Election of veteran communist leader, and author of ‘Roadmap for Democratic Nepal’, Jala Nath Khanal (61) as Prime Minister on Thursday marks the end of seven month long political uncertainty in Nepal. It also ended in what appeared as an endless cycle of ballots in the 601-member interim parliament. After reaching an understanding with the Maoists, Khanal defeated Ram Chandra Paudel of Nepali Congress, and Bijay Kumar Gachhadar of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum Loktantrik in the 17th ballot to emerge as the country’s 34th prime minister and the third since the Constituent Assembly election in 2008.
Like the outgoing Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Khanal, belongs to the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist- Leninist). While Kumar was forced to resign by the Maoists last June, the former science teacher from rural eastern Nepal and a founder of the party is coming to office with the support of the Marxists. And he has promised to provide a government based on consensus, and a new constitution by the extended deadline of May 28, 2011.
The way for Khanal was cleared by Prachanda, the Maoist supremo, himself, who appears to have read the writing on the wall. People are increasingly incensed at the way their hopes of a bright tomorrow with the abolition of the 240-year –old monarchy were dashed first by squabbling politicians and later by the obduracy of the Maoist leadership.
The resentment found expression last month when a man slapped Khanal in public and blamed him for the impasse since he is the chairman of the third largest party. Prachanda factored in this incident in his decision to bow out of the prime ministerial race because he said ‘People have started slapping leaders, and I now fear that people will throw shoes at us if we fail again to elect a new prime minister’.
All is not well in the Maoist camp either going by reports that Vice-Chairman Baburam Bhattarai has sounded a note of dissent over the party’s decision to vote for Jhala Nath Khanal in the prime ministerial election. At least fifty one Maoist lawmakers are siding with Bhattarai, who see Prachanda’s support to Khanal as a move to prevent Bhattarai from becoming the prime minister. This is Bhattarai’s third note of dissent within the past two months. He may still join the cabinet, which from all indications will see Maoist heavy weights in key posts under an understanding between Khanal and Prachanda.
It is this possibility that gives rise to the speculation that the Khanal government is unlikely to find the going smooth in its twin tasks of the peace process and constitution writing. The Prime Minister also will find it difficult to humour the Nepali Congress, which is not amused at the Maoist-UML tie-up and therefore ended its ‘old alliance with the UML’.
What brought Khanal and Prachanda together is unclear as yet but Khanal is said have agreed to give top priority to the issue of national independence, a Maoist agenda, for two years. There is a view that appears to be gaining currency with every passing minute that Khanal would be Prachanda’s proxy and will be guided by anti-Indianism. The government will therefore be Maoist dominated and a mechanism led by top leaders will provide direction to the government on various issues.
On his part, the new Prime Minister, is conscious of the limitations and expectations. He has rightly said integration of the Maoist combatants will be the first priority of his cabinet. Because without disarming the Maoist armed cadres, there can be no return to the rule of law. And it will be possible if Prachanda sticks to his latest assurance that the regrouping of the armed Maoist combatants can be concluded within 45 days.
There is a view that the UNMIN has complicated the Maoist combatants issue by pursuing an agenda of its own. It has formally left Nepal and the outgoing Madhav Kumar Nepal government has managed to bring the Maoist combatants under the Special Committee headed by the prime minister. It should be possible to create either a separate force comprising only Maoist cadres or a mixed force both under the Nepali Army.
In so far the new statute is concerned, Khanal, who will be the fourth Communist Prime Minister of Nepal, (after Manmohan Adhikari, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal) will face some tough choices. Federalism, republicanism and secularism have their adherents and opponents in equal measure. The Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and Jana Morcha have clearly opposed the proposition of federalism based on ethnic and regionalist considerations. Over the past six decades, Nepal has promulgated six constitutions -in in 1947, 1959, 1963, 1981, 1990 and 2008 and it gives Nepal’s statute an average life span of a decade. The new statute is likely to be progressive, anti-feudal and anti-expansionist in content.
