By Deepak Joshi Pokhrel
At a time when the entire globe was in the mood of celebrating Christmas Eve, our politicians were busy holding meetings to reach a consensus on who would be the new Prime Minister of the country. Prachanda reached out to Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and put forth the proposal to lead the country under his leadership. Both refused to budge from their respective stances and the meeting failed to reach any logical conclusion. Result: Prachanda left Baluwatar and headed straight to Oli’s residence in Balkot where Oli responded positively and threw his weight to form the government under Dahal’s leadership.
A party chief with a declining political career, the Maoist supremo Prachanda should consider himself the luckiest politician in the country. With the wrangling among the leaders of the party moving from bad to worse, the opportunity to become PM came knocking at the door of Maoist Chairman Prachanda. Having secured the chief executive’s position through ‘incredible’ loyalty from Oli CPN-UML Chairman, Prachanda faces multi-pronged challenges.
While leading the government, Prachanda must be mindful of the fact that the coalition government ever since we restored democracy has not been able to complete its term for various reasons. Oftentimes, alliance partners at the behest of some external forces raise irrelevant issues and hatch a conspiracy to prove him a failure. This led to a hostile environment wherein the alliance partners make a decision to withdraw their support to the government. He has to deal with such issues with high dexterity and tacit.
Prachanda has assured me that he will not leave any stone unturned to keep the alliance intact even at odd hours. He also vowed that he will abide by the agreement reached with Oli and relinquish power following the consensus. We must welcome his commitment and expect that he will not breach his public commitment and lay the ground for a smooth handover of the power. This is where his loyalty will be scrutinized.
Over the years, our relationship with our both immediate neighbors — China and India — has nosedived. India and China are emerging powers in Asia. Given our geopolitical locations, we cannot afford to strengthen our ties with one neighbor while weakening with the other. Taking his cue from his past failures setbacks and mistakes, Prachanda should move ahead to mobilize good offices with China and India- the two nations that can help Nepal get the much-needed economic growth and development.
Prachanda has always been viewed as an antagonist with respect to democracy. He has been accused of working to promote authoritarianism in the name of communism. While leading his first inning, the international community’s even labelled him an autocratic in the making. This is the biggest challenge for him to prove that the government under his leadership is truly committed to abiding by democratic norms, values and principles and will always uphold the law of the land.
Another challenge for the new Prime Minister Prachanda is the revival of the sluggish economy which has been left battered during the tenure of his predecessor. The production and business sector are in disarray following the outbreak of COVID. The new government requires reviving these sectors, the backbone of our economy, through introducing financial measures for their early revival and boosting their confidence by introducing production and business-friendly plans.
In the meantime, the Dahal government must work to normalize its relations with its closest neighbors, China and India, as well as the USA and European countries. Deuba created a situation wherein his government’s relations with China had worsened. Even after signing the BRI agreement with China in 2017, nothing concrete happened during his tenure. Prachanda would do well if he attempted to address the issue during his time in office.
There are many new entrants in his cabinet. Some are media people turned politicians while others are social activists. They lack political experience which often creates a situation laying the ground to breed seeds of hatred and anonymity. This does not bode well for the coalition and party members as well. Equipped with a decade’s political experience, Prachanda has to settle the issues very amicably and normalize the relationship to ensure the longevity of the government.
Another issue to be addressed by the current Dahal-led government is to see the controversial citizenship-related ordinances that drew widespread flak.
The ordinance courted controversy after voices were raised regarding many of the stipulations that contravened Nepal’s threats Nepal’s security and sovereignty. Dahal should not succumb to external pressure if any such issues that put our nationalism at stake emerge during his tenure. This is where his mettle will be tested and we hope he will come out with flying colors.
Having arrived at the helm for a short period, the Prachanda government has its hands full. It is not fair to assume that the current government can address all challenges during its short tenure. Nevertheless, it can tackle many of these challenges and earn some brownie points. To accomplish these points, the new PM must take his alliance partners into confidence. The fate of Dahal’s party and his own political well-being will rest on how he will tackle challenges and perform at this crucial juncture.
Despite these challenges, we hope that Prachanda in his second innings will wholeheartedly commit to working for the welfare of the nation and its people. If he rises to the occasion, this will be a true tribute to martyrs who laid their lives for the betterment of the nation.
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