By P Kharel
Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah maintains an inexplicable profile that evokes a façade of mystery, which eventually can prove a burden more than a mere enigma. He carries an unknown quantity, initially as a breathing space to get his acts together, but once the warm-up period evaporates, the reality of governing a nation, long held by corrupt politicians, corrupt bureaucrats and under-the-table dealers, will not serve as a rescuer.
Shy of making extempore speeches of substance, Balen’s Rastraiya Swatantra Party (RSP) pledges to double down on delivery. He has yet to make a statement in parliament, in a display of laboured enigma that risks being read as overbearing hesitation and fear of being seen as a person of narrow vision. The once regular rapper has laid his fingers on many pies. How the taste of their delivery proves will make or mar his public image and impact.
ALL TOO POWERFUL: As Home Minister Sudhan Gurung is seen running from pillar to post, giving an impression of oozing with zeal, energy and enthusiasm. In the hurry, he has incurred the displeasure, if not anger, of his own party colleagues among parliamentarians complaining of not informing and coordinating with them on matters related to his visits to their electoral constituencies. The MPs registered the protests to the prime minister in Gurung’s presence.
Balen reportedly told the complainants to submit written suggestions since it was not possible for him to note or remember everything. He obviously felt uneasy with criticisms showered on his home minister. For Sudhan is considered to be the most powerful figure in the cabinet as far as reach and weightage are considered. Home Minister officials are smug over “our minister’s dynamic and powerful presence” in the cabinet.
Some in working proximity with Balen believe that the home minister seems to have an unusual hold on the prime minister. Balen rarely brooks criticism of Sudhan.
CALCULATED CAUTION: Balen’s date for the India visit is unlikely to be fixed in any hurry. Given that the new cabinet is a novice, it tests the diplomatic waters by not being seen to be enamoured of the trappings of official troops to foreign cities, either on bilateral missions or multilateral forums.
Modi himself might not feel very comfortable with a neighbouring country’s prime minister tossed onto power following last September’s globally highlighted Gen Z demonstration of fire and fury that toppled the seemingly well-placed KP Oli-led coalition government partnered by Nepali Congress.
The increasingly critical Indian press and a growingly confident opposition railing on the BJP government, in power for 12 consecutive years, frequently make references to the recent Nepal events and the Balen phenomenon to compare and ridicule Modi’s promises and performance since he became India’s prime minister in 2014. Coincidentally, Modi attained 75 years in September, a deadline he hinted at two years earlier for passing the baton of leadership to a successor. That never happened; nor does he seem to believe in such retirement any more.
Traditional parties in Nepal are awaiting an opportunity to pounce and pound the Balen government that thinks projecting an image of aloof action will assure it of continued popular support. Nothing would be more delusional.
PRIORITY AREAS: Jobs for the educated unemployed, semi-skilled and unskilled in a country where the slightest hope of making it through an examination/interview attracts hundreds of applicants for a post deserve the top priority. Keeping proven experience at bay in a country with a dire shortage of expertise will derail the government’s desire to deliver fast and furious.
In a country deeply divided on political lines more than ideological commitment, Balen’s known perspective is to parade new faces as if that in itself produces talent and efficiency when the crescendo of popular expectations is high.
The composition of the cabinet members should not reek of narrow regional or communal considerations in the name of “inclusion”—a practice never admitted or accorded priority in universally acknowledged advanced democracies of the Anglo-Saxon Christian majority.
Nepalese invest in land and ornaments. The property declaration was an honest effort. Some gave details of what their wives own, too. Some slyly failed to do so. Owning or inheriting wealth is no crime. Doing so through illegal means constitutes a crime. If someone in authority misuses power, the crime is even bigger. Letting him off the hook carries an historical rebuke for eternity.
Invest substantially high in investigating wealth that might have been amassed illegally. Tracing and nabbing the culprits should have deterrent effects with a message that it does not pay to steal money that should have gone to the state exchequer.
REGIONAL SCENARIO: Access to the sea that India controls; border trade smuggling that benefits only India; and this landlocked country’s pathetic position when its goods are blocked at the border, including quarantined food and vegetable products, make Nepal heavily bound by New Delhi’s vice-like grip.
New Delhi has made a series of foreign policy miscalculations, alienating traditional friends and, as a consequence, heartening foes. On the other hand, Pakistan emerged as a peace talk facilitator envied by India. Narendra Modi had addressed the Israeli Knesset barely two days before the US-Israeli attack on Iran began. The visit proved a major diplomatic blunder that became a source of regular poking by the opposition.
In Nepal, too, the next few months should indicate how the government views Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Project fitting in the government’s priority, even as factional interests between Balendra and RSP chief Rabi Lamichhane risk clashing. Balendra is seen as giving unusual importance to Home Minister Sudhan Gurung. The political grapevine gives Balen 20 per cent of the party supporters in RSP’s existing parliamentary equations. The cabinet and deputy speaker represent one-third of the power equation, enabling Balen’s exclusive potential support base in the Tera vis-à-vis Rabi’s. Clarity should serve better by the time the budget session of the House completes.
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