Editorial
Very few recall that even Madan Bhandary was not a unanimous leader after the UML’s first convention after formation concluded. If K.P. Oli’s election to his party leadership is not, it is hardly a handicap. Let’s face it K.P.Oli is now equipped with a leadership mandate unchallenged within the party. When he calls for an election victory in his own style he will no longer have challengers within the party to pander to. That he is all in all is the Chitwan message and this is the message he will want to be irradiated. His election mode is on and it is not lost to the public that it was he who told the world that it is election time in Nepal. That the rest did not want to see it is typical of Nepali systemic exercises when the polity as a whole is put to test come election time. Arguably his Left competition retains in-party competitors. Madhav Nepal along with Jhalanath Khanal a host of ambitious workers who could challenge his leadership while Prachanda is now facing tiffs within his party that the media has so far not caught up with. Indeed, the other way around, it is these supremacists that question the garb of a supreme in Oli. The reality is that each party has its own groups and the groups are all ambitious. That after all is politics. The problem is that the politicians are not hesitant to place the party, the system and the country at stake. There is none to prevent it.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal thus is at a loss of words. His home constituency is being shaken with nary a word from his daughter who is the mayor of Chitwan. The import of nationwide workers into her city perhaps submerged her capacity to respond. The Maoists that breached the UML/Maoist bid at a single Communist Party of Nepal by hounding K.P. Oli to vacate his seat as per an agreement ostensibly with Oli, now find themselves vulnerably exposed to Oli’s overt message. Oli after all retains some of the Maoists from the merger days, some even in his central committee. The breach in the UML sent rebels to Madhav Nepal and the Maoists remain a runt. It is not surprising that they will bide their time for a convention. After so many words, railing against the Oli ostentation. Matching Oli with money, crowd and pomp would be silly maybe but the loss of face this will mean is a temptation all its own. Oli’s principal detractor Madhav Nepal is another individual caught in the quagmire of pasteurising. He can condemn the Chitwan circus but competition would demand comparable action for simple credibility. The ‘cosmeticism’ is every bit essential now for political parties to furl their feathers in public, How much they will bring votes will have to be tested though, Left right and center, looks like the Nepali electorate are due for more treats of junketing, wining and dining. There are mow conventions ahead. Oli breaks the records for others to compete.
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