I n d e p t h    A n a l y s i s
The King can’t do wrong

Kathmandu: A casual urge by King Gyanendra to leaders of the five parties’ that were granted joint audience underlines the crux. The King asked that he not be allowed to exceed the constitution. Predictably this too was lost in the media rhetoric of the Royal audience was overplayed by the politicking parties.

The fact of the matter is that the agitating political parties oppose HM King Gyanendra’s October 4th 2002 use of Article 127 on grounds that it is unconstitutional. In its stead the parties have different opinions of what the constitution should impose on the King.

First, is the opinion voiced by Sher Bahadur Deuba that the King can’t dismiss an elected Prime Minister under this constitution. Second, is the UML contention which, while agreeing to Deuba’s version, would want the King to maker correction by using the ad continuum clause in the current constitution under article 128 which legalized the interim government of 1990 and allowed it to form the current constitution.

The UML in the effort to accommodate the Girija Congress support then went to demand the third constitutional contention, namely, the restoration of the dissolved parliament.

The partisan media and our partisan academics and professionals in echoing these partisan cover up the fact that the country’s political sector is seriously divided over how the constitutional should take place and that each of the separate constitutional stand points that have taken in public are severely flawed constitutionally as well.

Had particularly the media been sincere in its role to inform the public properly, the people would have been told to constitutionally use Article 127 as recommended by the elected government which refused to resign on grounds of its inability to conduct constitutionally stipulated elections. The King then asked the political sector for the formation of a national government, which would otherwise have been the responsibility of the dismissed elected government, had it not chosen to lengthen its office unconstitutionally on grounds of Article 127.

There is yet another contention of the agitating political parties which attempts to put the King wrong. Having dismissed the elected government and called for the formation of an all-representative national government, the King then proclaimed that he had assumed the executive powers in the absence of government. The media echoed the political contention that the King was not allowed executive powers under the current constitution. The media however, failed to ask the politicians where the executive powers would be in the extraordinary circumstances of dissolved parliament and dismissed government? Instead the media toed the political standpoints that the successive governments installed were bereft of executive powers in the effort to highlight the allegation that the King has usurped it despite the fact that the constitution does not envisage a government, subsequently installed, without, the executive powers under article 35.

The constitutional mess thus created by political interpretations repeated as truth in the media has now caught up with the agitating political parties. The third round of meetings with the King have been portrayed as result of the agitation to which the King has succumbed.

In actual fact this third round too is a continuum of the Royal effort augured in the October 4th.

The media hides the fact that the agitating parties were instrumental in the appointment of Chand and Thapa as Prime Ministers under article 127 in the absence of agreements among themselves regarding their own candidacy, which nevertheless can’t be under any other clause than article 127.

Furthermore this third round too this critical difference on the key position the search for which was precipitated by the Thapa resignation has highlighted the flaws of the parties in their constitutional interpretations. This time the King has told them not to seek the unconstitutional from the constitutional monarch.

The partisan media the partisan academics and the partisan streets will of course attempt to cover-up the flaws and use the streets to force the unconstitutional on the King.

The fact is that, as sometimes hinted by the agitating leaders the five party agitation demand that the King make a political decision and not a constitutional one when it comes to the matter of restoring the dissolved House to which the agitation is committed. If the King can make such a political decision he might scratch the constitution outright and talk with the Maoists directly. Bu this the agitating parties would want to preserve for themselves and here again they are nor concurrent on the matter of under who’s leadership. It is this that makes it predictable that their unconstitutional standpoint will force the King to seek options elsewhere at risk of further alienating the agitation.

Agenda lost between Ratnapark and Nagarjun

The non-ending fight against what is being called "regression" is on.

Seemingly, if the continuation of the agitation is a matter of prestige and compulsion for the parties now in agitation, it is equally a matter that apparently has to do with the personal ego of the constitutional monarch which he is not as alleged by the agitating leaders.

In the process, efforts from both the Palace and the agitating parties were made of late which finally materialized a joint meeting in between the agitators and the King last week. The meeting though did not yield positive results in favor of the agitating parties but then its negative impact on the agitation was very big. The fact is that the meeting visibly made the agitation to go slow. Whether the going slow of the agitation was a tactical move to please the King or the men joining the agitation smacked a foul play in their leaders’ meeting with the King remains still a mystery indeed.

Nevertheless, the Summit meeting of the leaders with the King at least allowed both the parties to ventilate their feelings as regards the country’s sliding political and economic situation and the ways to arrest those trends. However, both the sides still appear determined on their declared stands to the utter dismay of the laymen. The ice is yet to break.

Analysts say that had the agitating leaders remained united as they gave to understand prior to their meet with the King, the King would have changed his stance and would have under compulsion nominated the consensus candidate of the five party alliances to the post of the prime minister. However, the fact is that the FPA delegation met the King and talked with him on petty superficial matters. Nevertheless, they appear to mislead the people through the press that they told the King this and that which are just the concocted stories.

Neither they could push the name of their consensus candidate nor could give an impression to the King that they still were a united force. The King got the point and twisted the meeting by suggesting the agitators not to push him to the wall in order to restore the dead parliament. "Don’t force me to act unconstitutionally", is what the King told the visiting agitators. The King made this observation when he was told to take a political decision and give a new lease of life to the dissolved parliament.

Among the five, it was Koirala who at least spoke in favor of the people. He said the King that "Narayan Gadh Mugling road was terribly bad and hence the road be repaired at the earliest".

Albeit, most of the leaders attending the monarch did hinted the latter that if he so desired they could come even in private to explain their own reasoning.

This exclusive idea clicked.

Madhav Nepal, the UML strongman, next morning appealed the Palace authorities for an exclusive meeting with the King which was granted the next minute.

What transpired in between the King and Mr. Nepal is not known. However, what came in the print was that Mr. Nepal told the King that Koirala’s elevation to the post of the Prime Minister would be a wrong move for Koirala was having clandestine links with the Maoists and that if he was made the PM would mean inviting trouble for the monarchy itself. Needless to say, Madhav Nepal had gone to see the King with his much publicized nine point agenda and explained the King that if were made the Prime Minister he would sort out the current ailments to the satisfaction of all th political forces housed in the now dissolved parliament.

Understandably, Mr. Nepal also assured the King that if he were to be the prime minister, he could extract political benefits for Nepal from the communists now housed in Man Mohan Singh’s coalition.

Madhav Nepal is correct to some extent as his party does enjoy cordial relations with the Indian communists under Har Kishan Sigh Surjeet whose party is in the government in India.

Panicked by Mr. Nepal’s tête-à-tête with the King, Koirala preferred not to waste even a second and appealed the Palace for such a meeting with the King. The King granted audience to Koirala for well over fifty minutes.

Here again, what Koirala told the King is not known but then yet what has come to the notice of the press is that he told the King that he had been able to teach the communists the lessons of democracy over the months of his commandership of the agitation. Understandably, Koirala also hinted the King that those who chanted slogans in favor of republicanism were not his boys but belonged to the communists.

That the agitating leaders went to see the King in a feeble mood became amply clear when the palace officials had told them in advance that the King would see them jointly provided they dropped the discussion on the 18 point agenda. The dropping of the 18-point agenda made the agitators to look like army men without guns.

Summing it all, the agitation continues with no steam. The agitation is on with the agitators themselves not knowing when their agitation will come to an end and how will it come to an end.

The fact is that the King listened to them both jointly and in private which apparently have subsided the ego of the agitating five. The result: so far cipher.

Madhav Nepal still a consensus candidate?

Kathmandu: Madhav Nepal by this time must have come to his senses. It must have been a time for his for a sort of repentance for his political blunder in making a declared political enemy his own commander.

Repentance makes a man perfect it is widely believed. However, in case of Madhav Nepal, the damage is already done. But then yet not every thing is lost for him. He still continues to be a consensus candidate of the five party alliances for the post of the prime minister though his friends in the coalition don’t subscribe to his candidacy.

This means that Madhav Nepal is a consensus candidate of his party alone.

But then who played trick that apparently damaged the prospects of Mr. Nepal from becoming the next prime minister?

The blunt answer is the growing lust of power that so clandestinely crept into the minds of Koirala that played the role of a villain against Madhav Nepal.

Indeed, Madhav Nepal was a consensus candidate for the post of the chief of the executive only when the post appeared remote. However, with Thapa’s resignation, the special chair housed in the Singh Durbar began attracting Koirala and Mr. Nepal both.

The lust for power and the excessive lust of power in Koirala made the latter even to forget his own declaration made some one year ago at time of the initiation of the agitation against agitation that if every thing went well Madhav Nepal would be the country’s next prime minister. The rest of the smaller parties agreed to recognize Mr. Nepal as a consensus candidate.

Promises are made to break and this is what has happened. Koirala has broken the promise and has been presenting himself as the next prime minister. His close aides have been openly saying that Madhav Nepal was their common candidate "then" and now when things have changed, the previous agreed upon candidacy has become totally irrelevant and hence redundant.

Mr. Nepal has reasons to be angry. But with whom? Koirala or his political aides? Or with the leaders of the smaller parties who too have been now subscribing to Koirala’s views for unexplainable reasons.

The fact is that Madhav Nepal is the lone crusader for the post of the prime minister who definitely enjoys his party’s unflinching support in that regard. The rest including even the communists like Rohit and Sherchan appear against Madhav Nepal being picked up as prime minister.

A betrayed Madhav Nepal still possesses glimmers of hope and is working hard in order to convince the palace that if provided chance he could prove himself as the best prime minister the country ever had.

The palace remains non-committal on Madhav’s passionate plea.

The fresh position is that the FPA failed to announce the name of their consensus candidate. The FPA, to add insult to injury, has mandated the two stalwarts, Koirala and Nepal, to finalize the name of a consensus candidate. Unfortunately, both are contenders of the same post. Sad enough, the country has only one chair for prime minister. Predictably, neither Madhav can willingly push the chair towards Koirala nor Koirala has that magnanimity that he would willingly accept Nepal as prime minister.

The fighting continues which has allowed the palace to maneuver.

Presumably, the NC and the UML must not be in good talking terms even due to the chair crisis. Nevertheless, both the parties are working hard to win the favors of the smaller parties in their own favor.

Analysts say that if Madhav Nepal is denied the post of the prime minister simply he heads a party of the communists then why Madhav or for that matter his party-the UML- should stick to the ideals of a democratic system to which they have been more or less exhibiting their loyalties over the years.

Understandably, if Madhav Nepal is denied this time the lucrative post, he and his party will bring heaven down to earth come what may. If the UML comes to know that it was Koirala who damaged Madhav’s position of the prime minister, what chaos the party will bring in Nepali politics only the Almighty knows in advance. More so if by chance Madhav is replaced by Koirala himself then the Himalayan unrest that is to follow later could well be imagined.

Be that as it may, the UML by time now must have realized that they did accept a personality as the agitation’s commander who never have had a bit of love and respect for the communist ideology.

Let’s see what cards still remain under the sleeves of the UML, which might clear the hurdles and make the party’s boss the country’s prime minister.

The result: the venue of the conflict has changed. It is neither the Ratnapark nor Putali Sadak. The conflict is not with the King now. The conflict is in between NC and the UML for the post of the prime minister. The fight is in between Teku Durbar and the Balkhu Durbar. The tail parties housed in the agitation appear calculating whom to support so that greater political benefits could be bagged.

Nevertheless, the parties have kept their agitation intact in order to send encouraging signals to their cadres for understandable reasons.

Royal search for Mr. Clean continues

Kathmandu: King Gyanendra is busy in consultations. His search for a clean prime minister too is continuing. The political parties too have been stretching their on going agitation in order to press the King to correct his past what they call constitutional blunders.

The country is bereft of a government. The bureaucracy is almost defunct. Political uncertainty prevails. No body talks now of the need for the talks with the Maoists.

The nation is in a state of utter confusion.

Given this background, Deuba remains adamant in his stance that the King should restore his government, which would correct King’s blunders.

Koirala insists that the parliament be restored and a government be formed from among the five party alliances currently in agitation against regression. Madhav Nepal concludes that since he continues to be the consensus candidate, he be made the prime minister. Koirala dismisses Madhav’s claim and says that since things have changed of late and hence the name also needed a review implying that he should be elevated to the ranks of the prime minister instead of Mr. Nepal.

The tussle goes on in between the NC and the UML.

In the mean time, Madhav Nepal has come to know that Koirala was dead against his candidacy and is being supported by the smaller parties housed in the FPA.

Sensing this new development, Madhav Nepal too has changed his political strategy. The new UML strategy is to thwart the prospects of Koirala becoming prime minister. In the process the UML has been sending signals to important quarters that should the occasion so demand his party will be more than happy to support Deuba and his party and through him, if need be, to support to Krishna Prasad Bhattarai for the post of the next prime minister.

The Koirala coterie knows this UML strategy. To counter this new UML ploy, Koirala’s men have been spreading the news that how could Bhattarai, a weak and stamina less man could steer the country?

The Bhattarai lobby countered this rumor by admitting Bhattarai to a hospital and managing the issuance of a press note from the hospital, which stated that Bhattarai was kicking, and alive hinting that if he were made the prime minister he could discharge his duties perfectly well.

Thus the fight for the post of the prime minister is on in between Koirala, Madhav Nepal, Deuba and Bhattarai.

What is for sure is that if the fight continues for long, Bhattarai could emerge victorious as he satisfies the demands that have been sought by the King.

Is Bhattarai the man whom the King is searching for so long?

Opinion | Dateline | National |  5 Question  | Editorial | Letter | 2nd Impression | Views | International | Past