By Shashi P.B.B. Malla
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal-Prachanda reiterated lately that despite multiple attempts to remove him from his position as executive head of the government, he was able to successfully fend them off because he possessed the magic number (the governing majority).
However, his majority is razor thin and his government is unable to undertake even basic policies, forget any grand projects.
Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has said that his party would not want to dislodge the government since the current Dahal-led government would fall due to its own contradictions (THT/The Himalayan Times, June 23).
Koirala also stressed that political instability had besieged not only the federal government but also the provincial governments.
Moreover, the NC-leader described the state of the Himalayan Republic as extremely dire.
He stated morosely that when criminalization increases in any country, that country ultimately collapses, adding that politicians, bureaucrats and business magnates were in collusive relations in the country now.
When there is a nexus between these three groups, the rule of law becomes victim and this is the situation in our country, Koirala added.
[This is similar to our own perception that our country is ruled by criminal gangs and their dons masquerading as so-called ‘political parties’].
As if to spotlight his fears, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Sunday filed a Rs. 386.7 million corruption case against a company and 11 people, including Chief Secretary Baikuntha Aryal over their alleged involvement in irregularities related to the printing of excise duty stickers (TKP/The Kathmandu Post, June 24).
Dahal is virtually surrounded by various rings of corruption!
Koirala’s analysis is well and good, but where is the actual reaction? The NC chief honcho, Sher Bahadur Deuba is interested only in himself and is just waiting in the wings to again become PM – to what end?
Why is Koirala not able to distance himself radically from Deuba and the anti-social and anti-national elements in his party and join hands with the genuine patriotic forces in the country? Is the party more important than the country?
Considering Koirala’s disastrous assessment of Nepali society and politics, it is incumbent on him to take drastic and immediate action.
As the great German dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said: “The deed is all, the glory nothing.”
As things now stand, Koirala seems to be the only genuine leader capable of bringing the ‘grand old party’ out of the doldrums.
He should strike while the iron is hot!
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
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