National 1 (Spotlight Weekly)

Still No Respite

Despite the efforts for reconciliation, some individuals are trying to sabotage the efforts even before they bear fruits

By A CORRESSPONDENT

If the statements of Minister for Information and Communication Kamal Thapa and Congress leader Narahari Acharya are any indication, it shows that likelihood of compromise is still far away.

Just a day before the arrival of King Gyanendra from his two-week-long trip to London, Congress leader Narahari Acharya ‘disclosed’ that palace has given certain assurances to the five political parties and has posed certain conditions before meeting their demand for the revival of House of Representatives. No body knows how Acharya came to know about such assurances and conditions.

Political agiation : No solution yet

Kamal Thapa, who is known as a sober politician, accused leaders of major political parties as being opportunists. Minister Thapa’s argument was that leaders of five political parties were launching their agitation just for the sake of power.

At a time when leaders of country’s five political parties are trying to pacify differences with the monarch, Congress leader Acharya and minister Thapa are talking in confrontational tones irritating the King and political leaders – thus widening the rift.

Unlike Congress leader Acharya, minister Thapa has a political base but both of them have similar interest. Once King and leaders of major political parties bury their differences and settle their disputes, Acharya’s and Thapa’s political utility will end. Whatever the consequences King and other political leader may face, minister Thapa and Acharya have nothing to lose and are nursing their own petty interests.

Congress leader Acharya who portrays himself as a close advisor of Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala, seems to have his own personal agenda before politics. “It is up to the political forces themselves to decide what course to take to preserve their interests. Neither minister Thapa is there to protect the interest of monarchy nor Acharya’s actions serve Congress leader Koirala’s interest,” said an analyst.

With the upsurge of violence, the political forces have very limited options before them. One of the best options will be to unite the constitutional forces and thus pave the way to bring the constitutional process to the right track.

The constitution requires the elected representatives to function and the country cannot be ruled for more than six months without the elected House of Representatives. As the country does not have elected representatives, King has to rely on ordinances to perform all his actions. In the last one year, King has already issued more than a dozen of ordinances, which needs to be approved by the parliament.

As long as King himself continues to intervene in the process, the chaos and confusion will not die. Since prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa survives amid confusion and chaos, solving political crisis may not be his top priority. Prime minister Thapa does not have to lose anything as he is playing the politics at the expense of the monarch’s goodwill.

Despite prime minister Thapa’s efforts to initiate talks, one cannot see any results from his move. Even if prime minister Thapa is interested to settle the problems, his ministers may not like it since most of them will have to quit if things head towards resolution.

Although prime minister Thapa’s close colleague Rabindra Nath Sharma is knocking at the doors of political leaders including Congress leader Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, he has apparently failed to narrow down the differences.

When people like minister Thapa and Congress leader Acharya are provoking each other from the two sides, the efforts of RPP leader Sharma and other agitating political leaders to bury differences may not pay off. It seems that the country will have to pass through a long and difficult path.