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War of
nerves in Nepal as PM faces ouster
Under fire
from his own allies, the Maoists, Nepal's communist Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal Sunday sought help from the opposition to save
his five-month-old government but was instead told to quit. Time
started running
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Kathmandu: Given an
ultimatum by his own allies, the Maoists, to reshuffle the cabinet
by Sunday night or face the withdrawal of their support, and
pressured by the opposition to quit, Nepal's beleaguered Prime
Minister Jhala Nath Khanal remained defiant, saying he would not
step down.
Instead, the communist prime minister spent Sunday making
last-ditch attempts to save his five-month-old government, holding
repeated parleys with the opposition as well as allies.
The main opposition Nepali Congress was unwavering in its demand
that Khanal, who became the prime minister in February after
signing a secret deal with the Maoists, must resign.
The top leadership of the Nepali Congress made this clear at a
morning meeting with Khanal. Later in the day, its MPs kept up
their blockade of parliament, which they began obstructing since
this month to ratchet up pressure on the premier.
Khanal, however, remained defiant, saying he would not quit till
the major parties were able to name a new prime minister who was
acceptable to all.
This has remained a contentious issue since the fall of the
elected Maoist government in 2009, which forced the subsequent
prime minister, Khanal's own party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, to
resign.
At that time, the campaign for Nepal's resignation was led by the
Maoists as well as Khanal himself.
Now it is payback time for Khanal, who faces a similar situation.
Besides the opposition, he is also under threat from the Maoists,
the very party that helped him win the prime ministerial election
barely four months back in February.
The Maoists are demanding that Khanal induct 24 ministers from
their party by Sunday night or face the withdrawal of their
support.
To show they mean business, the former rebels Saturday pulled out
from the cabinet their 12 ministers, who submitted their
resignations en masse.
Though reports from the Maoists said that Khanal had shown
flexibility during the two rounds of talks he held with Maoist
chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda Sunday, the fate of the
government remained uncertain.
Prachanda held a surprise press conference Sunday afternoon,
defending his party against allegations that it was waging a war
for power at the cost of the peace process and the new
constitution, which has to be promulgated by Aug 31.
He said the preliminary draft of the statute can be completed by
the deadline.
Also under fire for refusing to disband his nearly 20,000-member
strong Maoist army, Prachanda said the combatants can be regrouped
by Aug 31.
It would mean regrouping them into three separate clusters: those
who want to become part of state security forces, those who are
ready to be rehabilitated, and those who would like to go abroad
for employment.
Though the Maoist army was to have been disbanded within six
months of the signing of the peace accord in 2006, the process has
remained halted due to doublespeak by the Maoist leaders.
Since 2008, Nepal has seen four governments in three years with
none able to take the peace process forward or to conclusion.
(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)
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