searching for a way to avoid elections. "How can the UML oppose such a democratic move as contesting the elections?"

Koirala, a veteran of a party that supports constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy from the very beginning, regards the decision as a conspiracy by the King and the prime minister. Nepal, however, is defending the King for discharging his constitutional role. "It is a blunder on the part of political leaders to drag the constitutional monarchy in political controversy. If we criticize the King for [discharging] his constitutional role, it will set a bad precedent," the UML general secretary said, urging Koirala to face the voters.

The U-turn in the behavior of the two leading politicians may seem strange. Koirala, who has spent almost all of his five decades in politics defending the constitutional monarchy, is dragging the institution into controversy. But the leader of a communist party who rose in political arena selling the dream of a republic is defending the traditional institution.

UML top-notch leaders : 'United we stand'

Unlike many leaders of mainstream political parties, Nepal does not have an academic degree from a foreign country. He graduated from Thakur Ram Campus in Birgunj and joined politics as an active student leader. After graduation, he joined as a senior clerk of a commercial bank and became an active worker of the then-banned Communist Party of Nepal.

"Who knows, UML general secretary Nepal, a man still below 50 years, may emerge as a statesman in the coming days," said a political analyst. "If Nepal continues to associate himself with the right companions, he can be a good leader."
For his part, Koirala seems to be advised by wrong companions. Koirala, who returned to Nepal with the slogan of national reconciliation 26 years ago along with his visionary brother, the late B.P. Koirala, is now committing blunder after blunder, widening the gaps in his relations with the monarchy and the Royal Nepalese Army. It is surprising to see this sudden shift in Koirala, who until recently was urging the King to join his broader democratic alliance to preserve democracy.

"I don't understand whose interest Koirala is serving by denouncing the monarchy and the army," says a political analyst. "Is Koirala's latest confrontational move a part of national reconciliation?" In the last 12 years, Nepal has remained at the top of the political game. After the death of Madan Bhandari, Nepal has been general secretary of the UML. Even during the difficult period after the party's split, Nepal showed political maturity and succeeded in placing his party in the second position in parliament.

Nepal's latest comments show that he has abandoned the extreme posture of last year, when he led an opposition campaign that obstructed the House of Representatives for 64 days, pressing for the resignation of then-prime minister Koirala.

Shedding unparliamentary and undemocratic behavior, UML leaders have turned to where the main opposition party is supposed to stand. "In a parliamentary democracy, the opposition always demands elections," says a political analyst.

Nepal is still young and inexperienced, compared to almost all leading figures in Nepali Congress. But he has demonstrated political maturity in the weeks following the dissolution of House of Representatives.

Unlike Koirala, whose decisions still go unchallenged in the party, Nepal has to convince radicals and moderate leaders in the standing committee and the central committee. At a time when the senior-most leader of country's oldest democratic party is hoping to revive the House of Representatives for, Nepal has directed his party leaders to go to their villages to prepare for the elections. The UML leader has kicked off his campaign to activate party organizations and cadre for the polls. One of the important skills of Nepal is his ability to move his party from one extreme to the other with relative ease. Nepal and his companions have been successful in bring the party into the right track at the right time.

Whether it was in their role in parliament or their anti-monarchy demonstrations immediately after the dissolution of the House of Representatives in 1995, Nepal and his team have averted confrontation. Thanks to the leadership of Nepal, the UML is concentrating its efforts to unite the party and activate its grass-root level units.

"Although they are young and easily misled by political forces, UML leaders have shown maturity during times of crisis. They follow the rules of the game as soon they realize their mistakes," says a political analyst. "This flexibility has kept them at the forefront of Nepalese politics at a time when many old communist parties have disappeared and some small outfits exist only in name."

Nepal's self-assurance this time is understandable. If the Nepali Congress fails to settle its internal rifts soon, the party will end up as loser whether in facing the elections or in running a reinstated House of Representatives. Even if the court reinstates the lower house, it will not be possible for the Nepali Congress make much out of its majority status.

In what has virtually become a two-party system, the UML has established itself as a credible alternative to the Nepali Congress. In the elections under the first-past-the-post system, a third party hardly has any prospect for survival.

Born to a middle-class orthodox Brahmin family in Rautahat district, Nepal has seen his share of political upheavals in his career. Nepal, who served as deputy prime minister in the first minority communist government in 1995, is known for his ability to turn the situation in favor of the UML.

The UML's decision, like those of other opposition parties, including small radical communist outfits and the RPP, is politically justified. Whether the Nepali Congress contests the elections divided or united, Nepal's recent political statements can be expected enhance his party prospects - and his own political career.