National 1 (Spotlight Weekly)

Controversial Remarks

Minister for Information and communication Mohsin - said to be a royal choice - seems to have lost his direction

By KESHAB POUDEL

If the recent comments and reactions of the Minister of Information and Communication Dr. Mohammad Mohsin are any indication, he seems to have lost the sense of direction about the role he needs to play.

Although he is reported to have been recommended by the royal palace for the post of minister in Deuba cabinet, his recent remarks regarding the role of monarchy has put him under controversy. He reportedly said that the role of the monarchy could be discussed in case of peace negotiations with the Maoists.

Minister Mohsin : Controversial remarks

When prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has already made it clear that there will be no compromise on constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, what prompted Dr. Mohsin to go beyond the limit demarcated by the Prime Minister.

At a time when King Gyanendra himself is stressing the need for consensus among all the political parties, Dr. Mohsin seems to be allergic on this idea.

Likewise, other countries including India, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States have also stressed for broad-based all party government. Minister Dr. Mohsin, who is also the spokesperson of the government, also criticized the comment of newly appointed US ambassador Moriarty's remarks.

"I also hope that those parties that have not yet entered the coalition will either do so or at least come to the consensus of action with the government so that the government can effectively address the problem facing the people of Nepal," the US ambassador James F. Moriarty had said. (See Spotlight 23-29 July)

For the past one and a half years, all of Nepal's friendly countries including India have been stressing on similar consensus. "Any confrontation between the monarchy and the political parties can only benefit the Maoist movement. Similarly political parties should also unite together to deal with a serious national crisis," the outgoing Indian ambassador to Nepal Shyam Saran had said. (See Spotlight 16-22 July)

Dr. Mohsin's anger is understandable as he will be kicked out once the country's all major political parties build consensus among themselves to sort out the problem. "Longer the dispute and confrontation between the political parties and monarchy lingers, more secure will be the position of Mohsin," said a senior Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) leader on condition of anonymity. "He sided with Thapa to expel his old colleague Rajeshwor Devkota, Lokendra Bahadur Chand and others from the RPP and has left the party for the past two years."

Whatever the political system and process, it does not make any difference to the career of a person like Mohsin.

Known as a hardliner politician of Panchayat, who also held the position of the member secretary of Gaunfarka Rastriya Abhiyan (Back to Village National Campaign) in 1976, a powerful political body of the time at par with the politburo of communist party. Mohsin was also elected to the National Assembly with the support from liberal Nepali Congress and became its chairman five years ago with the blessings of the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) party.

After being elected as the chairman of the National Assembly, Mohsin, who was with the former prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa after the second split in RPP - resigned from the general membership of the party and declared himself as a neutral politician.

His declaration of neutrality finally paid off. A person who claimed himself to be an ultra nationalist, Mohsin is also a devout Muslim.

After his appointment as the spokesperson of the government, Deuba has already issued a circulation that all the decisions related to the cabinet will be issued by the spokesperson - thereby restricting the freedom of other ministers.

Ministers, who are the representatives of the people are responsible to disseminate information to the people on various issues regarding the decision of the government related to them. Since all the ministers are accountable to the people and have been appointed to serve the interest of the people, their basic duty is to inform the people. "I don't understand why prime minister appointed Mohsin, a royal nominee as a spokesperson of the government," said CPN-UML leader K.P. Sharma Oli.