Off The Record (Spotlight Weekly)

Oli : Cries of dissension

Oli's Role

CPN-UML leader K.P. Sharma Oli is known for harboring an 'opposition mentality' of late. Whatever decision his party takes, Oli always sees things through the eyes of the opposition. Although he is one of the leaders of the top policy-making body of the UML, Oli does not hesitate to make scathing comments on party decisions. His argument is that democracy presupposes a critical point of view. Now, few could argue with that.

Mandal's Wait

Smaller political parties are waiting to resume their agitation but Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Mandal) has decided to follow a wait-and-see policy. Leader of Nepal Sadbhavana Party and former deputy prime minister Badri Prasad Mandal declared that his party is ready to wait few more months to see how the government led by RPP leader Surya Bahadur Thapa performs. After joining the cabinet, Mandal's party split in two camps. The other faction has more leaders than Mandal's, so he seems to have lost his bargaining power. Mandal, the first deputy prime minister from the Terai community, claims that his party will not accept a position lower than what he held in the Lokendra Bahadur Chand government. In a situation when Prime Minister Thapa seems to be in no mood to appoint any deputy prime minister, the rival Sadbhavana faction has a chance of joining the government. However, Mandal's compulsions are pressing. His party needs a position in the cabinet to secure its identity. It remains to be seen how Mandal can convince the prime minister.

Ganesh Thapa : Football frenzy

ANFA League

Nepalese football clubs are yet to lure large numbers of football fans in the stadium. As usual, there are fewer soccer fans attending the tournaments. After the suspension of the league tournament for many years, Nepali soccer players have finally found a place to make them busy. Unless the clubs mobilize the local population, the enthusiasm of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) cannot sustain the tournament for too long. Thanks to the initiative of ANFA, the country's oldest tournament has resumed. But the question is: how long will it be sustained?

Chand : In the back-seat

RPP Rancor

With the expansion of cabinet by Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, a rival group in the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has found a good opportunity to unseat him. Led by Thapa's diehard rival Padma Sunder Lawati, who is one of the staunch followers of former prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, the RPP's disgruntled group is already pressing for withdrawal of support from the Thapa government. Although RPP president Pashupati Sumsher Rana is said to be unhappy over the expansion of the cabinet, he cannot issue explicit statements like Lawati's. Known as a party of leaders, the RPP's power politics are bizarre. Thapa led the group of opponents when Chand was prime minister. This is the best time for Chand to pay back in kind.

Patience Pays

Politics is the game of patience. This is what Minister of Education and Sports Hari Bahadur Basnet's case shows. In the last 12 years, Basnet never expressed any desire or hope of becoming a minister again. Interestingly, he never lost his patience either. He continued to support Surya Bahadur Thapa. Basnet's patience paid off when Thapa appointed him minister.