STRUGGLE FOR POWER
Among the three main political parties jokingly called as the G3 (three greats) of Nepal, the main focus at the moment is the struggle for power rather than cooperation and consensus in drafting a new constitution. The Maoists still declare in no uncertain terms that their objective is nothing less than capturing state power so as to realize the dream of a people’s republic. On the other hand, they seem to have come to the conclusion that Dahal’s resignation from the government a few months ago was against this goal. To rectify the error, they have come up with the slogan of civilian supremacy, nationalism and the urgent need of a new government under the leadership of the Maoist party. For the Maoist, the present government is unconstitutional and can in no way work for the interest of the people. They have declared plans to dislodge the PM through street agitations and parliamentary struggle. In the meantime, it would be fair to assume that they are also busily exploring opportunities to see if the present coalition can be broken. The essential point is that the focus of the party is not on reaching a consensus on finalizing the constitution; the center of attention is on assuming the leadership of the government as a step in what is often mentioned as capturing state power.
As for other members of the G3, the CPN-UML is bogged down in internal party struggle that is increasingly taking an ideological color. One faction of the UML seems to think that it is possible and indeed logical to collaborate with the Maoists in power sharing. They view the rhetoric of Maoist leadership on state capture as a necessary element to maintain cohesion inside the party. Another equally strong thinking rejects this logic and maintains that the one party authoritarian orientation of the Maoists is not going to change for the simple reason that they cannot alter their core values for supporting a pluralistic democratic system. Therefore, as the logic goes, political collaboration with the Maoists in not a viable strategy and should not be a serious agenda for discussion. What started out as a personality clash between two leaders in the party is now quickly taking on an ideological dimension. Therefore, the role of the UML in the present coalition remains confused and the PM, ironically, may need to be concerned more about his own party than the Maoists in the days to come.
The other major party, the Nepali Congress, is bogged down in a saga of personal ambition where national interest takes a backseat. The recent tantrum of the foreign minister (FM) has revealed clearly that completing the task of drafting a new constitution is not exactly the priority of the leadership of the party. What is more important seems to be the promotion of the FM so that the aging leader of the party, Girija Prasad Koirala, can have the satisfaction of seeing his own daughter lead the nation. How the second level leadership of the party handles this issue is going to be crucial in the survival of the present coalition and the future of constitution drafting as well.
NEGLECTED BUSINESS
With all political parties busy in maximizing party interest rather than completing the task assigned to them by the electorate to prepare a new constitution within the two year time framework, there are ample reasons to be somewhat pessimistic about future political stability and order. An atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion pervades the political atmosphere where each major party sees the other not as allies in the common task of defining a new political roadmap for the future but as adversaries who cannot be trusted in working towards a common goal. If this symptom continues to gain strength in the future, the country can rapidly shift from a fragile to a failed state. It is of interest to note here that one of the important characteristic of a failed state is simply the inability or unwillingness of the political actors to define common goals and values that provide the framework for collective action in the interest of the people.
In the constituent assembly, major issues related with various aspects of federalism remain neglected. In fact, there is now a difference of opinion even in defining what is meant by the word democracy. For the non-Maoist political parties, the idea of separation of power among different organs of the state and the logic of constitutional checks and balances remain fundamental to a democratic process. At least for the present, the Maoists seem to have rejected this logic on the ground that it is the legislature that should remain supreme with power to nominate Supreme Court judges and to interpret the constitution when needed. The differences here are fundamental and the Maoists are not in a mood to accept the political values enshrined in the interim constitution. So far, no serious efforts have been made to define a common ground to achieve a consensus. This is just one example of the kind of numerous conceptual issues where differences are likely to surface in the future. However, there seems to be a reluctance to take on these issues head on.
Even in the simple case of selecting or electing a new chairman of the Constitutional Committee, which is one of the ten such committees on different subjects outlined in the constitution, the G3 have not been able to agree and the post of the chairman remains vacant.
In one of his famous passages, Lenin declared that in order to gain the sympathy of the toilers “the proletariat can achieve this aim not by restarting the old machinery of state power but by smashing it to atoms and not leaving a stone of it standing” (Selected Works, Vol. XVI P448). Sometimes, this line of thinking finds space in the rhetoric of Maoist leaders when they declare that there is a need for disorder before order is established. Considering our geo-strategic setting, any attempt to follow Leninist vision will be nothing more that romantic adventurism. It is time that the Maoist realized this truth and faced the objective reality of our situation. Unless there is progress in this direction, the summer chill that we now observe has the potential of turning into a deeper and dangerous winter chill in the months to come.
(Writer is co-chairman, Rastriya Janashakti Party)
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