The three main features of the 7-point secret deal are now watered down by both the Politburo and Central Committee of the UML. The most contentious issue was forming a separate force of Maoist combatants alone or along with representation from other security agencies. The Central Committee ruled that the 7-point agreement between the two leaders couldn’t supersede any previous agreements and the combatants’ integration into the army and other tasks of the peace process would be completed duly by following previously agreed formal processes.
The other aspect of the secret agreement was to rotation of Prime Ministership between Khanal and Prachanda. The UML leader will head the government till the writing of the Constitution, and then handover the reins to Prachanda who would be in the driver’s seat till next elections. The UML agreed to the principle of rotation, but ruled that such a system should not be limited to only the two parties.
When Prachanda bowed out of the prime minister’s race in favour of Khanal, as part of the secret deal, the move was seen as a master stroke. By hindsight, he appears to be naïve in his plans and planks for power.Central Committee of the UML delegated to the Standing Committee the task of recommending ministers for the Khanal government. This has scrapped the secret understanding of giving Home and Foreign Affairs portfolios to the Maoists.
When Prachanda bowed out of the prime minister’s race in favour of Khanal, as part of the secret deal, it was indeed a master stroke. The move was seen as a victory for his party and as step to bring him back to power. By hindsight, Prachanda appears to be naïve in his plans and planks for power. On his part, Khanal has not hidden his leanings toward the Maoist party but he only represents one of the factions and does not enjoy majority in the UML to tilt the scales in the way Prachanda wanted. The other faction, led by K.P. Sharma Oli and former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, has numbers in its favour in both the UML Politburo and Central Committee- enough numbers to pull the rug under the feet of Khanal.
Coalition politics have a `dharma’ and that is to be sensitive to the views of allies and the opposition. Consensus and compromise are what makes a coalition government tick. The coalition dharma is in full display in India, where the Grand Old Party (GOP), the Congress has been doing a balancing act at the head of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) by being sensitive to its allies in the government like DMK and Trinamul Congress, as well as the opposition. While it is restrictive, it has produced some of the best results. This perhaps is the best administrative arrangement that India has in the recent days despite financial scandals.
The problem in Nepal is that the Maoist Party, which has the largest representation in the Assembly though much less than the required majority is not ready for any compromises. What is more it is in a hurry, indeed, impatient to thrust its policies on the allies, and the country alike. This is not acceptable to other parties, which together enjoy a respectable majority. Prachanda should have realised the limitations of his unilateralism two years ago in 2009 when he had to resign after a fall-out with allies. He has not and his Maoist colleagues have taken to non-cooperation and disruptive actions which have prevented the efforts to complete the process of writing the new constitution.
With the scrapping of ‘secret deal’ the situation is again back to square one.
Nepal will have no respite from political instability till there is an effort for genuine compromise among all political parties. Or till there is a fresh election which can turn up one of the parties with majority to rule the country
– Raj Rajnish
