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New government in Nepal: Will it help end political instability?

Zaglul Aiir tro Chowdhury
Anev government headed by mod rite communist leader Mad],av Kumar Nepal has taken over the reirs in Nepal, ending the three week vacu" it caused by the resignation of Prime Mir : ter Pushpa Kumar Dahal -better known as "Prachanda" (fierce one). The new prime minister has assured his countrymen that he will spare no effort to bring back the stability that has been eluding their new-found democracy.
But deal's persist whether the new governme nt will really be able to give the nation a stable government since Prachanda and his hard line Communist Parry (Maoist) are bent upon creating problems for the new administration which replaced theirs in the midst of raging controversy on certain issues that have divided the nation.
As Madhav Kumar Nepal, the 56-year-old veteran of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) took oath from president Ram Baran Yadav, the Maoists, who form the largest single political group in the constituent assembly, vowed to continue their agitation till the "irregular act" committed by the president himself,
when he overruled the sacking of the army chief by Prime Minister Prachanda, was rectified.
It is not long ago that the picturesque Himalayan country came out of a long spell of violence and instability centring on the existence of the monarchy that ruled Nepal for 240 years. Established political parties like the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), of which the new minister is a senior leader, in collusion with the then underground Maoist outfit, ousted King Gyanendra from effective power.
The subsequent elections for a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution saw a stunning victory for the ultra-left, which came out from the hideouts and joined conventional politics. They won 240 of the 601 seats in the house. Although they fell short of absolute majority they finally formed a government led by Prachanda with the support of others, including Madhav Kumar's party.
But the tenure of the government has unfortunately been cut short because of differences among the coalition partners on the issue of dismissal of the army chief by the prime minister and the vetoing of this decision by the president. Earlier, immediately after the assembly elections, all parties worked together to abolish the throne and turn Nepal into a secular republic in place of a Hindu kingdom. But the same political parties squabbled, and eventually the government had to resign when some allies like the Communist Party of Madhav Kumar left the coalition, while the Nepal Congress was already in the opposition.
As the heart of the crisis is the sacking of the army chief for, what the government said, his failure to abide by government instructions on the inclusion of about 19,000 former guerrilla Maoists in the armed forces.
While Prachanda's government was obviously keen to take them into the army, other parties, including the allies in the cabinet, were somewhat unwilling because they feared that Prachanda's strength would increase once they were in the army.
President Ram Baran Yadav, who won the largely ceremonial presidency as the nominee of the Nepali Congress and supported by most others barring the Maoists, was expected to take a position contrary to the prime minister on the issue of dismissal of the army chief.
Consequently, the development that emerged has not come as a surprise since political opponents of Prachanda were waiting to avenge their defeat in the polls, and they have certainly seized the opportunity. It is also believed that India is also opposed to the sacking of the army chief. The Maoists also obliquely blamed New
Delhi for the crisis without directly mentioning India -- a charge that New Delhi evidently gave no importance to.
Controversy erupted as two diametrically opposite views emerged on whether the president could overrule the decision of the prime minister and the cabinet. Prachanda says it is totally unconstitutional while his critics assert that the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces and that all the coalition partners of the government were not party to the decision. In any case, this debate continues in Nepal for the simple reason that the variance in views was not totally unexpected.
Prchanda’s parry is out of power in the new government while Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal says he will continue his efforts to bring the Maoist into the new administration. There is little likelihood that the Maoists will join the new government unless their conditions are met -- which arc in a way quite difficult to fulfill. They want president Yadav to "apologise" or rescind the decision on the sacking of the army chief, whose removal is also a key demand of the radical leftists.
It will be the height of folly to expect
that such demands will be met by a government which has come to power with differing views on these crucial issues. At the same time, any government having the support of 22 parties but devoid of the largest single group in the house can hardly be expected to provide a stable government.
When the Maoists have vowed to keep the pot boiling, it be will be unrealistic to expect stability in Nepal. But the Maoists themselves should also be mindful of the fact that they should not be responsible for taking the country back once again towards violence and anarchy. One good thing is that they have stressed on democratic agitation, and this is a positive move from the former dreaded radicals.
However, all parties involved in the political landscape in Nepal must demonstrate prudence and sagacity so that democracy is not disturbed, and a country which has witnessed so much of mayhem and lawlessness must not revert to the same phase since it badly needs political and economic stability.
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is a senior journalist and analyst of international affairs In yesterday’s Point Counterpoint we inadvertently dropped the photo and illustration credits. The photo with "Surviving the Great Recession" is by Quddus Alam/ DrikNews. The photo with "Running the Numbers" is by Noor Alam/ DrikNews. The illustration with "Nurul Islam: Searching for Truth" is by Arif. We regret the error.