 |
||
|
||
POLITICAL LEADERS |
|
||
|
||
POLITICAL LEADERS |
Gaining Maturity Leaders of major political
parties are urging their workers to prepare for the elections By A CORRESSPONDENT Following the dissolution of the House of
Representatives, leaders of the country's major political parties are urging their workers
and supporters to prepare for the general elections scheduled for November 13. Although a
section of the ruling Nepali Congress and small left outfits have filed a case at the
Supreme Court seeking a reinstatement of the House of Representatives, other major parties
consider the elections the best way of resolving the country's political crisis. "Although the House of Representatives
was dissolved as a result of deep internal differences in the ruling Nepali Congress,
there is no alternative to going to the people," said K.P. Sharma Oli, deputy leader
of main opposition CPN-UML. "If the government is sincere, the elections can be held
on schedule," he said.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP),
the third largest group in the dissolved house, the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) and Nepal
Workers and Peasants Party, too, have decided to knock the people's door, instead of the
judiciary's. "The RPP is ready to face the polls.
As a democratic party, we believe it is the rule of the game to face the people,"
said Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, vice-president of the RPP, which had 11 seats in the
205-member lower house. "It is the duty of the government to ensure free and fair
elections," he said. The opposition parties' decision to face
the elections stands in sharp contrast to their stand in the past. When prime minister
Girija Prasad Koirala dissolved parliament in 1994, when his government was defeated in a
parliamentary vote by dissidents from his own party, a faction of the Nepali Congress
joined the UML in opposing the move and filed a case in the Supreme Court, which approved
the move. When the UML's minority government, facing
certain defeat in a no-confidence vote, dissolved the house in 1996, the Nepali Congress,
RPP and NSP jointly filed a petition in the court. After hearing the petition, the court
reinstated the House of Representatives. In 1997 when RPP leader Surya Bahadur Thapa
recommended the dissolution, opposition parties supported the restoration of the house. What does the fact that all the opposition
parties have endorsed the elections this time convey? "Political leaders are
gradually learning the political game and are becoming more mature," said a political
analyst. Although opposition parties have kicked off
their election campaign, Nepali Congress leader and former prime minister Girija Prasad
Koirala believes there is an equal possibility of the house being restored. In an address
to party workers in his hometown of Biratnagar last week, Koirala requested Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba to help him restore the house. Koirala's stand has taken keen observers of
Nepalese politics by surprise. "It is unfortunate to read such an un-political and
unconstitutional statement from a leader of the stature of Koirala, who has had such a
long experience in politics," said a political analyst. Koirala, however, remains undaunted. At the
age of 79, he still seems confident that he can regain power through constitutional or
unconstitutional means. "I had never imagined that Girijababu, who has seen all kinds
of political turmoil and spent his long life to restore a system based on people's power,
could oppose the move to go to the people for a fresh mandate," said a long-time
associate. In today's political race, communist and
RPP leaders, whom the Nepali Congress has always described as anti-democratic, are proving
their commitment to the cause of democracy. The tumult of the last 12 years of democratic
exercise in the country has definitely made political leaders more mature. |
Send your feedback to the
editor: spotligh@mos.com.np |
