A government standing on quicksand

 Birds of a feather?

Birds of a feather flock together. So, isn’t it natural for Nepal’s leftist forces—the CPN (Maoist Center) and the CPN (UML) — to cobble together a new coalition, with a little help from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajwadi Party? 

Yes and no. 

This is because Nepal’s leftist forces, barring a few exceptions, do not have much ‘Left’ left in them. In the course of time, they have watered down their ideologies so much that it is difficult to draw a line between them and the capitalist-to-the-core Nepali Congress. 

Also, the CPN (UML)’s high animosity with the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led Maoist party and the Madhav Kumar-led outfit barely before the last general elections and after is still vivid in public memory. Just days before opting for a marriage of convenience, UML Chair KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Center Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal were busy hauling each other over the coals at every forum. 

Do a people with a very short memory think everything is hunky-dory between the two ‘leftist’ outfits? How about waiting till the next elections that are four long years away?

Another season of vitriol?

The Maoist-UML nuptial has hurt the Nepali Congress big time. The largest party in the Federal Parliament has started accusing the Maoist party, the third largest force in the parliament, of political betrayal. 

For the past few days, the parliament, the supposedly sovereign body that is supposed to reflect the will of the people, has been a mute spectator to hostile exchanges between the two former partners.  

On his part, Maoist Chair Dahal has indicated that he had to opt for a new coalition midstream because of non-cooperation from Congress ministers.  

Dahal has hinted that he has some big plans up his sleeve. What those plans might be? The sellout of some more of Nepal’s lifelines—rivers and streams that have the capacity to transform the national economy and herald a new era of national progress and prosperity?

Acrimonious exchanges between the Congress and the Maoist party hark back to years of vitriol between UML Chair KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Chair Dahal. 

People are fed up with such exchanges at a time when a country neck-deep in corruption and nepotism is reeling under political instability, joblessness and a near-total breakdown of law and order. They have had enough vitriol and they cannot take it anymore. 

Maoist Chair Dahal will be doing himself, Nepal and the Nepalis a great service by desisting from responding to every criticism coming from every imaginable quarter. If he does so, he will have little time for walking the talk. For better or for worse, Nepal’s politics has been revolving around him for over three decades, but he has not been able to make the most of it in the interest of the country and the people. Still, he has got one more opportunity to prove that he is a man of action. 

So, the new ruling alliance would do well to get its act together and start delivering. On his part, Dahal would do well to desist from becoming a social media-based PM by learning lessons from one of his predecessors.  

A huge task

After every change of guard that paradoxically brings tried, tested and failed characters to power one more time, hope springs eternal from Nepali sapiens’ hearts. This time also, a people blessed with a very short memory are hoping against hope that things will get better, that there will be law and order, there will be jobs and this country with a potential for progress and prosperity will march toward the promised dawn that has eluded Nepal for decades. 

Hungry people are easily led, aren’t they? 

Fittingly, leaders act as knights in shining armour after every change of guard and people believe them easily. 

In the erstwhile cabinet, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha tried to take high-level corruption by its horns as was evident in the Lalita Niwas land-grab, the 60-kg gold smuggling case and the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.  

He at least dared open the files and started the prosecution of some leaders, bureaucrats, go-betweens and tycoons.  

Though a good beginning, the rich and the powerful remained clearly beyond the government’s reach. 

This time, DPM Shrestha holds another important portfolio: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

During a previous stint as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shrestha tried to bring in some changes in our diplomatic engagements marked mostly by hush-hush talks and shady deals meant to further leaders’ petty interests at the expense of larger interest of Nepal and the Nepalis. 

His plan was to have a note-taker from the foreign ministry present at every important talk with a foreign representative, a far cry from the very unprofessional practice of letting no one in in such engagements in the name of one-to-one talks, as per a code introduced at that time. Shrestha also had other plans to boost the institutional memory of the Nepali state. 

The only downside of all those plans was that they all remained on paper.  

Setting domestic priorities right

This time also, Foreign Minister Shrestha has his hands full and so does the government. 

The Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) report has been gathering dust for sometime. Should Nepal’s Prime Minister receive the report even if his Indian counterpart continues to give it the cold shoulder? What wise counsel will he offer to his boss?

What about unequal treaties over Nepal’s lifelines like the Koshi, Gandaki and the Mahakali that have severely compromised water sovereignty and national sovereignty? 

And what about border disputes? On more occasions than one, Nepal has expressed commitment to resolving the disputes through diplomatic means. What are those means, by the way? Bilateral talks? (Have talks initiated in the past borne fruit?) Border fencing and stricter curbs on cross-border movement? Raising the issue in regional and international fora? Third-party mediation?

The issue of repatriation of Nepali youths involved in the Russia-Ukraine war, including that of those killed or injured in action along with due compensation for the families, is another thorny issue. Equally important is the repatriation of Bipin Joshi, taken hostage during the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Gaza Strip. 

In a location of geopolitical and geostrategic importance, the superpower and hyperpowers are doing every bit to gain a competitive edge over the others. It will be very very challenging for Nepal to deal with their competing interests and protect her national interest. 

It will perhaps require Shrestha and co. at the foreign ministry all their imagination and caliber to deal with these issues. Still, expecting them to solve all these problems will be asking for too much. 

Like in the past, Shrestha can at least take baby steps toward the resolution of these problems. 

Summing up, these problems are the byproducts of our overarching domestic policy priorities gone wrong. So, the government should do some serious homework to set these priorities right.

But will a government standing on shaky terrain have time and energy for all this?